Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was having a dream F1 debut in Australia until a momentary lapse of concentration cost him dearly and ended his race. While many of his rookie colleagues were crashing out, the Brazilian seemed quite settled and was likely to have a decent result until he too perished as rain intensified at Albert Park.
Bortoleto’s qualifying was superb as he even outqualified his experienced teammate Nico Hulkenberg, getting into Q2. During the race as well, the Sauber C45 came alive and helped both drivers climb up the order amid intermittent rain.
Bortoleto was running a steady race and could’ve gained massively in this race of attrition. However, all his hard work came undone on lap 47 after he touched a kerb in turn 13 and collided with the barriers.
“Unfortunately, the race didn’t end as we had hoped, which is a shame, as things were going quite well for me up until that moment,” the 20-year-old said while reflecting on his maiden Grand Prix weekend. Surprisingly, Hulkenberg ended up scoring points, which was bittersweet for Bortoleto, but he gave a mature response.
“I’m happy for Nico and the team for scoring points today; he did an amazing job, and everyone deserved it, both trackside and back at our HQ in Hinwil,” the Brazilian added.
With Hulkenberg starting two places below him in 17th and still managing to register a brilliant seventh-place finish, Bortoleto knew he had ruined a fantastic opportunity to score points on his debut.
Gabriel Bortoleto: Unfortunately, the race didn’t end as we had hoped – which is a shame, as things were going quite well for me up until that moment. Once the Safety Car period ended, I found myself at the very back, tried to recover, but touched the kerb and ultimately…
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) March 16, 2025
However, since this was just his first full race weekend, Bortoleto added that he is only taking positives from it and hopes to deliver a better performance in China next weekend.
Bortoleto will hope to prove his doubters wrong
Just a few days before the Australian GP, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko provided a scathing assessment of Bortoleto’s talent. Marko referred to the Brazilian as a ‘B class’ driver despite him being only the fourth driver in history to win the F3 and F2 championships in consecutive rookie seasons.
Full footage of Gabriel Bortoleto’s accident!#F1 #Formula1 #AusGPpic.twitter.com/IUtMCYshpK
— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__) March 16, 2025
Responding to such remarks from Marko, the 20-year-old did not lose his calm when asked about it ahead of the Australian GP weekend. “I don’t care, I’ve seen that and I love challenges,” Bortoleto replied before adding that while he respects Marko, he is confident that he 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”, he added.
The Brazilian’s mentor, Fernando Alonso, reminded Marko about how Bortoleto has proven his worth by winning F2 and F3, where he beat drivers from Red Bull’s academy. Bortoleto won the F2 championship last year by 22.5 points from Red Bull academy driver Isack Hadjar, who is now competing in F1 with their sister team, Racing Bulls.
Now, Alonso has a close dynamic with the Sauber driver, as he is part of the Spaniard’s driver management firm, A14. So, he won’t take such verbal attacks against Bortoleto, especially having seen his exceptional talent up close.
