Gabriel Bortoleto identifies what makes Max Verstappen an ‘unbelievable’ F1 champion, he’s now desperate to copy him

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Gabriel Bortoleto has had a tough start to his rookie F1 campaign, but the 2024 Formula 2 champion has shown glimpses of why he is F1’s next star.

Bortoleto grabbed his first points in F1 at the Austrian Grand Prix, to which his performance saw him dubbed a ‘superstar’ by a former driver.

Sauber team-mate Nico Hulkenberg has also lauded the Brazilian, highlighting how ‘very impressive’ he has been so far in his maiden F1 season.

The 20-year-old now has ‘a racing car’ according to Jonathan Wheatley, thanks to the upgrades brought to the Spanish Grand Prix by the Hinwil-based racing team which also aided Hulkenberg’s drive to the podium at Silverstone.

READ MORE: Who is 2025 Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto? Everything you need to know

Gabriel Bortoleto hasn’t ‘seen many drivers’ who are as versatile as Max Verstappen in qualifying

Speaking to The Race, the Brazilian driver sees Max Verstappen as one of the more ‘impressive’ drivers on the F1 grid due to his ‘unbelievable’ driving style, from which Bortoleto takes inspiration.

“You have data, you learn, you try to copy and do better, but the most difficult part about being a racing driver is to be that complete,” he started.

“In my life, I’ve not seen many drivers being able to do that. And the ones I’ve seen, they are all world champions.

“So there are drivers like Max Verstappen, a driver that is able to use so many techniques in a single lap that it’s unbelievable. It’s impressive, and it’s not easy at all to be at this level.”

Verstappen has praised Bortoleto in the past, calling for a number of teams to snap up his talents before he signed to Sauber on a multi-year contract that will see him stay with the team as they transition to Audi for the new F1 regulations in 2026.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Sauber from team principal to 2026 Audi future

Gabriel Bortoleto’s performances give Sauber the most competitive F1 team-mate pairing

The team-mate pairing between Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg has proved to be one of the most competitive line-ups in F1 when pitted against each other.

The German veteran is currently leading his Brazilian counterpart in the points department with 37 points to Bortoleto’s four, which doesn’t fully tell the story of how close the competition has been between them.

The qualifying head-to-head between the two drivers is split at an even 7-7, an impressive feat for the 20-year-old when taking into account it’s his rookie season versus a driver with 15 years of experience under his belt.

Hulkenberg slightly edges the Grand Prix head-to-head, beating Bortoleto six times as opposed to the four races in which he found himself on top instead. The average gap of their fastest lap in Grands Prix also sits at a minute 0.062s in favour of the German.

It’s only a matter of time before the results start to trickle in for the rookie, as his current 19th-place standing in the drivers’ championship doesn’t do his performances up to the midpoint of the season justice.