Jonathan Wheatley hails the progress made by Gabriel Bortoleto without any F1 pre-season test, while also praising the extraordinary work by Nico Hulkenberg.
It was a slow start from Bortoleto and even Sauber in F1 2025, but both have picked up hugely since the Barcelona update. Hulkenberg has been consistent, which includes scoring his first podium, while his rookie teammate has managed to score in multiple races as well.
In fact, Bortoleto has managed to edged out Hulkenberg in qualifying in by eight to six ratio after 14 races. The Brazilian came into his first year without any extra miles in the car apart from the pre-season testing. He only had one chance of TPC run with McLaren and none with Sauber.
He has picked up nicely, showcasing why he took the F2 and F3 titles in his rookie season. Team boss Wheatley has full praise for him. “I mean, it’s worth pointing out again that he hasn’t done 10,000 kilometres of testing of previous cars,” he said to media. “He hasn’t done 10,000 kilometres in the Formula One, correct? It’s his first season in Formula One.
“There are so many circuits that he’s not been to and there’s some coming up that he hasn’t been to. He’s been able to deliver brilliantly over the last few races and circuits that he knows. And I think he’s matured as a driver and he’s developed as a driver. I think he’s going to be able to adapt to these new circuits much quicker than he did in the first half of the season.”
While talking about Bortoleto, Wheatley also hailed the engineering work done by Hulkenberg. He termed his driver line-up as the most collaborative driver pairings. “I mean, it’s incredibly important,” he said. “I have to say that it’s the closest, most collaborative driver pairing I think I can even remember in all my time in Formula One. Gabriel has a fantastic work ethic.
“He has a capacity for taking on new information. He’s proving every way to be the future star that we expected him to be. And Nico is part of that journey with him. On the other side of the engineering table, you’ve got this extraordinary experience and Nico’s proven talent. I mean, we’re talking about Gabi, but Nico has done a tremendous job. As a team, we’re very pleased with both of our drivers.”
Here’s Jonathan Wheatley on gardening leave
Here’s Gabriel Bortoleto on season so far
Here’s Nico Hulkenberg on season after grim pre-season
