At the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix, Gabriel Bortoleto delivered an impressive sixth-place finish, demonstrating strong performance on merit rather than benefiting from race incidents. The young Sauber driver’s Hungarian GP performance highlighted his ability to compete confidently against top drivers in his rookie season.
Leading into the mid-season break, Bortoleto wrapped up the summer double-header with two solid results, placing ninth in Belgium before his noteworthy sixth place in Hungary. At the Hungaroring, despite Aston Martin’s competitive pace, he managed to extract every bit of performance from his car. A pivotal moment was his overtaking move on Lance Stroll, which was crucial in securing a finish ahead of both Aston Martin cars and strengthening his standing.
Bortoleto Reflects on His Strong Performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix
Reflecting on his result, Bortoleto expressed immense satisfaction, emphasizing that the outcome truly reflected the team’s pace and effort. He acknowledged that the final result was a demonstration of maximizing the car’s capabilities rather than benefiting from external factors.
“Super satisfied, I mean, I couldn’t be more satisfied than that, because I think that’s the real result we can achieve. More than this, it’s, you know, if we luck and if someone crashes or something happens, I think we really maximize the car we had today, or even did better, because I overtook Lance at the first l and we know the Astons had a very good pace this weekend.”
—Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber Driver
Sauber’s 2025 season has been their best first half in twenty years, with notable highlights such as Nico Hülkenberg’s podium finish at Silverstone moving the team close to Williams in the Constructors’ Championship. However, a resurgence from Aston Martin has since nudged Sauber down to seventh place, trailing by only a single point in the tightly contested midfield battle.
Bortoleto’s Rookie Season Milestone: Racing Against World Champions at Hungaroring
For Bortoleto, facing off against seasoned world champions Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen during his rookie Hungarian GP was both a thrilling and humbling experience. Starting on the grid positioned between Alonso and Verstappen, the young Brazilian described this moment as a remarkable milestone in his career.
The race outcome was especially satisfying as Bortoleto finished ahead of Verstappen, who came ninth, and just behind his mentor Alonso, who finished fifth. This showed his readiness to compete at a high level despite being a newcomer to Formula 1.
“Yeah, you know, two time world champ, four time world champ and I’m in the middle and you know it was just something amazing that I’m so glad to experience already my rookie season and be fighting against these guys. It’s just amazing. And honestly, I’m so happy it was a great race and we did everything we could.”
—Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber Driver
Currently, Bortoleto has scored 14 points for Sauber this season, compared to 37 points earned by his teammate Nico Hülkenberg. In the drivers’ championship standings, Bortoleto is placed 17th, while Sauber holds seventh place in the constructors’ rankings with 51 points. This is just one point shy of Aston Martin and 19 points behind Williams, the leaders in the midfield pack.
Gabriel Bortoleto’s robust Hungarian GP performance not only adds confidence to his rookie campaign but also signals Sauber’s improving competitiveness in the 2025 season. As the championship resumes after the summer break, maintaining momentum and challenging midfield contenders will be key for both Bortoleto and Sauber to climb higher in the standings.