– Gabriel Bortoleto was retroactively disqualified from the sprint race in Miami. The intake pressure of his engine had temporarily exceeded the limit of 4.8 barA prescribed in the regulations, which led to the Brazilian being removed from the classification.
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The official FIA ruling notes that the team admitted this error. According to Audi, the threshold was only exceeded in a single lap. Subsequently, steps were taken to fix the problem as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, the ruling explicitly emphasizes that the car must comply with the regulations at all times during the event. This was not the case in the Miami sprint.
Timo Glock shared his thoughts on this situation with Sky Deutschland: “There must have been an error somewhere in the process,” summarized the former Formula 1 driver.
“Because, in the end, it’s the same intake where the air goes towards the engine, as it was in the first races. I haven’t seen anywhere that Audi had an update there. There must have been a problem somewhere regarding the preparation for the weekend, because I have rarely heard of this error.”
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The disqualification is not too drastic for Bortoleto. After all, the Audi driver only finished the race in eleventh place and thus loses no points. In the sprint, points are only awarded for the first eight positions, while on Sunday the top ten drivers receive points. Nevertheless, the Miami sprint weekend has so far been far from successful for the team.
Frustrating weekend for Audi
While Bortoleto at least had the opportunity to duel with the competition in the midfield, Nico Hülkenberg had to stop his Audi car before the start of the sprint race. During the formation lap, the 38-year-old’s R26 literally broke down. Initial assessments suggest it could have been a hydraulic failure. On Friday, both drivers also narrowly missed making it into the SQ3.
Whether they get the chance on Sunday to still pick up one or two points for the championship standings depends, among other things, on the announced weather caprices in Miami. After qualifying, the FIA is discussing a possible postponement of the race start.
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