Gabriel Bortoleto has confessed that his transition from dominating in Formula 2 and Formula 3 to battling near the back of the Formula 1 grid has been a challenging experience.
The Kick Sauber rookie, who made his F1 debut in 2025, says he has resigned himself to being patient as he looks to grow and improve throughout a difficult first season.
The gleaming world of Formula 1 is a dream for any young driver. But for Bortoleto who arrived in F1 with a reputation as a prodigious talent after winning both the F3 and F2 championships, the transition from dominating junior formulas to scrapping at the back of the grid has so far been a humbling experience.
His best result so far – a P14 in China – reflects the stark reality of competing in a lower-tier midfield team like Sauber, where points are a distant prospect.
Speaking during the drivers’ press conference ahead of last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Bortoleto opened up about the mental and emotional challenges he’s been facing.
“It's not easy, if I'm honest,” the rookie acknowledged.
“It's not easy. You come from two championships – you’re used to being in this room but actually after a race, because you win or you are on the podium.
“Now for us it's already a mega job if you're going to Q2 or fighting for Q3.”
Learning from F1's Tougher Lessons
Despite the difficult start to his Formula 1 career, Bortoleto is keeping perspective by looking at the paths of other now-successful drivers who also endured challenging rookie campaigns.
“There's always going to be someone paying this price at the beginning,” he explained.
“If you see George Russell at the beginning of his Formula 1 career, I don't think he scored a point in his first season, or something like this.
“And now he's one of the best drivers on the grid and doing such a great job, I wouldn’t say fighting for the championship right now, but he's constantly on the podium or fighting for things. So it's all about having patience."
©Sauber
For Bortoleto, this patience is coupled with a commitment to continuous learning and self-improvement, even if points seem out of reach for now.
“There's nothing much I can do right now – just learn, try to grow as a driver in these tough moments and do a better job every race weekend.
“Get better, because I'm not fighting for points right now – that's the realistic situation. Not me, not Nico [Hulkenberg].
“Nico did a very good job in Australia with a messy race and managed to score points, but realistically in the last three or four rounds we have not been able to be there by pure pace.”
Everything Can Happen
Even though Sauber has faced an uphill battle at the start of 2025, Bortoleto remains optimistic about the team’s potential to move forward with development over the season.
“What we need to do now is try to point the team in the right direction with the development of the car,” he said.
“We saw last year with Sauber as well – they were last through the whole year basically, and I think with one or two upgrades they brought, they were back to fighting for Q3.
"So in this world I've learned something: everything can happen. So we cannot give up.”
Read also: F1i Driver Ratings for the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP
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Bortoleto : ‘Nothing much I can do – just learn, grow and be patient’ F1i.com.
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