Bortoleto will have to deal with the pressure of an entire country, warns Barrichello

When experience advises youth. Rubens Barrichello, the man with 323 Grand Prix in Formula 1, was the latest guest on the discipline's official podcast, "Beyond the Grid". While the 52-year-old Brazilian spoke at length about his rich career, he also discussed the future and in particular one of his successors, who is none other than Gabriel Bortoleto.

The future Sauber/Audi driver will be the first Brazilian to take part in Formula 1 since Felipe Massa, who left the sport after a year off in 2017. Eight years later, the South American country will finally have a representative on the grid, a long (and unprecedented) wait that has unleashed crowds and expectations.

"A lot of expectations from the public" around Bortoleto

Precisely, the young Paulista will be closely followed, and therefore closely scrutinized, by a whole people who expect a lot from him. Bortoleto will follow in the footsteps of Massa, Barrichello, Senna or Fittipaldi, a heavy task and pressure that he will have to bear from his first year, warns the ex-pilot Ferrari.

"I like him a lot. Right now it's not a question of his driving ability, we have to see if he's ready to rise to the occasion, Rubens Barrichello emphasizes. [In Formula 1], people look at you differently, the paddock looks at you. Right now, everything is going really well. He is a very good driver. We just have to see how he evolves in his mindset, in his way of managing things, because there is going to be a lot of pressure. He is the next [Brazilian in F1]: for a long time, we did not have [a driver]. There is a lot of expectation from the public, so we have to see.

leader of Formula 2 Before the last two meetings of the season (Qatar and Abu Dhabi), Gabriel Bortoleto still has time to realize that he will be a Formula 1 driver next year at Sauber/Audi. His popularity rating, in Brazil or elsewhere, is already very high. Proof of this: in São Paulo, a few days before it was made official, he was already adored by his compatriots, all impatient to see him on the track on March 16, in Melbourne, for the launch of the 2025 season.

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