Gabriel Bortoleto is hoping to have a close fight with his “good friend” Max Verstappen in the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Sauber rookie achieved his best qualifying result of the season and the team’s best grid position in 2025 by putting his car in seventh place.
With reigning World Champion just behind him, Bortoleto is gearing up for a thrilling battle on Sunday — and a chance to learn from the Dutchman once again on track.
He’s been steadily progressing in his rookie F1 season, scoring his first points at the Austrian Grand Prix and following up with another strong ninth-place finish last time out in Spa-Francorchamps.
The Brazilian is making the step up from Formula 2 alongside the likes of Isack Hadjar, Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Verstappen has become a key figure for the rookies, frequently seen mentoring the young drivers and sharing valuable advice.
Bortoleto, in particular, is keen to learn from the very best. Alongside Verstappen’s guidance, he also benefits from the wisdom of two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso, who manages him.
After an impressive qualifying session in Hungary, that saw him drag Sauber into Q3, Bortoleto expressed his excitement to go wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen on race day — marking the first time he’ll start ahead of him.
“It’s always difficult to keep Max behind,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “If he wants to overtake, it’s going to be a big fight for sure.
“I don’t know [if] his car in the race pace [will be quick]. We were quite competitive but everything can change. Obviously, I’m excited to fight with him tomorrow because he’s a good friend of mine.
“I’ve been learning a lot with him recently, so maybe we have some nice overtakes tomorrow.”
Bortoleto credits team’s late-night efforts for qualifying turnaround
Following his strong qualifying performance, Bortoleto reflected on the challenging start to the weekend and how the team’s hard work and adjustments helped turn things around.
“There’s no secret it’s working [now] and I feel like we had the worst start of the weekend possible,” he added.
“On Friday, I was zero comfortable with the car and struggling a lot with the balance and off pace, I would say.
“Being able to maximise today, put the car in the right window and deliver a Q3 again and a P7 has been something very special that I’m proud of.
“Weekends like this motivate me a lot and they make me a better driver because you need to keep your head down and working.”
The 20-year-old concluded by saying the team had to work overtime to rectify the issues with the C45.
“We broke curfew for fixing things in the car and studying a lot of things that we should do for today and it paid off,” Bortoleto revealed.
READ MORE – Why going wheel-to-wheel with Fernando Alonso is ‘a bit different’ for Gabriel Bortoleto
