Bortoleto: Max and I really hit it off.

      Gabriel Bortoleto met Max Verstappen at age 11 at a karting event and told Racingnews365 in an interview that over the years they have become true friends…

      Gabriel Bortoleto: “Max and I have become great friends. These days you often see us together when we go out, stream, play games and all that. Obviously, in Formula 1 we’ve grown closer to each other since we race together. Max is a wonderful person. Many people don’t know, but he has helped me a lot throughout my career.

      When I was racing in the junior categories, I would ask him what he thought about one contract or another. When I was about to sign a contract with McLaren, I asked him for his opinion. When I was about to move to Sauber, I asked him about that too. He’s always ready to help if I have questions. He didn’t tell me what to do, but he would give his opinion, and he was always very kind and open with me.

      I hope I’ve helped him too. I try to motivate him, but there’s certainly more for me to learn from him than for him to learn from me. I try to show good results on the simulator, trying to push him to even better results. We often compete against each other on the simulator, working through the fine details. I think that has been useful for him too.”