2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Sunday
Baku, 21 September 2025 – Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber missed out on the points at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Gabriel Bortoleto finishing just outside the top ten, in P11, and Nico Hulkenberg bringing his car home in 16th position. It was a low-key conclusion to a frustrating weekend for the team, with both drivers being involved in their share of on-track battles on a day that saw action across the field but, ultimately, not enough to shake up the order.
With the standalone Baku round now in the history books, the team will prepare for the long trip to Singapore for a race under the lights at the beginning of October.
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal: “It’s been a very windy weekend here in Baku, and one that certainly tested our package. The circuit exposed some of the limitations of the C45, particularly in qualifying. However, in race trim, we started Sunday knowing we had a more competitive car for the midfield battle. Gabi fought hard in the pack, and Nico’s pace in the final stint was particularly strong. I think we delivered the maximum we could today - in a race where the wind affected the cars throughout and, with low attrition, there weren’t many chances to capitalise on.
“On a more positive note, the hydraulic issue from Monza was fully resolved thanks to the hard work from the team trackside and back at the factory. During the race, the pit crew did a great job; huge credit to everyone involved. This weekend showed that we’re still in the midfield fight – now it’s about translating that into points next time out.”
Nico Hulkenberg (car number 27):
Race result: 16th
Fastest lap: 1:45.002 (Lap 50)
Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Hard) – Lap 37 (New Medium)
“It was one of those races where things just didn’t fall into place. I always seemed to be on the wrong side of the timing, losing out here and there. The highlight was definitely the restart - I managed a nice double overtake into Turn 3, which was rewarding. But after that, I was stuck behind Franco [Colapinto] and Lance [Stroll] for most of the first stint. We lost a lot of time there, and that was really the make-or-break moment.
"The pace at the end was good, but by then the race had already slipped away from us - qualifying and the early laps left us with too much to recover. There weren’t many variables or opportunities to shake up the order today. It wasn’t our strongest weekend, but we’ll take the lessons on board and focus on executing better next time out.”
Gabriel Bortoleto (car number 5):
Race result: 11th
Fastest lap: 1:44.930 (Lap 45)
Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Hard) – Lap 27 (Used Medium)
“It's been an intense race, always near some other cars and very close to the walls at all times. I think we delivered everything that we had on the table today, with P11 being the maximum we could achieve: it's been a bit of a tricky weekend overall of us, and I don't think we would have had enough pace to fight higher up. Still, we kept pushing, managed to maximise what we had and took home some important learnings. Some weekends you can put up a fight, some you can’t as much, but that's racing. Now, we turn our focus to Singapore in two weeks’ time.”