Hinwil’s summer mood is a far cry from the early-season grind. The car’s finally alive, the points are flowing, and Gabriel Bortoleto looks less like a rookie and more like a driver who’s figured out how to live in Formula 1.
Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley believes the best is about to get easier. After watching Bortoleto bag his first F1 points in Austria and back them up with two more top-10s in the next three races, the boss is convinced the second half of the year will suit the Brazilian even more.
“It’s his first season in Formula 1,” Wheatley said, reminding everyone how raw Bortoleto still is. “There are many circuits that he’s not been to… He’s been able to deliver brilliantly over the last few races, on circuits that he knows. I think he’s matured, and he’s going to be able to adapt to these new circuits much quicker than he did in the first half of the season.”
That’s a long way from where Sauber started. Bortoleto arrived from a title-winning Formula 2 campaign with limited F1 mileage — no Friday outings with McLaren in 2024, and only Bahrain on the early calendar was familiar from his junior days. The car didn’t help, either. Nico Hülkenberg scraped just one top-10 in the opening eight rounds.
Then came the Spain upgrade. Suddenly, Sauber’s C45 stopped fighting its drivers and started rewarding them. Hülkenberg turned the corner into a career-first F1 podium at Silverstone, and Bortoleto’s form surged in tandem.
The paddock’s taken notice. There’s a growing chorus calling Bortoleto the standout rookie across the opening 14 events — a tag that not long ago seemed nailed to Isack Hadjar. Hülkenberg, who’s seen the data up close, is all-in on his teammate’s trajectory.
“He’s a very bright, very fast guy, dedicated and focused,” Hülkenberg said. “For a rookie, seeing him that close, listening to what he says after sessions — it’s very encouraging. He has everything you need to have a long, successful career.”
Wheatley’s equally bullish, and not just about lap times. With Audi’s 2026 rebrand looming, Sauber’s banking on a no-drama, high-return driver room — and right now it has one. “It’s the closest, most collaborative driver pairing I can remember,” he said. “Gabriel’s work ethic is fantastic… He’s proving to be the future star we expected. And Nico, on the other side of the table, brings extraordinary experience.”
The scoreboard backs up the story. Sauber sits seventh in the Constructors’ Championship on 51 points — a stark jump from the four it managed last season. The summer break didn’t arrive a moment too soon for the rest of the midfield. For Sauber and Bortoleto, it might have come a touch early.
