2025 Sauber F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto shared what he thinks about Max Verstappen and why he has admired the Dutchman for a long time.
Gabriel Bortoleto was recently announced as Sauber's /Audi's F1 driver for the 2025 season and beyond as he signed a multi-year deal with the Swiss-based team.
The 20-year-old will join much older and more experienced Nico Hulkenberg. Following the announcement of his new contract, the future F1 rookie appeared on F1's official podcast - F1 Nation Podcast.
In this podcast, Bortoleto discussed what he admires about the reigning world Champion who is on his way to claiming the fourth consecutive title - Max Verstappen.
"I think from nowadays, I really like how Max drives. In the sense of like I really admire his quali laps and how much he extracts from the car in these laps. The way he drives and races, I think it's very nice."
"Obviously, he can be very hard, as we have seen in the last races, but obviously, they are fighting for a world championship."
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"So we all expect them to race each other like that, but I think I've always admired a bit how Max drives since I was very young because I was part of a team in go-karts that he grew up with."
In the years 2017-2019, Bortoleto competed for the same karting team (CRG SpA) that Verstappen used to race for when he was younger.
"So they always told me stories about him and I was always like, okay, what would Max do in this situation and I always wanted to be a bit like him because he won every single thing he did in the junior series."
Bortoleto wasn't as successful as Verstappen in karting and lower formulas. However, he started showing huge potential in Formula 3 (which he won in his first season) and Formula 2 (which he is currently leading).
The Brazilian driver can achieve something that the Red Bull Racing F1 driver himself didn't. He can become one of the very few drivers to win Formula 3 and Formula 2 in two consecutive rookie seasons.
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