Written by Caitlyn Gordon, Edited by Marit Everett
Ahead of his Formula 1 debut in Melbourne, Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto responds to Helmut Marko’s criticism, regarding the Brazilian as a B driver.
Bortoleto enters his debut F1 season with an excellent winning pedigree that the likes of Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri and George Russell carried into their respective debut seasons. Winning two successive championships in Formula 2 and 3 as a rookie, the Brazilian has now joined Sauber for the 2025 season.
However, compared to the other four rookies joining in 2025, Bortoleto is at a disadvantage due to his lack of testing, marking him as one of the least prepared rookies. To add onto matters, the C44 is tipped to be one of the weaker cars, meaning Bortoleto might not produce outstanding results as quickly.
Despite this, Bortoleto has kept his head held high throughout pre-season testing and continuing into Melbourne’s media day on Thursday when responding to Red Bull advisor’s jibe at the rookie.
Marko appeared on Red Bull’s in-house broadcaster ServusTV on Monday, where the German was asked to grade the rookies. In response to the question, Marko ranked Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar as “A level”. Marko wrote Jack Doohan off, ranking him as a “C driver” and explaining he “doesn’t think he’ll complete the full season”. For Bortoleto, Marko marked the Brazilian a grade higher.
“I’d rate him a B driver,” Marko said.
“He’s a very intelligent racer - he won the Formula 3 championship [in 2023], but with only one victory. He tends to stay out of trouble”.
“In Formula 2, he had only two wins. He’s a driver who brings the car home, has a solid grasp of strategy and tyre management, but I don’t see that ultimate speed in him.” Marko explained.
Bortoleto's response
Bortoleto was subsequently asked about the comments on media day, responding with a smile and stating, “I don’t care. I’ve seen that and I love challenges”.
“Hearing that from Helmut – he’s a guy who has put a lot of talent in Formula 1 and has put a lot of wrong talents in F1. So, you can see he got it right and wrong and hopefully I will prove him wrong”.
“But nothing I say now in the media will change his mind – just my results on track. I’m sure I’ll prove him wrong at some point and hopefully he will admit this”.
“For now, I’m just focusing on doing my job and improving and doing the best I can. I’m proud of what I did in the junior series and I won in F2 and F3 against the Red Bull drivers he has, so good for me.”
High-level drivers such as Sauber teammate Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso have praised Bortoleto for his intelligence and speed, with the Hulkenburg regarding the rookie as ‘fast as hell’.
“I think we get on really well – he’s a really nice guy, a smart kid, fast as hell!” Hulkenburg said after pre-season testing.
“He learns really quickly. He did his first race sim here at the test, so I look forward to working alongside him.”
Alonso, who runs the A14 managing group which Bortoleto has been a part of since 2022, praised the Brazilian for his “dedication and professionalism towards racing”.
“[That] has been probably the most impressive thing,” Alonso said when asked about Bortoleto.
“Since day one, he was very committed to work hard for his dreams - already in FRECA but then in Formula 3 and then Formula 2, each race was very well prepared and a very mature approach”.
“I think he deserves to be in Formula 1 and hopefully [has] a long career here and [is] successful. He has been the best rookie of this next generation that we see so many rookies [coming] into F1 this year”.
“He has been the best of them, so [although] maybe he doesn't have the car at the moment to match their results the first year, hopefully people don't forget what he did in the last two.”
Bortoleto will have his moment to quiet his doubters at the first race of the season in Australia on March 16th.
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