Gabriel Bortoleto’s Monza Weekend In His Words

5 September 2023

How does it feel to be crowned the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Champion? Gabriel Bortoleto didn’t have to wait long to find out, after his 38-point advantage ahead of the season finale turned out to be enough to secure the title.

The Brazilian racer takes us through an unforgettable weekend at Monza as he celebrated Championship triumph, before his focus turned to trying to help Trident claim the Teams’ title and capping off the season in style exactly how he started it, on the top step of the podium.

PRACTICE – P6

“We have quite a bit of an advantage from P2 entering into this last round of Monza. So, I know it’s not going to be easy, but for sure I keep in my mind that I need to still do my job because in case a miracle happens, and Paul (Aron) manages to make every point I will lose the Championship. I also keep this in my mind, and I can’t relax even after being 38 points ahead. So, I’m just going to try to give my best.

“I think Trident at low downforce tracks like this are very, very quick always and we’ve shown it in the races. Also in Spa, even though I qualified back in 15th, we have shown enough pace to get back and go forward in the race, so it shouldn’t be different here in Monza.”

QUALIFYING – P5

“In Qualifying, I did an okay lap, nothing special, but I was still P5, and Paul was not on pole, so I secured the title. Before Qualifying, I was sure that I could have gotten pole, but my teammate Oliver Goethe did an amazing job. He put the lap together and he was driving very well, so I didn’t manage to beat his time and I was waiting for the second set because I needed to improve some things with my driving in the right place. Unluckily but at the same time luckily, I managed to secure the title there, but I think we could have done a very good job on the second set because I was feeling very confident with the car as well.

“A lot of emotions went through my head in that moment when I received the message that I’d won. I was taking to my coach Roberto and suddenly he just made some movements with his hand like it’s over, it’s over, but I didn’t understand. So, I was like what’s going on? And then he said it’s over, you are the Champion, and, in that moment, I was like oh my god, what’s going on?

“It’s unbelievable. I was so happy and then everyone from the team started to go out with the boards and everything with my name on it being the Champion. I was so happy, my whole family is here supporting me, so it’s an unbelievable feeling.”

SPRINT RACE – P2

“I was very tired of the whole season knowing that I needed to manage it and not take too many risks to get the points needed. But the end, I know I’ve finished the Championship already, I still want to get the Teams’ Championship for Trident so I need to score as many points as we can because we are quite far away from PREMA.

“Now we are just four points, so I say I needed to make it happen. I needed to make the move and I think I did a very, very beautiful move because Mari Boya pushed me to the grass and I had to brake very, very late and managed to overtake him.

“My target is to finish P1 tomorrow, nothing less than this! I think we have the pace, we have the car to do that, so I will focus on doing my best tomorrow and I know we will be quick enough to do that.”

FEATURE RACE – P5

“The race was very cool to be honest, my last time racing in Formula 3. I had a great time fighting with some drivers there, I was very quick at the beginning of the race. Then I did a little mistake at Parabolica at the last corner and basically destroyed my chances of winning the race there because I lost some positions.

“Then, I wanted to recover very quickly, and I got into some mess, but at the end of the day, I managed to recover from P10 or P9 to P5. It’s a shame that the Safety Cars came out because there were many Safety Cars in a row. We were very quick in a straight line and had the pace to go for the win.

“I feel very bad because it was a special race for the team because we were very close to PREMA in the Teams’ Championship, and we had the opportunity to win. Then straight away, Oliver had a problem with his throttle pedal and it was a shame because starting P1 in those conditions, the chances of winning were very high. Then, basically I was alone with Fornaroli, it was very difficult.

“I’m very sad for the team, but anyways we secured the Drivers’ Championship and we have proved that we have also been the fastest team during the whole year, even if we didn’t win the Teams’ Championship. I want to thank everyone from Trident for all the help and everything they did for me this season.”

UP NEXT – GRADUATING TOP OF THE CLASS

“Now I hope I can say in the future fully, but what I can say right now is that I’m stepping up to Formula 2. I can’t say the team yet because it’s very early and we are still looking at the best options to decide, but I’m very happy to say already that I will be in Formula 2 next year.”