Bortoleto on rookie pressure
While the likes of Jack Doohan, Liam Lawson, and Franco Colapinto have faced huge levels of pressure to perform in their early career, Gabriel Bortoleto has largely avoided it having compared favourably to team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.
Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
He reckons that the pressure to perform was already palpable in F2 and F3, where he knew he didn’t necessarily have the backing to do more than one season in each. Luckily, the Brazilian won them both at the first attempt…
“I always used to say like the biggest pressure you can feel is when you are in F3 and F2,” he said, “You have only one year – at least for me, it was very clear inside my family and inside my career that I had only one year in each series. We didn’t know if we would have the money anyway to do a second year in F2 – and when you do a second year in F2, even if you win, it’s not guaranteed that you go to Formula 1.
“The pressure is actually when you are in these series, that you need to perform, you need to deliver, you need to win to have maybe a chance to win in F1
“I think still, you know, it’s a different type of pressure in F1, I want to do well, I want to perform. I achieved my goal of being in Formula 1, now it’s another goal – that is to be a great driver here and achieve bigger dreams.”
