Gabriel Bortoleto reportedly attracting interest from top team

Bortoleto wastes no time adapting to F1

Nico Hulkenberg, who claimed his long-awaited maiden podium in Silverstone, is highly respected in the paddock. Putting aside his podium drought, the German has put together a very solid career in F1.

Few drivers are capable of staying on the grid across a 15-year span, which speaks volumes about Hulkenberg’s calibre. His record against several race-winning teammates, from Carlos Sainz to Sergio Perez, also paint a positive picture about his abilities.

After two very strong years with Haas, the 38-year-old was always going to be a strong benchmark for Bortoleto to face.

There are positives and negatives to having a teammate of such high calibre. On one side, it leaves a rookie like Bortoleto with nowhere to hide when making direct comparisons. Simultaneously, there are positives to going up against such a strong benchmark.

In various interviews this year, Bortoleto has spoken in glowing terms of his teammate. Perhaps most interestingly, the Brazilian has admitted his surprise at how much information Hulkenberg has been willing to share with him.

The veteran has given Bortoleto advice throughout the season, especially in the early stages – when Sauber lacked the pace to score points on merit. In this sense, Sauber are benefiting from having a driver line-up that combines youth with experience.

Of course, Hulkenberg is still the lead Sauber in the Championship. His podium in Silverstone also marked the Swiss outfit’s first silverware in over a decade, when Kobayashi finished on the podium at the Japanese GP in 2012.

With that said, Bortoleto’s record against the 38-year-old is extremely impressive. The Brazilian is beating his more experience teammate 11-7 in their qualifying head-to-head, a truly noteworthy statistic. His race pace is also nothing to laugh at, having consistently closed the gap to Hulkenberg in the standings.

A surprise player in next year’s market

Bortoleto’s results have earned him praise from across the paddock – including manager Fernando Alonso. The Double World Champion argued even before the summer break that Bortoleto was not receiving enough praise for his performances.

As the 2025 season enters its final stages, recognition of the 20-year-old’s abilities is clearly growing. Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley has understandably spoken in very glowing terms about his young prodigy. The former Red Bull Sporting Director knows better than most how to identify top talent.

Elsewhere, reports are surfacing about Bortoleto becoming a hot commodity in the driver market. According to Swiss outlet Blick, perhaps the outlet that most comprehensively covers Sauber, Bortoleto is on Ferrari’s “wish list” for 2027.

Of course, this information should not be blown out of proportion. Assuming Ferrari are indeed interested in the Sauber driver, it is not necessarily out of the ordinary for a team team to identify exciting prospects on the grid. Ferrari also have their own all-star line-up (Hamilton and Leclerc) on multi-year deals.

This is without mentioning Oliver Bearman, Ferrari junior driver, who is establishing himself as a reference at Haas.

Still, it would be a disservice to the Brazilian to overlook his growing market value. As teams, including Ferrari, enter an era of uncertainty with the 2026 regulations, next year’s driver market is set to be the most volatile in recent years.

It is not beyond reason that vacancies will emerge at some of the top teams over the next twelve months. In this scenario, someone like Bortoleto can be expected to attract plenty of interest from across the paddock – particularly if he continues outperforming his teammate.