Alonso believes in his pupil: 'He is ready for Formula 1'
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Expectations are high for Gabriel Bortoleto. Not only does his native Brazil crave a successful F1 driver, but above all, the only 20-year-old Formula 2 champion wants to show right away in 2025 that he was rightly brought in by Sauber. Fernando Alonso, who is Bortoleto's manager, believes in his pupil.
At Alonso's management agency A14, young drivers are trained to eventually enter Formula 1. After consecutive titles in Formula 3 and Formula 2, that opportunity has come early for Bortoleto. Too early perhaps? In any case, Alonso does not believe that that is the case.
'Bortoleto will demand the maximum from himself'
Sauber's car was not strong last year, which makes expectations for next season modest: "Maybe the pressure is not huge when you are not maybe as you said super competitive from day one but he will obviously put the pressure on himself try to be competitive," Alonso told the likes of GPblog.
"It will be a big change from any other series to Formula One but we saw with some of the rookies as well that they are very well prepared to the sport, so I'm not afraid that he will enjoy the experience and he will be ready for it, and he's very young so for the first couple of years he needs to be passing and he needs to be learning every day. Because Formula One at the very beginning, it teaches you a lot of things," Alonso said.
Sauber will be embarking on a transition year for 2025 before becoming Audi's factory team in 2026. In addition to Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg has been recruited.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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