Gabriel Bortoleto @RacePictures

F1 sensation Bortoleto feels 'super glad' to have someone like Verstappen

10:54, 14 Sep

Updated: 12:04, 14 Sep

byTobia Elia

Gabriel Bortoleto spoke about how his friendship with Max Verstappen, and racing with him both on track and virtually, is helping him grow as a driver.

Gabriel Bortoleto speaking to his race engineer @RacePictures

''I'm super glad to have someone like him, being very helpful''

- Gabriel Bortoleto

'I think I currently learn,'' he told GPBlog in Monza media day last week. ''We drive a lot together in the sim and we practice a lot. I would say this is always helpful, tracks he already knows, tips he gives, about corners and things that I should be looking at. He always very good, the tips he gives to me.''

''He is a four-time world champ, so he achieved a lot in his career and I'm super glad to have someone like him, being very helpful. Sometimes I don't even ask it's coming from him and obviously you need to be curious, but it's very nice to have someone like this.''

''He has zero interest at the end of the day he's not working with me on any sense and helping me a lot. So I'm grateful.''

He finally added: ''He started helping me when I was in Formula 3. We became good friends and I believe he liked me probably (laughs). You should probably ask him why he takes me. I don't know the answer.''

''Again, probably because he likes me and I try to show him that I'm really into simulator and stuff that he likes, and that I love as well and we do it together.''

Bortoleto and Verstappen, a long-time friendship

Bortoleto and Max Verstappen have been friends for several years, with the four-time world champion already close to the Brazilian driver even before his Formula 1 debut this year.

The two have often gone viral on social media for clips of them racing together virtually or in simulators, and they have never hidden the fact that they share a strong bond.

In his first F1 season so far, Bortoleto has frequently spoken about his friendship with the Dutchman and how he draws valuable advice from him to further his development.

In an interview on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Bortoleto elaborated on his relationship with the Dutchman, starting with what kind of person he is to him: ''Straightforward, no fake, like he's zero fake. Whatever he is in front of the cameras, he's outside of the cameras.''

''Maybe people don't see sometimes the good side of him because he's so straightforward that people sometimes put him a bit of like as a villain. And it's not exactly like this. He has a very good heart and helping people. He's the guy that he shows.''

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