Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley has championed Gabriel Bortoleto’s “fantastic work ethic” and revealed that the Brazilian driver stayed late with the team on Friday.
Bortoleto celebrated his best finish of his rookie Formula 1 season at the Hungarian Grand Prix as he crossed the line in sixth to take home eight points for the team.
Following the milestone for the Brazilian driver, Wheatley applauded the Swiss-based team’s driver line-up, claiming it is the “most collaborative” on the grid.
“I have to say that it’s the closest, most collaborative driver pairing I think I can even remember in all my time in Formula 1,” Wheatley explained to Motorsport.com and other media.
“Gabriel has a fantastic work ethic. He has a capacity for taking on new information. He’s proving every way to be the future star that we expected him to be. And Nico is part of that journey with him.
“On the other side of the engineering table, you’ve got this extraordinary experience and Nico’s proven talent. I mean, we’re talking about Gabi a lot today, but Nico did a tremendous job. You don’t really see it or you don’t notice it because it didn’t result in a points finish. But as a team, we’re very pleased with both of our drivers.”
He added: “It’s worth pointing out again that he hasn’t done 10,000 kilometres of testing of previous cars. He hasn’t done 10,000 kilometres in the Formula 1 car. It’s his first season in Formula 1.
Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
“There are so many circuits that he’s not been to. And there’s some coming up that he hasn’t been to. He’s been able to deliver brilliantly over the last few races in circuits that he knows. And I think he’s matured as a driver and he’s developed as a driver. And I think he’s going to be able to adapt to these new circuits much quicker than he did in the first half of the season.”
The team broke the curfew on Friday evening after the first two practice sessions at the Hungaroring. Bortoleto stayed late with the team, which Wheatley believes shows his maturity.
“Gabriel stayed and came and thanked his crew at the end of the evening. I think that just shows you not only the level of maturity he has, but the level of respect he has for the team.”
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