Bortoleto shows his early F1 class again in response to Marko “B driver” jibe

In issuing a classy response to Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko branding him as only a “B” calibre driver, Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto has continued his strong start to life in the Formula 1 media spotlight glare.

Two weeks ago in the Bahrain test, Bortoleto was frank but angst-less in discussing how restrictions on F1’s Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) rule – cut to 1,000km over just four days and split across both drivers in a team – means he arrives as one of the least prepared drivers in the championship’s history given the ongoing restriction on pre- and in-season testing.

By comparison, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was able to log nearly 5,000 miles of running in older and then current machinery ahead of his F1 bow in 2007.

Some of Bortoleto’s deficit stems from his late signing for Sauber in November 2024 – as it meant he did not complete lengthy TPC programmes such as those run by Alpine for Jack Doohan ahead of his F1 graduation.

Now on the ground in Melbourne for the 2025 season opener after speaking eloquently on one niggling matter for rookie drivers in Bahrain, Bortoleto had to confront another in being questioned on the barbs of Marko.

Appearing on Red Bull’s in-house broadcaster ServusTV on Monday, Marko was asked to grade the five 2025 rookies other than Liam Lawson.

He declared Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Haas driver Oliver Bearman as “A” drivers – albeit with caveats regarding pressure on the former in debuting in F1 with Mercedes and a question about the risks he views as the latter often taking – and gave the same ‘grade’ to new Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar.

Marko dismissed Alpine’s Jack Doohan – another Red Bull junior between 2017-2021 – as a “C driver – I don’t think he’ll complete the full season” and gave Bortoleto just one grade higher.

“I’d rate him a B driver,” said Marko. “He’s a very intelligent racer – he won the Formula 3 championship [in 2023], but with only one victory. He tends to stay out of trouble.

“In Formula 2, he had only two wins. He’s a driver who brings the car home, has a solid grasp of strategy and tyre management, but I don’t see that ultimate speed in him.”

When these comments were put to Bortoleto in Melbourne, he replied: “I don’t care. I’ve seen that and I love challenges.

“Hearing that from Helmut – he’s a guy who has put a lot of talent in Formula 1 and has put a lot of wrong talents in F1. So, you can see he got it right and wrong and hopefully I will prove him wrong.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Team, Carlos Sainz, Williams, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

“But nothing I say now in the media will change his mind – just my results on track. I’m sure I’ll prove him wrong at some point and hopefully he will admit this.

“For now, I’m just focussing on doing my job and improving and doing the best I can. I’m proud of what I did in the junior series and I won in F2 and F3 against the Red Bull drivers he has, so good for me.”

Also speaking in Melbourne was Fernando Alonso – who has Bortoleto signed to his A14 management company.

While not asked about Marko’s comments, Alonso instead opined again on Bortoleto’s “dedication and his professionalism towards racing” – after being full of praise for his charge late in 2024.

“[That] has been probably the most impressive thing,” Alonso added. “Since day one, he was very committed to work hard for his dreams – already in FRECA but then in Formula 3 and then Formula 2, each race was very well prepared and a very mature approach.

“I think he deserves to be in Formula 1 and hopefully [has] a long career here and [is] successful. He has been the best rookie of this next generation that we see so many rookies [coming] into F1 this year.

“He has been the best of them, so [although] maybe he doesn’t have the car at the moment to match their results the first year, hopefully people don’t forget what he did in the last two.”

With track sessions in Melbourne now under a day away, Bortoleto doesn’t have long to wait in his quiet quest to prove one of F1’s biggest talkers wrong.