Sauber: Hulkenberg not in slump, Bortoleto outqualifies him

Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley pushed back on suggestions that veteran driver Nico Hulkenberg is in a slump after a difficult weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, saying the German's recent run of being outqualified by teammate Gabriel Bortoleto is a short-term fluctuation rather than evidence of a deeper problem. Wheatley made the remarks after Hulkenberg qualified poorly and finished 16th in Baku while Bortoleto placed 11th.

Wheatley said the margins in the midfield are tiny and that small timing or track-evolution issues can decide qualifying. "I personally don't feel there's any fundamental issue here," he said after the race in Baku. "Nico is a tremendous, experienced and fast racing driver and many, many times he's been outqualified by a thousandth, a hundredth. It's not always a big thing. I honestly think it's just transient. Gabriel's fast as well, and if one of them gets the lap right, one of them is going to outqualify the other." He added that circuit familiarity has helped the rookie and that Hulkenberg will "just string it together."

The statistics underline Bortoleto's rapid adaptation. The 20 year old has outqualified Hulkenberg in 13 of their...