Nico Hulkenberg and Jonathan Wheatley praise Gabriel Bortoleto for a solid rookie F1 season and his capabilities behind the wheels and off it.
Of all the rookies that made their debut in 2025 F1 season, nobody disappointed by their results and behaviour. Everyone had their highlight moments, whether podiums and or significant results during a race weekend. Sauber’s Bortoleto had a similar run in the end.
It didn’t start too well for him, but Austria was a breakthrough weekend for him and since then he scored in three more rounds, which included a best of sixth in Hungary. The last few rounds didn’t work well for him, especially in Brazil, but he bounced back well in the finale.
He has a lot to learn certainly, but he impressed many on the grid, including teammate Hulkenberg, who rallied behind him all-through the season. The German heaped praise on the Brazilian youngster since the get go and by the end of it, his opinion remained the same.
“I’m impressed from the beginning, from the first race weekend,” said Hulkenberg to media. “He’s been very competitive on tracks that he didn’t know, that he’s never raced on. He’s a very fast learner, his speed, his consistency. Obviously the latter part of the season there has been some ups and downs for him.
“But in general, his work ethic, his speed. He’s obviously come in as a very young, hungry guy. And it’s just been impressive all around for me. I obviously see him and experience him a lot closer than the outside world does. Also meetings and how he operates. So it’s been impressive,” summed up Hulkenberg, who got the better of Bortoleto in races, but they were tied in qualifying head-to-head.
Team boss Wheatley had equal praise for the Brazilian and pinned the recovery from Brazil as something that shows character of a racer. The Brit also shared behind the scenes inputs on how Bortoleto is making a team around him after the rookie year in preparation for the big jump with Audi in 2026.
“Yes, I mean, I’ll tell you what I am encouraged by, I’m encouraged by his recovery since Brazil,” said Wheatley to media. “I mean, that was a significant accident. And then look at his performance in Abu Dhabi, look at his performance in qualifying. I mean, he’s just back on form again and I don’t want to put a number to a driver’s year, but I’m, let’s just say the team is incredibly pleased with his performance.
“He’s doing everything right and he’s on schedule to, he’s building a team around him, he’s building his engineering team around him, he’s understanding the car, he’s tempering his frustration, he’s a young guy. You hear his radio messages, he understands when the team’s on a journey. I don’t really have any advice for him to say to you that I haven’t already said to him in person, but I just think if we look at his rookie season, pretty outstanding season,” summed up Wheatley.
Here’s Gabriel Bortoleto on his moments
Here’s Nico Hulkenberg on Barcelona being start point
