Sauber boss Jonathan Wheatley has sung Gabriel Bortoleto‘s praises ahead of his home Formula 1 race in Brazil, crediting his driver with a strong debut campaign.
Driving for the team that started the season with comfortably the slowest car on the grid, 2025 looked set to be a learning year at the back of the grid for Bortoleto.
His first seven races were defined by two DNFs, including the season opener, where he spectacularly crashed out in the challenging conditions that beset Albert Park.
Scoring his first points in Austria, he began to find confidence, featuring further up the midfield, scoring 19 points to date, including a hard-fought one for 10th in Mexico.
Wheatley has spoken of his delight at the Brazilian’s performances, praising his approach in the face of adversity and revealing details of his relationship with the team.
“I think it’s the maturity that I’ve been the most surprised by,” Wheatley told media including Motorsport Week.
“When you consider his age, the way he handles things – the frustration, the natural things you’d imagine from a driver in his first season – he handles them with such maturity.
“I’ve talked before about his work ethic; if he can be in the simulator, he’s in the simulator – if he can be on a simulator, he’s on a simulator.
“And I think on top of that, the way he’s knitting his engineering team around him – the way they’re working together – is hugely encouraging as well.
“And the final piece in the puzzle for me is when he’s at a tricky circuit, he builds up to it. Monaco, he built up to it – his only contact with the barrier was in the race. Same in Baku, same in Singapore.
“He just has such a mature approach, so I’m hugely encouraged by his performance so far.”
Can Sauber steal sixth in the standings?
Although currently ninth in the Constructors’ Championship, Sauber is an outsider in the battle for sixth, 12 points away from current holders Racing Bulls with four races left.
Asked whether overhauling its rivals to secure millions of dollars more in prize money was feasible, Wheatley was cautious.
“We’re taking it a race at a time”, he admitted.
“Ayao [Komatsu, Team Principal at Haas] taught us a lesson a few races ago. It’s so close. The margins are so close.
“I feel like I’m always saying the same thing, but it’s nip and tuck all the way down the line, and it’ll come down to who makes the fewest mistakes, I think, at the end of the day.
“But honestly, I’m loving our racing at the moment. I’m loving coming into this competitive environment where the margins are so tight, and the calls are so close. I’m just enjoying the season.”
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