2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – Saturday
Imola, 17 May 2025 – Following a disrupted qualifying session marked by two red flags during Q1, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber will start Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from 14th and 17th respectively at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
Gabriel progressed to Q2 for the second time this season, securing P15 with a strong final lap in Q1 before going on to qualify 14th overall. Nico showed similar pace in Q1, but ran wide at the final corner during his last attempt, narrowly missing out on Q2 by just 0.178 seconds.
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal: "First and foremost, I was relieved to see both Yuki and Franco walk away from their crashes today — those were big incidents. Once again this shows the importance of the progress we have made as a sport in terms of safety. As for our qualifying session, Nico improved his balance throughout Q1, but unfortunately made a small mistake into Turn 17 and was out. Gabriel, on the other hand, had clean runs all the way through to ultimately qualify P14. That said, we should not hide from the fact that we benefited from misfortune of several drivers. We`re being realistic about our chances tomorrow, but I know the team will look for every chance to make progress through the field."
Nico Hulkenberg (car number 27):
FP3: 19th / 1:16.238 (16 laps)
Q1: 17th / 1:16.518 (9 laps)
“For me it has been quite a challenging weekend so far. I did not find the right rhythm and connection to the car on Friday and Saturday which is crucial here at Imola. This old-school track is fun, but mighty fast and very unforgiving. If you touch the curbs just a little bit too much, the car gets unstable and you lose time. All things considered, my last lap was actually pretty good until the last sector, where my car snapped in Turn 17 and I went a little bit too wide. We will need some luck in the race tomorrow, because on a narrow track like Imola, overtaking chances are rare. We will look for any and every opportunity to maximise our potential, mindful of how unpredictable this race can be.”
Gabriel Bortoleto (car number 5):
FP3: 16th / 1:16.046 (17 laps)
Q1: 1:16.340 (9 laps)
Q2: 14th / 1:16.260 (6 laps)
“I’m really happy to have made it back into Q2 — it hasn’t been the easiest weekend so far. We’ve had clean sessions throughout, and unlike Miami, where we were confident about progressing, today was much more challenging. That said, everything came together for us. We maximised the car’s potential, stayed focused, and executed a clean run. Overtaking will be difficult here, so tomorrow’s race will come down to strategy — and maybe a bit of chaos up front. Either way, we’ll give it everything and see what we can achieve.”