Sauber Formula 1 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto has hit back at criticism made by Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko ahead of his debut at the Australian Grand Prix.
Bortoleto joins Sauber having stamped his name in the record books as a back-to-back rookie champion in Formula 3 and 2.
Still, despite the Brazilian showing championship winning pedigree, Marko has made scathing comments about the Sauber debutante.
Marko rated Bortoleto as a “B driver’ in conversation with Servus TV, praising the Brazilian’s intelligence but casting doubts over his raw speed.
Naturally then, Bortoleto was quizzed on those remarks during his first media day as an F1 driver down under in Melbourne, Australia and he was defiant.
“I don’t care,” he began, telling select media including Motorsport Week “I’ve seen that and I love challenges.
“Hearing that from Helmut, he’s a guy who has put a lot of talent in Formula 1 and has put a lot of wrong talents in F1.
“So you can see he got it right and wrong and hopefully I will prove him wrong with the time.
“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 when I prove him wrong.
“For now I’m just focussing on doing my job and improving and doing the best I can.”
Bortoleto concluded his defiant response by saying his title victories in the junior categories meant he’s beaten several of Marko’s Red Bull junior prospects.
“I’m proud of what I did in the junior series and I won in F2 and F3 against the Red Bull drivers he has, so good for me,” the Sauber driver retorted.
Alonso: Bortoleto is ‘the best’ of F1’s rookies
Two drivers in the F1 paddock are well aware of what Bortoleto can bring to the table and those are his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg and manager Fernando Alonso.
“I think we get on really well – he’s a really nice guy, a smart kid, fast as hell,” Hulkenberg said, reflecting on pre-season testing.
“He learns really quickly. He did his first race sim here [Bahrain] at the test, so I look forward to work alongside him.”
Bortoleto is represented by Alonso’s A14 Management group and the veteran Spaniard has always been glowing in his praise of the young charger, citing his “dedication” and classing him the top talent among F1’s five rookies.
“His dedication and his professionalism towards racing has been probably the most impressive thing,” Alonso said.
“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.”
READ MORE – Nico Hulkenberg expecting test from ‘fast as hell’ Sauber F1 team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto
