Sauber Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley is impressed by Gabriel Bortoleto’s 2025 F1 season. The rookie driver joined the Audi project following back-to-back rookie championships in F3 and F2.
Bortoleto showed off his pace during his rookie season, tying experienced teammate Nico Hülkenberg Hulkenberg in their qualifying head-to-head. While Hulkenberg came out on top for points finishes, Bortoleto had his share of strong performances. Notably, the Brazilian rookie took home P6 at the F1 Hungarian GP.
With Sauber transitioning to Audi for the 2026 F1 season, Wheatley spoke positively about their driver lineup amidst the team’s changing ownership.
Wheatley “encouraged” by Bortoleto’s F1 performances
In a print media session, Jonathan Wheatley praised Gabriel Bortoleto’s performance at the 2025 F1 Abu Dhabi GP. The Brazilian rookie had a difficult home race marked by DNFs in both the sprint and main race. Wheatley spoke encouragingly about Bortoleto’s resilience, bouncing back in Abu Dhabi to score P7 in qualifying.
“I mean, I’ll tell you what I am encouraged by. I’m encouraged by his recovery since Brazil. I mean, that was a significant accident. And then, look at his performance this weekend [F1 Abu Dhabi GP], look at his performance in qualifying. I mean, he’s just back on form again.
“I don’t want to put a number to a driver’s year, but let’s just say the team is incredibly pleased with his performance.”
Wheatley’s advice to Bortoleto
When asked advice he’d give to the young Brazilian, Wheatley responded, “Do you know what? He’s doing everything right and he’s on schedule — He’s building a team around him.”
Wheatley continued, praising Bortoleto’s integration into the team during his rookie F1 season.
“He’s building his engineering team around him. He’s understanding the car, he’s tempering his frustration — He’s a young guy, you hear his radio messages. He understands when the team’s on a journey. I don’t really have any advice for him that I haven’t already said to him in person, but I just think if we look at his rookie season, pretty outstanding season.”
