Gabriel Bortoleto just proved he’s mastered one skill Oscar Piastri struggled with in his rookie F1 season

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The 2025 Formula 1 season kicked off with six rookies on the grid and so far they have seen mixed results on track at the halfway point.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has achieved a podium and Sprint race pole, but has still been disappointed with his performances during the European leg of the season. Even so, Antonelli’s point average is not far off compared to Oscar Piastri in his first F1 season.

Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar started off well with points scored in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Imola, Monaco and Spain, but his results have dropped off in the last five races.

Gabriel Bortoleto had a quiet start to the season and only scored his first points 11 races into the 2025 campaign. But lately, the Brazilian has been bringing in results and beating teammate Nico Hulkenberg, known for being one of the best qualifiers on the grid, on Saturdays.

His results in Austria, Belgium and Hungary are testament to the fact that he’s managed to master one element of F1 racing that championship leader Piastri struggled with early in his career.

Gabriel Bortoleto has shown that he has mastered tyre preservation in Hungarian GP

Bortoleto’s race in Hungary was well managed because he made the one-stop strategy work, which required drivers not to take too much life out of their tyres in the early stages of the race.

Pirelli predicted that the medium tyres would last at least until Lap 31, but Bortoleto made his last 40 laps before pitting. Fernando Alonso claimed Bortoleto was the ‘best rookie of his generation’ after his performance in Hungary.

The Sauber driver was part of the train that was behind Alonso for most of the race, with him managing the threat from Lance Stroll behind who pitted four laps earlier.

It turned out to be key to his race as Bortoleto converted his impressive qualifying result into another points finish, having achieved three in the last four races.

Race engineer Jose Manuel Lopez was quick to point this out as he crossed the finish line: “Mate, what a weekend, what a race. Fantastic lap one and impressive tyre management, and managing the whole race. Great job. That’s a P6. Very well deserved, Gabi.”

Who has scored the most points out of the 2025 F1 rookies so far?

Antonelli is the driver with the most points so far after achieving his podium at the Canadian GP, but in the last eight races, he has only scored points in two of them.

Hadjar is second on the list ahead of Liam Lawson, who got a boost over the Hungary weekend having finished ahead of Max Verstappen in eighth place.

Bortoleto sits fourth on the list having accumulated 20 points, while Bearman is last of the drivers who are still on the grid with eight points.

Bearman’s results have been unfortunate after a retirement with damage in Hungary, and equalling the record for finishing in the same place that isn’t first place with four consecutive 11th places.