{"id":37864,"date":"2025-11-04T04:47:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T09:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=37864"},"modified":"2025-11-04T05:00:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T10:00:45","slug":"bortoleto-impresses-sauber-with-obsessive-work-in-simulator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/11\/04\/bortoleto-impresses-sauber-with-obsessive-work-in-simulator\/","title":{"rendered":"Bortoleto impresses Sauber with obsessive work in simulator"},"content":{"rendered":"

With just four races to go, Sauber are in the midst of their most competitive battle in the constructors for some time. Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg<\/a> lead the charge as the Swiss team battle for 6th in the Championship.<\/p>\n

For a team that languished at the back in 2023 and 2024, their revival this season is an immense surprise.<\/p>\n

A huge part of their resurgence has been their driver line-up, with Bortoleto and Hulkenberg performing strongly in a very competitive midfield. Bortoleto, given his inexperience, has particularly impressed the Hinwil-based team.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mattia Binotto and Gabriel Bortoleto. (Photo by Andy Hone\/LAT Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sauber “hugely encouraged” by Bortoleto’s rookie campaign<\/h2>\n

On paper, the 2025 season was supposed to be an awkward transitional year for Sauber. After barely scoring points in 2024, this year presented itself as a chance to concentrate their resources on the new regulations.<\/p>\n

Sauber’s chances of competing for anything meaningful were downplayed, with more emphasis placed on Audi’s debut in 2026.<\/p>\n

Of course, things have not gone according to this script. Since introducing a series of upgrades at the Spanish GP, Jonathan Wheatley’s team has been consistently fighting for points.<\/p>\n

Nico Hulkenberg even managed to grab a podium in Silverstone, a result which – though influenced by circumstance – was only possible due to the German driver’s strong pace in both wet and dry conditions.<\/p>\n

Since this top three result (the team’s first since Kobayashi in 2012), it is Gabriel Bortoleto who has emerged as the top performer at Sauber. With a winning qualifying record against Hulkenberg and impressive points tally, the Brazilian can be satisfied with his campaign.<\/p>\n

His team principal Jonathan Wheatley<\/a> certainly is, with the former Red Bull engineer revealing some of Bortoleto’s best qualities:<\/p>\n

“I think it\u2019s the maturity that I\u2019ve been the most surprised by. When you consider his age, the way he handles things \u2013 the frustration, the natural things you’d imagine from a driver in his first season \u2013 he handles them with such maturity.<\/em><\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve talked before about his work ethic. If he can be in the simulator, he\u2019s in the simulator. If he can be on a simulator, he\u2019s on a simulator.<\/em><\/p>\n

“And I think on top of that, the way he\u2019s knitting his engineering team around him \u2013 the way they\u2019re working together \u2013 is hugely encouraging as well.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto. (Photo by Sam Bagnall\/Sutton Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A chance for upward mobility in 2026<\/h4>\n

Next year’s fresh regulations will see Audi debut their first ever F1 engines. The team’s transition into a manufacturer team brings opportunity and pressure in equal measure – and 2026 will be the first test.<\/p>\n

Mattia Binotto<\/a> has been working behind the scenes to help assemble Audi’s engine department into an effective unit. In terms of personnel and infrastructure, the German brand should be in a solid enough position next season.<\/p>\n

The bigger uncertainty is whether they are capable of matching the results of more experienced manufacturers like Mercedes<\/a> and Ferrari<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Directly linked to their performance will be how easily they can retain their current driver line-up. Throughout the year, Sauber have benefited from the services of two drivers that bring a combination of speed, youth and experience.<\/p>\n

However, should Audi fail to deliver, someone like Gabriel Bortoleto could be highly sought after in the market. The Brazilian has already been linked to top teams earlier this season, and there will be no shortage of openings over the next twelve months.<\/p>\n

If Bortoleto can maintain his trajectory, 2026 could become a very busy year in terms of contract negotiations.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Clive Rose\/Getty Images (Sauber media gallery)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With just four races to go, Sauber are in the midst of their most competitive battle in the constructors for some time. Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg lead the charge as the Swiss team battle for 6th in the Championship. For a team that languished at the back in 2023 and 2024, their revival this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":37867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2359,2452,345],"class_list":["post-37864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-bortoleto","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-sauber"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37864"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37871,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37864\/revisions\/37871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}