Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Gabriel Bortoleto believes the progress he made during his championship-winning Formula 2 season was the strongest of his career so far.
The Invicta Racing driver was only 12th in the standings with 15 points to his name after the first three rounds, but went on to claim the title in the final round at Abu Dhabi.
“We have been through a lot of things since the beginning where we struggled a lot in Jeddah and Australia, where I had a very big crash,” he told media including Formula Scout. “The team never gave up, I never gave up as well, and from that moment on, I think we deserved every single point we achieved in this championship.
“We had luck, but we also created our own luck, with our pace, with our work, the extra hours we did in the sim, all the extra hours we had, the late nights working on the simulations for new things to bring the car in the right window for the new tracks that were coming up for me and for the team as well.
“My progression through this season has been the best progression I had in my entire life as a driver. I’ve grown up so much personally and professionally as well. I’ve learned so much. I met a lot of new people in my life that I’m super grateful to have as well that helped me to achieve this championship. And I’m super proud of it. Super, super proud of it.”
Bortoleto said the most important thing he had learned was to be a leader, something he hopes to take with him to Formula 1 in 2025 when he will partner veteran Nico Hulkenberg at the Audi-owned Sauber team.
“From this season I can say, never give up, keep pushing and be a leader, don’t let people around you get you down,” he explained.
“You need them to be positive, they need to be pulling you up, not down, and I think that’s what I learned the most this year because in my difficult moments at the beginning of the season, I had everyone in my family, the team, my girlfriend, who is here as well, the sponsors, the federation, everyone, everyone in Brazil, the fans supporting me. ‘Don’t be down Gabriel, keep pushing. You can do it, you can win it.’ And I think that’s what I learned the most.
“You need to be surrounded by good people that can help you to achieve your dreams and hopefully I can bring this to the team next year and to develop them because we know that that’s a team that’s going through a new project right now with Audi.
“So, we will need to develop a lot of things and hopefully I can be a great… I don’t think leader is the right word because I’m a rookie, but together with Nico, we hopefully can do a very good job and achieve many things with Audi in the future.”
Additional reporting by Alejandro Alonso Lopez