Gabriel Bortoleto will do the talking on track to answer back Helmut Marko after his jibe, as Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso praise the Brazilian.
Marko is once again in news even before the start of 2025 F1 season. This time he is not in for Red Bull, but the other rookies on the grid. He has certainly riled up the youngsters by tagging them grades, especially Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Sauber’s Bortoleto.
He marked the Australian as a ‘C-grade’ driver, while the Brazilian as ‘B-grade’. While Doohan has had a good run in F3 and F2, Bortoleto is a champion in both as a rookie. Both don’t have the machinery to challenge up front in F1 in 2025, with the former ahead of the latter in the pecking order.
The remark from Marko has swelled up the rookies. Bortoleto, though, wants to answer back by showcasing his performance on track. Even though he doesn’t have the car on pace to score points regularly, the Brazilian thinks he can prove the Red Bull consultant wrong.
“I don’t care,” he said to media. “I’ve seen that, and I love challenges. And I think, hearing that from Helmut, he’s a guy that has put a lot of talents in Formula 1, and has put a lot of wrong talents already in F1, so you can see he got it right and wrong and, hopefully, I will prove him wrong with time.
“But nothing I can say now on media that would change his mind, just my results on track, and I’m sure I’m going to prove him wrong at some point and, hopefully, he will admit this when I prove him wrong. But 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 junior series, and I won in F2 and F3 against the Red Bull drivers he has – so all good for me,” summed up Bortoleto, who got good word from teammate Hulkenberg after spending the winter and three day of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
The Brazilian is the rookie with the least mileage in F1 even after testing. “I am impressed with Gabi, he’s really bright switched on guy,” said Hulkenberg. “He’s hungry for information, pays a lot of attention, works really hard and he’s quick, so it will be interesting.”
His mentor and manager Alonso spoke kindly about the Brazilian too. Bortoleto is part of A14 Management where the Aston Martin driver has closely worked with the Sauber driver. He played down Marko’s comments when asked about the same.
“I think his dedication and his professionalism towards racing has been probably the most impressive thing,” said Alonso to media. “Since day one he was very committed to work hard for his dreams and already in Formula Regional Europe but then in Formula 3 and then Formula 2, each race was very well prepared and a very mature approach.
“He deserves to be in Formula 1 and hopefully a long career here and successful. He has been the best rookie of this next generation. We see so many rookies into F1 this year and he has been the best of them. Maybe he hasn’t had the car at the moment to match their results the first year but hopefully people don’t forget what he did in the last two.
“I think Helmut has to defend his drivers. I think the facts are a little bit stronger than Helmut’s words. I think maybe it refers to last year’s F2 championship with Isack and Gabriel. They finished 1-2, they both have incredible talent, and they both are in F1, which is a great sign. Let’s see what the future brings.
“I hope for both to have a very long and successful career, but what Gabriel did, winning F3 and F2 in his rookie seasons… I think the future will tell, but I’m happy and proud of Gabriel,” summed up Bortoleto.
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