Should Kelly Piquet watch out? Verstappen has a bromance in F1!

The two have had a great relationship for a long time, and Verstappen also gives the young Brazilian advice. For example ahead of the chaotic Australian Grand Prix, the two talked about which tyres to start on, the Dutchman shared at the time.

The two also do a lot of sim racing. Bortoleto was asked whether it's true that 'older brother' Verstappen defeats him all the time in the sim.

"That's a lie, first of all. It depends. When we drive together, I start beating him, then he goes and changes the whole set-up of the car to make it difficult. Then I spend a couple of hours trying to beat his lap time, and he goes around telling everyone, “I beat Gabi and he’s taken me two hours to beat me again”. So...," the Brazilian began.

It was then Verstappen's turn to react. “I like the competition. We used to do this already when Gabi was still in F3, F2. Now it's nice – both of us are in Formula 1. Whenever we have free time, we race. Of course, with the Formula 1 cars, but also any form of gaming to be honest. It’s great that you can do that as drivers together.”

The Dutchman also added they have some other things in common as well. “Gabi had a fairly similar path to Formula 1. He started karting at CRG. He told me stories about the boss, Giancarlo at the time – who I also grew up with. So it’s really fun.”

Similarly to the Australian GP, Verstappen also said if Bortoleto has any questions about F1, his door is also open. “Wherever I can say something or advise, I think I'm quite an open book, so I do that. And besides that, the healthy rivalry we have when we are on the simulator preparing for a weekend or whatever – it’s good. You do battles, hot lapping at the same time, trying to beat each other. It's fun.”

Verstappen says the Brazilian could compete for his team, Team Redline. "Well, yeah, it depends on Gabi. I’m already competing. It’s more about his free time and what he wants to dedicate."

Bortoleto concluded: "I’m already spending a lot of time on sim racing as well. But, yeah, why not? If Max invites me to do some endurance racing, I’m happy to do it."