Gabriel Bortoleto spoke about Max Verstappen’s influence on his Formula 1 career. The Brazilian stated that the four-time champion played a decisive role in important moments of his career and emphasized that he will be ‘eternally grateful’ for the help received over the years.
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The Brazilian built a close relationship with Verstappen even before reaching the category. According to Bortoleto, the friendship remains strong even now that both compete in F1 for different teams.
In an interview with RacingNews365, the São Paulo-born driver explained that the relationship goes far beyond the tracks: “First of all, he is a friend, someone I am happy to spend time with off the track, playing video games and having fun,” he stated.
In addition to friendship, the Brazilian highlighted the mentor role played by the Dutchman in various professional decisions: “He is a mentor in the sense that he gives me a lot of advice. He helped me enormously with my career when I was younger and continues to help now, with all my contracts and many of the things I shared with him, opinions and doubts about what I should do in this or that situation. Thanks to him, many good things have happened in my career.”
Bortoleto also praised Verstappen’s personal demeanor, emphasizing that the Red Bull Racing driver offers support without expecting anything in return: “He is simply someone who does a lot for you without expecting anything in return, and that kind of person is special. I will be extremely grateful to him for the rest of my life,” he said.
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The Brazilian also revealed that he hopes to reciprocate this kind of support in the future: “I hope that one day I can do for another kid what he did for me. It would be amazing to succeed in Formula 1 and be able to find someone young, with talent, and help them achieve their dreams too, being for them what he was, and is, for me,” continued the Audi driver.
Despite the closeness, Bortoleto recognizes that there are natural limits to the exchange of information between drivers from different teams. Still, he assures that both continue to share experiences whenever possible: “We are on different teams and cannot say everything, but the things we can share to help, I think we do frequently. I benefited greatly from the advice he gave me, and I hope he also managed to benefit from some of the advice I gave him,” he added.
When it comes to competition, however, friendship takes a back seat. Bortoleto emphasized that respect remains, but the rivalry is intense when the two meet on the track: “When we lower our visors, if I see him on the track, he races hard against me and I against him, always with respect, but very competitively. I hope to reach his level soon,” he concluded.
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