Fernando Alonso stated that “facts” are stronger than Helmut Marko’s critique of Gabriel Bortoleto, who excelled during qualifying for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Bortoleto is managed by Alonso’s A14 enterprise and the Brazilian arrives in F1 following back-to-back rookie title wins in Formula 3 and F2.
Despite this, Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko listed Bortoleto as a ‘B driver’ in conversation with Servus TV, but the Sauber driver did some talking on the track on Saturday.
Despite driving for the un-fancied Sauber squad, Bortoleto progressed to Q2 at the Albert Park circuit, at the expense of his highly-rated one-lap specialist team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, along with Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson.
Marko was comparing Bortoleto to his F2 title rival and Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, who he rated as an ‘A-level’ driver, but Alonso acknowledged that both are great talents, implying Marko’s judgement was flawed.
“I think Helmut has to defend his drivers,” the veteran Spaniard said.
“I think the facts are a little bit stronger than Helmut’s words.
“I think maybe it refers to last year’s F2 [battle] with Isack and Gabriel.
“They finished 1-2, they both have incredible talent, and they both are in F1, which is a great sign. Let’s see what the future brings.
“I hope for both to have a very long and successful career, but what Gabriel did, winning F3 and F2 in his rookie seasons… I think the future will tell, but I’m happy and proud of Gabriel.”
Bortoleto defiantly ready to prove Marko wrong
Bortoleto’s initial response to Marko’s comments on Thursday was that “nothing I say now in the media will change his mind, just my results on track.”
It’s a stance that the Brazilian respectfully reiterated this after qualifying on Saturday.
“Yeah, maybe he will check the lap timing today, but as I said before and I stick to the same, his opinion is not going to change my life, I will hopefully prove him wrong with time,” he said.
“Maybe today was already a start of it and as I said before and I stick to the same, everyone can have opinions, headlines can be very tough and I’m sure I’m going to prove him wrong with time.”
Bortoleto was unable to progress beyond Q2, finishing 15th with a mistake costing him a higher place.
“I made a mistake in my lap, I tried a bit too hard on T4, ended up running a bit too much the kerb there and let’s say skateboarding a bit the car, initially was not even sure I could keep it still on track, was a bit too risky there,” he said.
“I knew that to put the car maybe further away, maybe even in Q3 that was very tricky today because I don’t think we had the pace to, I needed to make a perfect lap that ended up as a no lap.
“[I was] quite happy with Q1, still a solid result there and a solid first quali ever in my career in F1.”
READ MORE – Gabriel Bortoleto fires back at Helmut Marko criticism ahead of F1 debut
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