Gabriel Bortoleto reveals what Max Verstappen privately told Red Bull staff about him before his F1 debut

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Gabriel Bortoleto has made a real impression in Formula 1 in his rookie season with Sauber in 2025.

Bortoleto joined the likes of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri to have won the F3 and F2 titles back-to-back on his way to F1. Signing with Sauber, who are set to become Audi in 2026, the Brazilian was tipped to be in for a difficult rookie campaign.

The Hinwil-based outfit scored just four points in 2024 and not much was expected to change in 2025. However, Sauber have made huge steps forward with upgrades to the car and key signings behind the scenes, which have propelled them to sixth in the constructors’ championship.

Nico Hulkenberg scored his first F1 podium and Sauber’s first since 2012 at Silverstone. But while the German has been impressive for the team in 2025, teammate Bortoleto is not far behind.

The Brazilian has regularly outqualified his more experienced teammate and has displayed strong race pace. Hulkenberg has been taken aback by Bortoleto’s attitude since arriving in F1.

The 20-year-old grabbed his first points in F1 at the Austrian GP, finishing an incredible P8 after making it to Q3 for the first time. Verstappen congratulated Bortoleto on social media; the Dutchman has played a pivotal role in getting the Sauber driver on the grid.

Max Verstappen was ‘talking to people’ in F1 about Gabriel Bortoleto to get him on the grid

Verstappen and Bortoleto have a close relationship off the track, with the latter being in admiration of the former’s talent as a four-time champion.

Bortoleto praised Verstappen’s ‘unbelievable’ ability in qualifying, something that he is looking to copy in his career. The Brazilian certainly has the potential to fight at the front in F1 in the future, and he owes a lot to the Red Bull driver for his opportunity at Sauber.

Verstappen called for teams to sign Bortoleto for 2025 after seeing what he could do in F3 and F2. Speaking via Autosport, the Sauber driver revealed how the 27-year-old spoke to people in the sport about his talents to try and land him a seat on the grid.

“Jonathan [Wheatley] always tells me Max rated me very highly to him before I came to Sauber/Audi,” he said.

“I know Max doesn’t speak often about this, and he doesn’t speak about it in the media, that he helped me by talking to people in Formula 1 about me. But he was willing to help me, because he saw I was doing good results.”

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

Sim racing has become pivotal in Gabriel Bortoleto’s development in F1 – much like Max Verstappen

Bortoleto is constantly looking for ways to develop as a driver. One of the key things he has adopted in recent years is sim racing.

Much like Verstappen, he has utilised his time on a simulator to better his craft. In fact, Bortoleto races for the Dutchman’s sim racing team, regularly competing with him.

Talking about how he uses the sim to improve, he added: “When you go to new tracks – or even ones you already know – it helps. When I arrive at a track, I feel like I’ve already done a thousand laps, just because of all the practice I did at home.

“You also learn a lot about car set-up. In the sim, you can change the set-up and try different things. Obviously, you can’t set up your actual F1 car in the sim, but you can learn a lot about what things you can change in the set-up, as they should change the same thing as in real life.

“So you can test things, like how the car will behave at certain tracks.”