How Verstappen helped Bortoleto on his visit to F1

He Gabriel Bortoleo And Max Verustapane This year has become well clear on many occasions.

Just before the start of Australian Grand Prix, four -time Formula 1 World Champion advised Save Stop to start the race on intermediate tires – a call that proved to be correct. In the Austrian GP qualifying, he also provided a bellolato with an auxiliary slipstream. However, what is less known is that the VarSTEPEN was already supporting Bortolato before Brazil’s F1 of Brazil.

“Max is a wonderful boy,” Bortoleo told Autosport when asked about his relationship. “For me, together with the Arton Army, he is the best driver ever. I really see Max as one of the best. I really praise the way he has an understanding of racing, racing, racing, what he has, his understanding about the car, and whatever he does.

The two first started bonding in 2023, when Bortolato was still running in Formula 3. “I started talking with Max more often when I was in the beginning of my season in F3. We started playing a lot of video games together – and sim racing,” he said. “We created a very good relationship where he helps me a lot. He helped me in my way for Formula 1 with a lot of suggestions and advice, and a lot to talk to people in F1 Padock about me.”

Jonathan Wheatley, who took over Save Team principal earlier this year after a long term as Sports Director Red bull racingOne of those people was. “Jonathan always tells me that Max raised me a lot before coming to Saubber/Audi,” Bortoleo revealed. “I know that Max does not speak about it often, and he does not speak about it in the media, that he helped me by talking to people in Formula 1. But he was ready to help me, because he saw that I was doing good results.”

His first encounter is in the dates of 2017. A photo posted on Instagram has been erected by Bortoleo as evidence. “This was the first time I met Max, yes,” Bortoleo remembered.

“I was shaking. Because he was part of the carting team for which I ran, CRG, and the people there used to talk to him a lot,” he said. “Max had finished its second season in F1, and I have heard a lot about this young man who was doing so well in Formula 1.

“So I really wanted to meet him. And once he came in a race and I asked for a photo. He was absolutely quiet and super good. And then we took that picture. It went viral (earlier this year), because it is good to see that moment again.”

Shared passion

Six years after that first photo, both joined through SIM racing – one activity takes both very seriously.

“This is fun, the history behind it, because I used to be really bad in sim racing,” said Bortoleo. “When I started, I hated it, because I was not good. And when you are not good in something, you are generally not very emotional about it. Because you are basically kicking your donkey.”

He remembers his first sim racing experience. “It was in Milan. I had nothing at home or nothing. It was one Ferrari Sim on Ferrari Store, “he said.

“I went there and left it, and I was far away from the speed compared to the top people. And I remember that my father was looking at me and he was liking: ‘life’ and ‘simulator is not realistic’ and I started practicing.”

This proved to be a significant turn for Bortoleto. “I bought my first small simulator, so I could practice at home. And I just got addicted to it. Sim racing is so intoxicated. Once you start driving, you cannot stop.

“So I started upgrading my SIM and I became the best, I would say, in SIM racing – for a real driver. Obviously, SIM drivers are better than me, because they are doing it every single moment of the day, and I don’t have so much time.

Although Bortoleo felt differently after his first experience, he now says that sim racing has become ‘extremely important’ for their development. “When you go on a new track – or even you know – it helps. It helps. When I arrive on a track, I think I have already made a thousand lapses, just because I have all the practices done at home.

“You also learn a lot about car set-ups. In SIM, you can change the set-up and try different things. Obviously, you can not set your real F1 car into the SIM, but you can learn a lot about what you can change in the set-up, because you can change the same thing in the real life. So you can be tested.

A member of Vastapane’s team

Bortoleto Team Redline, Verustapain’s professional has also been an ambassador for the SIM racing team. “I joined 2023, when I was still in F3. I was always talking with people and playing, but I officially joined them that year,” said Bortoleo.

What is included in his role? “I just practice with them. I do a lot of SIM racing – mainly with Max – and sometimes with other SIM drivers. But we don’t do any official race together. Maybe at the end of the year we will be a couple of endurance race that I will be part of it. But see how it goes.”

Unlike Vastapane, he is not involved in helping the team with car set-up. “No, this is not the job I do there,” Bortolato revealed. “And I don’t have time for him. Also, they play mainly ereking and endurance -different types of games that I usually play. I drive a lot of F1 car, in Essateo Course, and sometimes I do something in GT3 cars. When I play with team raids, I try to beat each other.

A top -10 driver in Assetto CRSA

Asked where he rank in the world’s best SIM racers, Bortolato smiled: “It depends on the game. In the Esseto course with F1 car – which I focus too much – I say I am the top 10, probably top 5.

“I play a lot of assetto cersa these days, because I think it is most realistic in terms of tire behavior and how the car behaves,” Bortoleto said. “Iracking is amazing for racing. And you have qualifying and practice sessions, so it sounds like a race weekend. But Assetto Cersa is more about lapping up on its own or with his friends. So not about racing, but more about practicing and respecting your skills.

“But I need to come back to a little ereking. I stepped up to focus more on F1 in Asseto, but I need to focus a little more on it to go back and work on my ranking.”