Bortoleto opens up on Max Verstappen McLaren contract advice

Gabriel Bortoleto said that Max Verstappen has “helped so much” throughout his career, even when it came to his racing “contracts”.

Bortoleto revealed that one of the career decisions which he got Verstappen’s advice on was signing with McLaren. Bortoleto won the Formula 2 title as a McLaren-backed driver, and went on to sign with Sauber, which becomes Audi for F1 2026.

Max Verstappen advised Bortoleto on McLaren contract

Bortoleto went back-to-back by winning the 2023 Formula 3 and 2024 Formula 2 crowns.

Under Fernando Alonso’s A14 management stable, Bortoleto signed as a McLaren junior off the back of his F3 title win.

It turns out that Verstappen offered his advice to Bortoleto on signing that contract.

With no McLaren seat available for 2025, Bortoleto signed with Sauber and impressed in his rookie campaign.

Alongside teammate Nico Hulkenberg, he transitions into the Audi F1 era from 2026.

“I have had a great friendship with Max for a long time already,” Bortoleto told RacingNews365.

“I believe it’s exposed now in the media, because you guys see me with him, going around, sometimes doing some live streams, playing games and stuff.

“Obviously, we have got closer and closer in Formula 1 because we are racing together, and we spend a lot of time together, and he is a great guy.

“What many people don’t know is that he has helped me so much throughout my career, even when I was in the junior formulas.

“I’m used to asking him a lot about things, even my own contracts, when I was still in the junior series. When I was about to sign for McLaren, I asked him for his opinion. When I was about to join Sauber, I also asked him about it.

“He has been involved, even if people don’t really know about it, in a way that he has always been able to help me if I had any questions.

“He was not telling me what to do, but he was giving me his opinion about things on questions I asked him, and that’s very nice of him because he doesn’t really need to do that.

“But he has always been very nice and open with me. So we have created this thing, and it’s cool. We have practised together in the sim, and he helps me a lot.

“Hopefully, I have helped him as well. I try to push him, but I definitely have a lot more to learn from him than him from me.”

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It turns out that Verstappen was also putting in a good word for Bortoleto at Red Bull.

Time will tell whether we see a Verstappen and Bortoleto partnership on the F1 grid at any stage.

“I already said to the team before you [Bortoleto] even got to Formula 1, ‘keep an eye on Gabi,’” said Verstappen on the Pelas Pistas podcast. “But now we’re all here, and let’s just see how it evolves.

“I mean, first of all, I don’t even know how long I’m going to do myself. I have a contract until ’28, but after that, nothing is agreed on or what. I don’t even know myself.

“So I hope, let’s say, in general, I just hope for Gabi, that he gets an opportunity within the next three, four years, of course, to be really competitive in the front and fight for podiums and then, if that’s in the same team, I mean, even better, because that means that we are both fighting for the best positions.”

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