Sauber F1 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto has responded to negative comments made by Red Bull Advisor Dr Helmut Marko.
Ahead of his Sauber debut at the Australian Grand Prix, Gabriel Bortoleto has hit back at Marko’s negative comments about his driving.
Marko previously attacked The Brazilian’s ability and achievements in his junior formula career, accusing Bortoleto of playing it safe during races.
The head of Red Bull’s driver programme also said that Bortoleto lacked the “pure speed” to compete at the top level of motorsport.
I would classify him [Bortoleto] as a ‘B’ driver,” Marko said.
“He’s a very intelligent driver, he won the Formula 3 championship, but with only one win and he usually stays out of trouble.
“In Formula 2 he only managed two victories. He is a driver who brings the car home safely, has a good command of strategy and tyre management, but I don’t see that pure speed in him.”
Gabriel Bortoleto hits back hard
Speaking in a print media session on Thursday ahead of the Australian GP, Bortoleto accused of Marko of poor decision making.
He highlighted what he called “the wrong talents” into F1 during his time as head of Red Bull’s driver programme.
“I’ve seen that and I love challenges, and I think hearing that from Helmut, he’s a guy that has put a lot of talent in Formula 1 and has put a lot of wrong talents already in F1.
“So you can see he got it right and wrong.And hopefully I will prove him wrong with time. But nothing I can say now on media that will change his mind. Just my results on track, and I’m sure I’m going to prove him wrong at some point, and hopefully he will admit this when I prove him wrong.
In one final verbal dig at Marko, Bortoleto said he was proud of winning the F2 and F3 titles despite multiple Red Bull drivers in the field.
“But for now, I’m just focussing on doing my job and improving and doing the best I can. I’m proud of what I did in Junior Series. And I won in F2 and F3 against the Red Bull drivers he has. So all good for me.“
Feature Image Credit: @SauberF1 on X
