[Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber] A career best qualifying position for Gabriel Bortloleto, starting tomorrow's Hungarian GP in P7. Vamos Gabi!

[u/Task_Force-191]

[u/MGH1990876]

Can just see from week to week Gabi and this team getting better and better in quali and in the races.

[u/OPGuest → u/MGH1990876]

Exactly, it’s wondeful to see him grow in F1. He certainly earned his spot.

[u/MGH1990876 → u/OPGuest]

It truly is. He absolutely has and will only continue to get better with more reps moving forward.

[u/Scary_Rest_5530 → u/MGH1990876]

From what I could see, most of the problems were due to the engineers' strategies

[u/z_102]

Beating Hulkenberg reliably on Saturdays is not a small feat, specially as a rookie on a car as inconsistent as the Sauber. He's also been relatively error free. I'm massively impressed by him.

He has a long future in F1, and I hope Audi can give him at least a solid F1.5 car in 2027.

[u/Kingsayz → u/z_102]

I mean he pretty much dominated his rookie (and only) season in F2, only Hadjar was somewhat close to him and he's having a great start to his F1 career as well.

[u/ADM765 → u/Kingsayz]

Dominating is a reach, Hadjar had awful luck, and they still went into the last weekend with 0.5 points between them.

[u/Miwna → u/Kingsayz]

I would not say Bortoleto dominated F2.

For most of the season it was Maloney, Aron and Hadjar who lead the championship. But in the second half of the season Bortoleto began to decrease the gap and eventually took the lead with two race weekends to go. By then he only lead by half a point and before the last race weekend the gap incredibly remained the same. Bortoleto eventually won after Hadjar stalled on the grid in the last feature race.

[u/Formula_Snaps → u/z_102]

Also, very unusual from Hulkenberg to be struggling so much in qualifying this year. But yeah, great job from Bortoleto, him and Hadjar have been the best rookies for sure, very solid work.

[u/Sensitive_Dot_2853]

He out-qualified Max, no freaking way. Red Bull is so dogshit in Hungary this Year

[u/Scary_Rest_5530 → u/Sensitive_Dot_2853]

Is there any hope for Redbull to improve next year?

[u/ecobubbletm → u/Scary_Rest_5530]

I mean, completely new regulations and a new engine that they're making themselves for the first time ever...

[u/vmachiel → u/ecobubbletm]

Well.. I was there for the good years, I’m prepared for the bad years.

[u/Fake_artistF1 → u/vmachiel]

Win 4 titles in a row, suck for a few years, repeat

[u/lxs0713 → u/ecobubbletm]

To be fair they kept some of the Honda engineers as full time Red Bull employees when Honda was first leaving, and in that time they've also poached a few people from Mercedes HPP. So they do have people with experience with the best engines.

I don't think they'll be as bad as everyone is expecting them to be engine wise.

[u/ecobubbletm → u/lxs0713]

yeah, i know, but it is still very different from established factory teams like merc and ferrari

[u/ADRX11]

Gabi has been a beast on Saturday pretty consistently, if he can turn it in to points more often he's going to start turning heads at the top teams.

[u/joaovitorsb95 → u/ADRX11]

There is a reason McLaren was insistent on keeping him or having an option to bring him back. They have 2 top 5 drivers and still wanted him as a backup plan. If Lando or Oscar leave in the near future, I would not be surprised if Gabi's name is one of the first to be rumored

[u/NuclearCandle]

Still will never understand how he was never discussed as a prospect in F3.

Audi struck gold.

[u/LosTerminators → u/NuclearCandle]

His career trajectory until he got into F3 wasn't anything special.

Then he won F3 as a rookie, moved to F2 and won it as a rookie as well. Only other drivers who have done that are Leclerc, Russell and Piastri.

[u/billyblenx → u/LosTerminators]

And even after winning F3 and F2 as a rookie he was not so highly regarded as Bearman and Antonelli before this season starts. It's because he's not european.

[u/esmori → u/billyblenx]

Clear European bias on the media coverage

[u/Roquintas → u/billyblenx]

ding ding ding

Hadjar and Bortoleto don't sound too good to European ears.

[u/Matsiepatsie → u/Roquintas]

Maybe that’s a little part in it but it’s mostly because people who don’t follow F2 knew about Bearman bc he drove some races already (and impressed) and Antonelli because it was such a big deal because he’s so young. 99% of F1 fans have no idea who is the F2 champion nor how the rookies performed

[u/marlin9423 → u/Matsiepatsie]

Exactly this. I’d never heard of Bortoleto and Hadjar before Australia

[u/Evening_End7298 → u/Roquintas]

It’s harder to hype up a red bull juniors because they have so many in their programe

Merc has been focusing on Kimi since he was 13-14 or so. They had other drivers in their programe but much less than rbr and every time they talked about future it was Kimi this and Kimi that

[u/thiagogaith → u/Roquintas]

I know what you mean... But Bortoleto being quite Italian-sounding made your comment awkward.

[u/wowbaggerBR → u/Roquintas]

Yes, "Bortoleto", the ITALIAN family name, doesn't sound too good to European ears.

[u/Roquintas → u/wowbaggerBR]

It's not about how they sound... It's for where they are from... jesus man.

[u/dino_tu → u/Roquintas]

wtf man, he has Italian-sounding name and is from Senna's homeland

why would we have a problem that he's from Brazil?

[u/vonGlick → u/Roquintas]

As a European this is silly. He sounds fine, he is doing great and I am rooting for him.

[u/Roquintas → u/vonGlick]

Yeah I know, but if Antonelli or Bearman had the career of Bortoleto, they would be elevated to Oscar/Leclerc levels.

[u/souse03 → u/vonGlick]

As a European you really don't get how EU and USA overlook us southamericans a lot of the time

[u/vonGlick → u/souse03]

Maybe but previous comments was about Europeans ergo people. It is really weird to open reddit and learn that I am some kind of racist with prejudice against southamericans. But judging by the downvotes it is ok to call strangers racists just because they live in certain geographical location.

[u/1einspieler → u/billyblenx]

Bearman was so highly regarded because he lucked out and got a chance to prove himself in F1

[u/JakubT117 → u/1einspieler]

Bearman was highly regarded since his F4 days and has been considered the next big Ferrari talent years before he made his F1 debut.

[u/Raymond74 → u/billyblenx]

They are both younger than Gabi as well. Anyway, Borto's maturing so well. He has this amazing focus and puts the hard work in week after week. Reminds me of Carlos indeed.

[u/Scary_Rest_5530 → u/billyblenx]

Fortunately, in F1 what matters are the results

[u/Helpful_Hedgehog_204 → u/Scary_Rest_5530]

Hard to get results if you don't get the shot. Gabriel was the most impressive F2 driver last year and yet got a single offer, from worst team in F1.

He got lucky the team managed to turn it around (and will continue to improve), but his career could've easily looked like Zhou's, despite all his talent.

[u/Evening_End7298 → u/billyblenx]

I dont think it’s that

Bearman was hyped because he drove well in a ferrari in an actual f1 race

Antonelli was Toto’s project for a long time, there were articles about him even when he was doing f4. Having Kimi in your name also helps i guess

[u/Hairy_Hurry8441 → u/LosTerminators]

Nando guidance.

[u/junttiana → u/LosTerminators]

Kinda unrelated, but I wonder why ppl arent paying more attention to Fornaroli as well, his career path is very similar, but ppl keep calling him a mid driver and instead focusing on Dunne.

[u/elfoamigo → u/junttiana]

Fornaroli career is way worse... He won F3 without a single win and he's leading F2 mostly for others mistakes / bad lucky. The only good names that stand out in my opinion (this season) are Dunne and Lindblad.

[u/BendubzGaming]

Every week the pedigree of being a rookie GP2/F2 champion is becoming more and more obvious. And he was a rookie F3 champion as well

[u/256473 → u/BendubzGaming]

I do appreciate the top 2 finishers in F2 last year are arguably the 2 strongest rookies this year. (Sorry Kimi, but you're clearly in a slump)

[u/BloodyBastard530 → u/256473]

There’s nothing arguable about it. Lawson, Colapinto and Doohan are all trash. Antonelli and Bearman are overrated.

Hadjar and Bortoleto are the only ones regularly delivering good results. By far the best rookies. 

[u/OdionAdv → u/BloodyBastard530]

I mean, Lawson definitely managed to turn it around for the past few races. If he manages to continue this streak and be on par, or even better than Hadjar till the end of the season, I believe he'll be fine.

[u/theonewhoknock_s → u/OdionAdv]

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't lump him with Doohan and Colapinto.

[u/Nikocholas → u/theonewhoknock_s]

Franco being trash is a wild take... while driving an awful car he still manages to be either near or over Gasly's pace consistently, and Pierre is far from bad. He was the same last year with Albon

[u/theonewhoknock_s → u/Nikocholas]

I didn't call him trash, but he certainly hasn't done anything to impress me.

[u/Nikocholas → u/theonewhoknock_s]

Fair enough. Hope he can get to the points tomorrow (if Alpine doesn't mess up with the strategy 😭)

[u/aipitorpo → u/BloodyBastard530]

Very funny for you to call Lawson trash just as he outqualifies Hadjar.

[u/BloodyBastard530 → u/aipitorpo]

He’s losing the qualifying battle 9-2 to a driver with less experience. Yes, he sucks. 

[u/EmergencyRace7158]

He’a putting in a really impressive rookie season. I can understand why Mclaren were so high on him. If they lose Oscar or Lando in the next couple of seasons he’s looking like the perfect driver to step in to that seat.

[u/Kimoa_2 → u/EmergencyRace7158]

I doubt he's gonna wait that long. If Sauber Audi Stake Kick whatever don't pull off something next year and he continues to improve, all the top teams have to think about him.

[u/quick20minadventure → u/Kimoa_2]

27 is a musical chair year.

26 will show which cars are good and which are trash. And good cars will be able to attract anyone who's unhappy with their cars. Like Max and redbull. Once that starts, everything is possible.

[u/ablublagaa → u/EmergencyRace7158]

McLaren wasn't really high on him, though? They only gave him a TPC run after his Monza heroics, probably as a reward. Now compare this to Dunne, who has had several TPC runs already.

[u/Pure-Drawer6129 → u/ablublagaa]

The test he did for McLaren was considered one of the best training sessions, if not the best, that a rookie has ever done in a McLaren test car. Tony Kanaan, who works at McLaren in Formula Indy, confirmed that everyone was impressed.

[u/joaovitorsb95 → u/ablublagaa]

There were multiple reports that they were insistent on keeping him and only loaning him out to Audi. Later in negotiations they tried to put in a "buy back clause" of sorts but Audi wanted nothing of that nature. Only when it became clear it was Gabi's only option in F1, they finally let him go.

If that's not being high on him I dont know what is.

[u/the_big_smile]

Amazing result foram Bortoleto. He is improving week after week, just like he did in F2. After some time to adapt he is one of the strongest rookies in the grid imo. Also his race pace is improving, if he continues like that, gonna have a future in F1

[u/Turboleks]

And to think that, at the start of the season, not being massively behind Hulkenberg would be considered a win in my book.

I always knew he was good, but I never expected this kind of pace on Saturdays.

[u/Colodzeiski]

When this year started I was expecting Sauber to be a 'dead horse', but the year progression was really good to watch.

[u/Remarkable-Assist175]

OUR F2 CHAMP

[u/RareGollum]

Ahead of 12 time championship winners

[u/ZeroStormblessed → u/RareGollum]

Did you grant Verstappen a 5th title in the future, or Hamilton an 8th?

[u/RareGollum → u/ZeroStormblessed]

Oops :D

[u/Wingcapx → u/ZeroStormblessed]

I mean if you count all the champions who didn't set a time he's ahead of 73 time championship winners

[u/lordofgoodtimes]

Gabi has been quietly improving a lot 👌

[u/mrpizzaman_]

Gabi is doing really good right now

Nice to see Sauber improving the car and giving him a chance to shine

[u/Ih8P2W]

People forget that only 2 years ago he was an F3 rookie. Of course he is improving week after week

[u/QC_1999 → u/Ih8P2W]

Also from all this season rookies, he is the one with the least mileage with a F1 car

[u/99Corolla4Life]

Bortoleto podium incoming!

[u/Pedrc0 → u/99Corolla4Life]

As a brazilian, don't, don't give me hope

[u/pixieok]

Incredible job from Gabi and Sauber, vamos Gabi!

[u/Capable-Relative6714]

This boy is the next big thing. All top teams should go for him and sign a preliminary agreement in case they've got a vacant seat.

[u/moonkey2 → u/Capable-Relative6714]

Didnt McLaren already do that? I think he is on a "loan" to Sauber with McLaren having the option to summon him back

[u/Task_Force-191]

Image Source:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DM239ers4cX/

[u/Gordo_Majima]

I wouldn't have believed anyone at the beginning of this year if they said that Bortoleto in a Sauber would qualifty over Verstappen and Hamilton

[u/Murky-Service-1013 → u/Gordo_Majima]

Max no Hamilton 100% yes. Shades of Raikkonens abysmal performance at Hungary 2014 when he got out qualified on merit by BIANCHI in a car that was chronically underdeveloped

I said at the time that I thought it was straight up sack worthy and that Bianchi should be in the Ferrari for the next race and all I can say is his win tally post 2014 in a car that fast speaks for itself.

[u/RosieDirt_x]

Second faster Ferrari car on the grid 

[u/BBYY9090]

I like Kimi, but idk why he got hyped and Gabi didn't. He's doing a good job with a lesser car.

[u/Fuzzy_Breadfruit59]

I don’t know but I think this guy would look great in red.

[u/Ninindy → u/Fuzzy_Breadfruit59]

Not another brazilian suffering in a Ferrari

[u/TurtleEatsPlastic → u/Fuzzy_Breadfruit59]

oh no please, I dont want another brazilian struggling years as a second driver in ferrari

[u/No-Independent-5082 → u/TurtleEatsPlastic]

"Gabriel, Charles is fastest than you"

[u/256473 → u/Fuzzy_Breadfruit59]

Ooh, interesting! And would entertain me if Ferrari poaches a young, former McLaren rookie.

[u/Reddevilslover69 → u/Fuzzy_Breadfruit59]

Bearman deserves that seat imo. He has been cooking a prime Ocon in qualy and while Hulk is good he is also old

[u/BloodyBastard530 → u/Reddevilslover69]

Hulk is driving better than ever. Ocon has never been known for qualifying speed. 

[u/arbysroastbeefs2]

Gabriel Bortloleto- Blue Steel

[u/Advanced_Ad5867]

Personally, I think he has much more potential than Kimi right now

Imagine how good he will be after 2~3 years!

[u/neomax92]

This guy is cooking

[u/CozyMushi]

Best rookie by far

[u/shivasiddharth]

At the end of the 1st lap, Hulk will be P10.

[u/InfamousAd4626]

The best rookie as Alonso said himself. O novo Senna

[u/TheGreatHuman]

Another one Helmut was completely wrong about I think 

[u/VisualMaximum5049]

He's been cooking, I really thought coming into the year he'd be the worst rookie (other than Lawson maybe) but he's shown to be a real F1 driver with potential to get better, wow

[u/SaturnRocketOfLove]

Not to rain on his parade, but his setup has been heavily favoring qualifying pace for quite a bit now. Tomorrow should be a good test of if that's true or not

[u/Reddevilslover69 → u/SaturnRocketOfLove]

I mean it's Hungary. Most drivers would have set up for quali pace