Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley says the team’s current drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg have made for the most collaborative pairing that the veteran F1 manager has ever seen.
Sauber signed rookie Bortoleto after back-to-back titles in Formula 2 and F3, with the Brazilian picked alongside Hulkenberg in an all-new line-up for 2025 and into the team’s new era as Audi next season. With the two drivers scoring 45 points between them over the past six races, former Red Bull sporting director Wheatley says the way they are working together is a crucial aspect of the team’s recent resurgence.
“It’s incredibly important,” Wheatley said. “I have to say that it’s the closest, most collaborative driver pairing I think I can even remember in all my time in Formula 1.
“Gabriel has a fantastic work ethic. He has a capacity for taking on new information. He’s proving in every way to be the future star that we expected him to be. And Nico is part of that journey with him.
“On the other side of the engineering table, you’ve got this extraordinary experience and Nico’s proven talent. I mean, we’re talking about Gabi a lot [after Hungary], but Nico did a tremendous job. You don’t really see it or you don’t notice it because it didn’t result in a points finish. But as a team, we’re very pleased with both of our drivers.”
While Bortoleto’s breakthrough run in Hungary testified to Sauber’s development, Wheatley thinks it was just as much about how his rookie driver is advancing. Joe Portlock/Getty Images
Bortoleto scored a career-best sixth place in Hungary to take his tally to 14 points over the past four races, and although the Sauber has clearly taken a step forward in competitiveness, Wheatley highlights the driver’s own development.
“It’s worth pointing out again that he hasn’t done 10,000 kilometers of testing of previous cars,” he said. “He hasn’t done 10,000 kilometers in the Formula 1 car.
“It’s his first season in Formula 1. There are so many circuits that he’s not been to. And there’s some coming up that he hasn’t been to. He’s been able to deliver brilliantly over the last few races in circuits that he knows.
“I think he’s matured and developed as a driver. And I think he’s going to be able to adapt to these new circuits much quicker than he did in the first half of the season.”
