Gabriel bortoleto confident of fighting for points at the Italian grand prix

Here is the thing about qualifying at Monza: margins disappear entirely, and found out just how cruel that can be. The Brazilian missed a place in Q3 by a heartbreakingly small margin of 0.001s, losing out to none other than and his Ferrari, who grabbed that final spot in the top 10 instead.

Getting there meant nailing every single detail, especially finding a vital slipstream from the car ahead. Bortoleto feels he squeezed everything out of his Audi machine during the session. Looking back at the lap, he noted a tiny moment with the rear axle at Turn 8 when pushing right to the limit, but rightly pointed out that when you dance on the edge, those things happen.

Thankfully, a planned grid penalty for bumps Bortoleto up to start P10 on Sunday. That puts him right in the mix for the 53-lap race ahead. Audi arrives at the Italian Grand Prix riding high on a brilliant run of four consecutive points finishes shared between Bortoleto and , showing just how far the squad has pushed during their maiden season in Formula 1.

"I think we can be fighting for points but obviously it's not easy. There is going to be cars around us that are also quick and we need to try our best," Bortoleto said. "But so far in the weekend I'm very happy because the team has done an incredible job like always. On tracks we believe are difficult, we are still very competitive. This is the proof of how much we are willing to be there."

On the other side of the garage, Nico Hulkenberg had a tougher time getting through, ending qualifying with the 13th fastest time. Hulkenberg warned that race day will not be straightforward for Audi, pointing out that their lack of straight-line speed compared to the Mercedes and Ferrari-powered cars will create a real challenge in racing conditions.

"I think it's not going to be easy for us tomorrow," Hulkenberg said. "If you look at the top speed comparisons, we're lacking a bit which is obviously difficult in racing conditions, but we'll give it our best and see what we can do."