Destiny plays an important role in life — and even at the pinnacle of motor racing. A budding karting driver, dreaming to make it into the big leagues, Gabriel Bortoleto got the chance to taste what F1 feels like when he crossed paths with a bonafide superstar in Max Verstappen. This meet up happened when Bortoleto was only 12. And next year, he will line up alongside the three-time champion on the grid.
Autosport took to their X (formerly Twitter) handle and gave a throwback. Bortoleto met Verstappen at a karting event and had posted a photo with the Dutchman back in 2017. Bortoleto wrote, “Got the opportunity to meet this beast today!!!”
When a 12-year-old Gabriel Bortoletto met Max Verstappen
He’ll line up alongside him next year pic.twitter.com/PW99GaCAO3
— Autosport (@autosport) November 7, 2024
This throwback also signals the end of an era in terms of F1’s sporting heroes and icons. While many drivers on the current grid grew up watching the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, there is an entire generation now that looks up to the drivers like Verstappen for inspiration.
Even when he was a 12-year-old karting driver, Bortoleto was a rising star. But his road to F1 has been one of dominance in open-wheel single seaters. He won the F3 title last year in dominant fashion in his rookie year.
And with two rounds to go in F2 this year, the incoming Sauber driver is on the verge of winning back-to-back junior formula titles. He sits atop the standings from Isack Hadjar with a 4.5 point advantage. Needless to say, where Verstappen found himself back in 2017 is where Bortoleto finds himself now.
That said, 2017 was the Dutchman’s second full-time season with Red Bull and he had already etched his name in the history books — becoming the youngest ever Grand Prix winner when he won on his Red Bull debut at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2016.
