Gabriel Bortoleto left his Audi team-mate laughing after pulling an unexpected prank during a fan appearance at the United States Grand Prix. The young driver played a practical joke on Nico Hulkenberg as the pair walked out in front of thousands of fans at the Circuit of the Americas to loud cheers from the Austin crowds.
Videos of this moment went incredibly viral on social media, showing Hulkenberg making his way onto the stage on Friday when the Brazilian newcomer grabbed his trousers from behind and pulled them down. The German veteran took the light-hearted joke in good humour, laughing as he quickly pulled his clothes straight while the crowd roared with laughter.
The playful incident offered some much-needed relief during a tough competitive weekend for the rookie. Bortoleto will start Sunday’s main race from the back of the grid after Audi took him beyond his allocated limit of power unit components for the race weekend.
Both drivers have shared the garage since 2025 when the outfit still competed under the Sauber banner, forming one of the most cheerful partnerships on the grid. However, the squad has found championship points hard to come by throughout the 2026 Formula 1 season, currently sitting eighth in the constructors’ standings with 23 points.
Hulkenberg leads the intra-team battle with 13 points compared to Bortoleto's 10 points. Despite the on-track struggles and reliability hurdles, the team atmosphere remains positive as they work to extract maximum performance from their current package.
"I have seen lots of improvement on reliability," Bortoleto said on Thursday ahead of the United States Grand Prix race weekend. According to Motorsport.com, he acknowledged that while a previous issue in Singapore was far from ideal, it hurt slightly less because he was not fighting at the front at the time.
"Pero I hope we are able to do the rest of the season without having any major issue and that we are able to just complete the races and qualifying in the best condition and the best car possible out there that we can drive and extract everything from it," the young Brazilian concluded regarding his targets for the final stretch of the championship.
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