Gabriel Bortoleto gave the perfect reply to Helmut Marko (Image: Getty)
pulled no punches in his response to after the advisor graded him as a ‘B-level driver’ in an assessment of 2025’s rookie class. The Brazilian racer won the Formula Three and Formula Two championships in successive seasons on the path to the F1 grid and will now make his debut with Sauber in 2025, teaming up with at the Hinwil-based squad.
Despite Bortoleto’s immense pedigree, Marko does not believe the 20-year-old to be a top-level talent. The Sao Paulo-born racer was previously a member of the young driver programme but was released by Andrea Stella to allow him to secure a full-time seat in 2025.
“I would classify him as a ‘B’ driver,” Marko told ServusTV at the Australian Grand Prix. “He’s a very intelligent driver: he won the Formula Three championship but with only one win, and he usually stays out of trouble.
“In Formula Two, he only managed two victories. He is a driver who brings the car home safely, has a good command of strategy and tyre management, but I don’t see that pure speed in him.”
When asked about Marko’s comments, Bortoleto gave the perfect reply. The Brazilian starlet even poked fun at his record against junior drivers en route to his two feeder series titles in 2023 and 2024.
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Helmut Marko has been called out by Bortoleto (Image: Getty)
“I’ve seen that, and I love challenges,” he said. “And I think, hearing that from Helmut, he’s a guy that has put a lot of talents in Formula One, and has put a lot of wrong talents already in F1, so you can see he got it right and wrong and, hopefully, I will prove him wrong with time.
“But nothing I can say now on media that would change his mind, just my results on track, and I’m sure I’m going to prove him wrong at some point and, hopefully, he will admit this when I prove him wrong.
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“But for now, I’m just focusing on doing my job and improving and doing the best I can. I’m proud of what I did in junior series, and I won in F2 and F3 against the drivers he has – so all good for me.”
Marko will have his eye on another rookie in 2025. Isack Hadjar has replaced Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls and now teams up with , who missed out on a promotion to during the winter. The Faenza squad’s new recruit was runner-up to Bortoleto in F2 last season.