Max Verstappen says ‘keep an eye on Gabi’ in Bortoleto Red Bull hopes

Max Verstappen revealed he told Red Bull to “keep an eye on Gabi” even before Gabriel Bortoleto secured an F1 seat.

The two drivers have struck up a friendship through sim racing, and Verstappen has now revealed that it has had additional benefits for the current Sauber driver.

Max Verstappen reveals early backing for Gabriel Bortoleto

Bortoleto’s having a future in F1 was not always guaranteed, with the Brazilian part of the McLaren driver academy when he won the F2 title, but, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri blocking his path, Bortoleto instead switched to Sauber to partner Nico Hulkenberg.

The Swiss team’s decision has paid off with Bortleto being one of the most promising rookies this season, and that performance will have come as no surprise to Verstappen, who revealed he told Red Bull to “keep an eye on Gabi.”

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

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Verstappen was responding to the question of whether Bortoleto could ever partner him at Red Bull, and while he did not give a prediction, he said he hoped the Brazilian would be at a top team in the next three or four years.

“I mean, first of all, I don’t even know how long I’m going to do myself, you know?” he said. “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.”

It is not the first time Verstappen has struck up a friendship with a fellow driver, with him famously being on good terms with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, and the Dutchman made it clear that it is possible to be friends away from the track despite being against each other on it.

“I think at the end of the day, you always have a healthy kind of competition, and you always will want to beat each other, right?

“But at the end of the day, the personality of the person, whatever you do off track, will decide if you can be good friends.

“I think we have seen already in the past between other team-mates as well, it’s not been great. Like they could not be friends anymore or they had some issues.”

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