Adversity made this rookie stronger: 'Gained more confidence'

11:36, 19 Aug

byLudo van Denderen

It was not until the Austrian Grand Prix that Gabriel Bortoleto could celebrate his first points in Formula 1. The Brazilian from Sauber has now earned fourteen points, while his experienced teammate Nico Hulkenberg stands at 37. As big as the difference in the standings for the world championship may seem, it's quite small in reality.

It should not be forgotten that Bortoleto is only in his rookie season, during which he not only had to get used to the F1 car, but also had to learn to deal with the tough one that Sauber started with. "I am actually very happy with my rookie season so far," Bortoleto told among others, GPblog.

Bortoleto became mentally stronger

" The beginning has been very tough, with the car and being able to overcome that moment. Instead of losing confidence, I actually only gained confidence this year."

"So when you have a very tough car, I believe it's very easy, at the beginning of your career to lose confidence with the car and not push enough in the corners after. Then you start being slow and you don't know why. And that was not the case so far. I feel like I've only gained confidence."

Bortoleto grants teammate Hulkenberg his success

Joy for Hulkenberg

Bortoleto says he learnt every round, which allows him to look back on the first part of the season with a very positive feeling. Another person doing that is Nico Hulkenberg. Bortoleto views the Dutchman with admiration, who won his first-ever podium in Formula 1 in Britain.

"We know Nico has been always a super strong driver in Formula 1 and known as a very great qualifier. Now he has a podium, but he didn’t have that before. And I really felt like he deserved much more than that because of the talent he has."

"We work very well together, we talk a lot about the car, what we need, things that we discuss, so it's a very good relationship. And being able to be there fighting every single weekend, it's something that makes me very happy because it shows that I'm doing a good job and after even seeing how good of a season he's having being able to be there it's always something positive," he concluded.