Nico Hülkenberg has praised his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto in a striking manner. The seasoned German was joined this year by the Brazilian rookie at the Sauber team. Both have already proven their worth, as the Swiss racing stable is vying for fifth place in the world championship. The team scored a whopping 49 points in the last eight Grands Prix.
After a difficult start to his debut season, Gabriel Bortoleto is finally making his mark in Formula 1. Since Sauber implemented upgrades midway through the season, Bortoleto has been driving more consistently and confidently. The results speak for themselves – the Formula 2 champion regularly finishes in the top ten, with his best result being a sixth place at the Hungarian GP. For comparison; in 2024, Sauber collected only four points throughout the entire season.
‘Printer with endless ink’
Nico Hülkenberg praises his 20-year-old teammate. “He is a machine,” the German told the media in Monza. “He drives his laps like a printer with endless ink. It’s quite astonishing. He makes hardly any mistakes for a rookie and is doing really well. He is strong and is going through a steep learning curve. All I can say is that he is one for the future.”
Bortoleto responded gratefully to the praise from his teammate. The Brazilian admitted that he had been apprehensive about the duel with Hülkenberg. “I always looked at him and thought: ‘That guy is so fast’,” he responded to the compliments. “When I heard that I was going to be his teammate, I honestly thought: ‘This is going to be tough.’ I knew I had to start racing at a higher level. In the end, there’s very little between us, especially when you look at the data. Moreover, the margins in the midfield this year are so small that every millisecond counts.”
