Gabriel Bortoleto and Max Verstappen - Photo: Race Pictures

‘Wins in F1, why wouldn’t he win in GT3?’ – rookie praises Verstappen

15:02, 02 Oct

Updated: 15:05, 02 Oct

2 Comments

byKada Sarkozi

Gabriel Bortoleto was not surprised to see Max Verstappen win on his GT3 debut at the Nordschleife last weekend.

"He's winning in F1, why wouldn't he win in GT3?"

- Gabriel Bortoleto

"I’m not surprised. He’s winning in F1—why wouldn’t he win in GT3?” the Brazilian said in Singapore, referring to Verstappen’s victory in Germany.

"It’s obviously different categories, but I think already beat the record at the Nordschleife unofficially, so I expected him to do well in the race - and he did."

Bortoleto also praised Verstappen's teammate last Saturday, Chris Lulham.

"Not only him, but also his teammate—and good friend of mine—Chris Lulham, he did an amazing job coming from the sim world to the real track. The performance he has been putting in the races he has been doing is very impressive."

Max Verstappen at the Nordschleife - Photo: GPblog

Bortoleto would love to team up with champions in endurance racing

Verstappen has the goal of competing in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring one day.

Bortoleto also said that he would like to team up with the Dutchman and fellow world champion Fernando Alonso in the future at endurance events.

"I would love it. I mean, it's something I definitely want to do in the future.

"Not now, it's not my focus. I just joined F1, I want to have a long career here and a successful one, hopefully.

"But definitely one day I would love to share a car with him, maybe with Fernando [Alonso] as well. It would be very, very cool to share [a car] with them [at] a race like that, [to] have a new experience," he concluded.

F1 Paddock Update

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.