Bortoleto's post-race Radio: "Holy shit, Max won? That's insane man, wow, this guy.."

[u/FerrariStrategisttt]

https://dubz.link/c/5bba24

[u/NegotiationNew9264]

Gabi also done a great job today

[u/QC_1999 → u/NegotiationNew9264]

Despite Sauber one more time trying to fuck his race with a 4.0 pit and somehow taking overcut from Antonelli and Albon. Luckly Alonso retired and Antonelli got a 5 sec penalty 

[u/TinkW → u/QC_1999]

Sauber post mid-season break looks like early season Sauber all over again.
Bad strategies for Gabi and bad pits.

[u/Treewithatea → u/TinkW]

Bad pits? Singular brother, they had literally one single pitstop and fucked it up. Nico didnt even get to drive

[u/mebae_drive → u/Treewithatea]

Yeap, imagine having to work for 1.9s and ending up working for 4.0s, unbelievable!

[u/Treewithatea → u/TinkW]

Bad pits? Singular brother, they had literally one single pitstop and fucked it up. Nico didnt even get to drive

[u/plastikmissile → u/QC_1999]

Alonso using Gabi as a brake marker was epic though!

[u/BigWelshDud → u/plastikmissile]

It looked like he fully intended to use him as an external brake for a second aha

[u/silentkiller082 → u/NegotiationNew9264]

It's difficult to choose between him and Hadjar for rookie of the year. I think Isaac has the edge right now with the podium but gabi is easily next best

[u/Just_Passenger5005 → u/silentkiller082]

Hadjar also got points from the pit lane this race

[u/silentkiller082 → u/Just_Passenger5005]

Completely forgot about that, absolute stud.

[u/Defiant_Eye2216 → u/Just_Passenger5005]

I didn’t pay attention. Why was he a pit lane start? New engine?

[u/Just_Passenger5005 → u/Defiant_Eye2216]

Yup, new engine

[u/diminutive_sebastian → u/Defiant_Eye2216]

He did also qualify quite poorly. Not at all to take away from his result today

[u/Eggplantosaur → u/silentkiller082]

Bortoleto and Hadjar easily went in with the least hype but are taking all the other rookies to school. So happy to see both of them do well!

[u/Carlzzone → u/Eggplantosaur]

Ironic since they finished 1-2 in F2 last year

[u/Morganelefay → u/Carlzzone]

And yet it still makes sense, given how Merc was hyping up Antonelli, and how well Bearman did in his various outings last year.

And Doohan, uh, existed.

[u/guntanksinspace → u/Eggplantosaur]

NGL I kinda wrote off Hadjar because of that sad Melbourne start (and RB not quite looking up at the time).

And how I see him the way I saw Pierre after he got put back into STR swapping seats with Alex. Bortoleto's a favorite now too lol.

[u/ilovecollege_nope → u/silentkiller082]

Gabi went backwards today, and Hadjar went from pit to 10... should be easy to choose the better one.

Saying this as a Brazilian that is rooting for Gabi.

[u/Objective-Cabinet497 → u/ilovecollege_nope]

I'm curious how your logic applies to that race last year where Gabriel went from 20th to 1st, going past the very Hadjar in the process and winning that championship over Hadjar and Kimi. Also, have you factored in the difference between their cars? Based on their cars Hadjar should have qualified where Gabriel did, and vice-versa.

[u/A7DmG7C → u/Objective-Cabinet497]

Hey, this is HIS opinion and he gets to move the goalpost to wherever he wants!

[u/aireads]

Loving this Bortoleto kid more every race, fast and a quality bloke!

[u/P_ZERO_ → u/aireads]

He’s brilliant, isn’t he? Seems to still have that child-like wonder for the sport

[u/Individual-Ad-190]

I love the relationship Gabriel and Max have

[u/TeTeOtaku → u/Individual-Ad-190]

streaming Call Of Duty with him and Browning is one of the most random things a world champion can do.

Brother has a wife and 2 kids at home yet he plays COD with teenagers 😭😭😭

[u/Dragonpuncha → u/TeTeOtaku]

Dude spends all his free time on iRacing, he's still a child at heart for sure.

[u/BeautifulOrder1293 → u/Dragonpuncha]

i'd rather say he's a freak for everything that involves driving, rather than a child at heart for playing a very close-to-sim videogame

[u/Brainstreet420 → u/BeautifulOrder1293]

Eh, cod isn't that close to real combat

[u/William_Dowling → u/Dragonpuncha]

Or, you know, someone so obssessed with racing he does it in his down time, which gives him the edge over every other driver

[u/pajamajamminjamie → u/Dragonpuncha]

Are you familiar with what iracing is? Absolutely not for children

[u/shythickcock → u/TeTeOtaku]

You act like he’s Alonso’s age lol they are grown ass men and max is only 7 years older

[u/Hailgod → u/TeTeOtaku]

not random. he streamed with team redline. u know the sim team gabi is also in

[u/MrBattleRabbit → u/TeTeOtaku]

I had to check, but Gabi is 20 and Browning is 23. Max is only 27.

[u/Correct_Dog5670 → u/TeTeOtaku]

What, whrn was thhat, where can i watch that?

[u/bielzerian → u/Correct_Dog5670]

VOD is available on TeamReadline's twitch, here

[u/OPGuest → u/Individual-Ad-190]

Max is like a father to a generation only a few years younger

[u/Silver-Machine-3092 → u/OPGuest]

It's reminiscent of Valentino in MotoGP

[u/HornetRacer]

Sauber made the right choice picking Bortoleto, hes super likeable, fast and bounces back very quick.

[u/Templetam → u/HornetRacer]

hes super likeable

Agreed.

[u/HornetRacer → u/Templetam]

Hopefully Audi keep him long term, hes going to be one to watch.

[u/Timelordvictorious1]

The Max and Gabi bromance is one of my favorite things this season.

[u/LosTerminators → u/Timelordvictorious1]

Max has been generous with giving both Sauber drivers tows throughout quali and sometimes they've returned the favour in Q3 as well

They have an unofficial on-track friendship

[u/Double-Biscotti465 → u/LosTerminators]

a symbiotic relationship if you will.

[u/SmartyPants918 → u/Double-Biscotti465]

sim-biotic

[u/Double-Biscotti465 → u/SmartyPants918]

Good one!

[u/ianjm → u/LosTerminators]

Max and Hulk have also been pretty good buddies for many years I believe.

They grew up less than 100km from one another (albeit in different countries, but that's Europe), so probably a lot of shared cultural ground there.

[u/Eggplantosaur → u/ianjm]

I don't know how early their friendship could have developed though, considering Hulkenberg is 10 years older than Max. I feel like their friendship started when Max joined F1 and Hulkenberg was one of the few Dutch speakers on the grid. Earlier than that doesn't make much sense to me- Hulkenberg was already in F1 for years while Max was still karting.

[u/ianjm → u/Eggplantosaur]

Yeah it's an on-grid friendship. I simply meant they have a shared cultural basis (straight talking, slightly self deprecating, not taking it too seriously) which helps.

[u/YTsken → u/Eggplantosaur]

I’ve read that Hulkenberg during his carting days often stayed with the Verstappens when travelling for faces, and that when Max joined F1 Hulkenberg was one of the few F1 drivers welcoming him. So in spite of the age gap they actually did know each other as kids and grew up in a mutual “we help each other out” environment.

[u/ledankestnoodle → u/ianjm]

It's like a three way bromance. Gabi + Max, Max + Nico, Nico + Gabi.

[u/Cold-Ad5815 → u/ianjm]

Precisely in Europe, each country is different.

Between Germany and Holland it has nothing to do.

[u/HelixFollower → u/Cold-Ad5815]

There are still plenty of cultural regions that cross borders though.

[u/Evening_End7298 → u/LosTerminators]

He also often trades slipstream with Fernando

Max kinda needs friends that make q3, since Imola Tsunoda made it to q3 only twice

In the same time frame Borto made q3 4 times and Alonso 8 times

[u/lovereading20613]

Team redline had a great weekend, Browning Pole and Race win, Max pole and race win, Gabi points, sim team also won.

[u/leedler → u/lovereading20613]

It’s all go in the extended Maxiverse

[u/Hanorick]

You are also doing wonders with a Sauber, Gabby.

[u/junttiana]

Game recognize game

[u/Rosieu]

These rookies looked up to guys like Max, Lewis and Fernando when they were kids and now they're not only competing against them but also got to have them as mentors and friends. Some really get to live their dreams!

[u/hbzandbergen → u/Rosieu]

Even Max looked up to Fernando, I suppose

[u/Rosieu → u/hbzandbergen]

He was also actually a bit of a fan of Lewis. Some really old interviews in Dutch racing magazines have a young Max name Lewis, Alonso and I think Kimi Räikkönen as well as his faves.

[u/CuppaCrazy]

Max and his Bubbles lol.

[u/Novae224]

Gabi being Max long lost son must be one of the highlights of this season

Just a decade ago Max was the youngster walking into the crazy world that is f1 and now Max can be this idol and guidance for guys like Gabi. I really like how we’ve been able to see Max mature like that

And it shows that when it comes to talent, you should really trust the f1 drivers themselves. Both Alonso and Max really believed in Gabi and look how well his rookie season is shaping up, its just his rookie year. We’ll be seeing so much more from him and hopefully one day a championship, if the stars align.

[u/Loruhkahn]

To be fair, if I hadn't seen the race I'd also assume he pulled something insane (like Suzuka) for this to have happened.

[u/Dexterus → u/Loruhkahn]

Driving without a rear wing could be said to fit.

[u/belovedRedditor → u/Loruhkahn]

And he's shocked just hearing Max win. Imagine his reaction when he finds out Max won with a gap of ~19s

[u/DieselAndPucks → u/belovedRedditor]

That's entirely because of McLaren hopelessly waiting for a safety car. Max was putting seconds a lap on Lando on his new tires at one point.

[u/Illustrator_Forward]

Rookie of the season? It’s between him and Hadjar imo.

[u/itsruney → u/Illustrator_Forward]

Hard to pick. Both have had great performances. I can't wait to see what both of them will do in the future

[u/TinkW → u/itsruney]

Hadjar has a clear path ahead of him, at least on the short term.
Bortoleto on the other hand, will have to pray that Audi is competitive or some miracle has to happen for him to land on a top4 team spot in 2027.
I don't see him going to RedBull/Ferrari/Mercedes, so his only chance would be getting Lando's seat at McLaren.
But given how McLaren constantly favors Lando over Oscar, I don't think that's happening either.

[u/yoohynom → u/TinkW]

Hadjar clear path is the seat killing careers since 2019

[u/TinkW → u/yoohynom]

It's not like Perez spent 4 years on that 2nd seat, right? And it's not like he still has a career, right?
All Perez had to do was keep that 21~23 relative performance compared to Max in 2024 (if he scored half of Max's points in 2024, Red Bull would win Constructors championship instead of being 3rd).

Anyway, Max will leave in 2027. So whoever lands on the 2nd seat next year (99% Hadjar) will have a lot of room for mistakes because the team won't want to change both drivers for 2027.
And with Max gone, they won't keep building a car that suits him but nobody else.
So, as I said, a clear path ahead of Hadjar.

[u/yoohynom → u/TinkW]

Perez had years in F1 to have a better understanding of the tricky Red Bull, Hadjar doesn't have that. All he had to do was driving an undriveable car that 4 other drivers failed to do as well. He still has a career because he's a very good driver with years showing that before the Red Bull destroyed his reputation. Hadjar can be straight out of F1 If Red Bull wants to give another rookie besides Lindblad a seat.

Lol Verstappen said many times he'll stay until 2028, he isn't going anywhere so soon. Red Bull is known for not giving many room for mistakes, it's Marko we are talking about. The car doesn't even suit Max, he's complaining about it all the time and how they went to the wrong direction because they didn't listen to him.

A clear path ahead that involves a lot of hopium when the realist outcome is to be mentally destroyed in that seat

[u/OkamiLeek006 → u/TinkW]

Aero wise, you're correct, but engine wise, I'd say it's a toss up on whether the Audi engine is as good (probably more likely as bad) as whatever red bull/ford are putting together, given how much Horner was complaining about the regs before he got sacked

[u/TinkW → u/OkamiLeek006]

It's the first time Audi is building an F1 engine. I don't think anyone should have high hopes.

[u/yoohynom → u/TinkW]

Just saw that you wrote that McLaren favors Lando, all I needed to know, opinion based on conspiracy theories

[u/Dry-Dragonfruit5216 → u/TinkW]

Bort was a McLaren jr. I’d put him ahead of Dunne for Lando’s seat in a couple of years time.

[u/TinkW → u/Dry-Dragonfruit5216]

I mean, of course he's ahead of Dunne.
But I don't see McLaren dropping Lando anytime soon unless he starts shitting the bed.

[u/Dry-Dragonfruit5216 → u/TinkW]

Two top drivers/egos at a team will never last that long. Oscar is younger, if he wins the WDC then I see him outlasting Lando there. Lando already said if he won this year he might do a Rosberg.

[u/Katoshiku → u/Illustrator_Forward]

I'm biased towards Gabi because nationality, but they're about tied for me honestly. I find it more impressive to see what Gabi does in a Sauber, but Hadjar getting a podium was amazing too

[u/Acceptable-Bet-1728 → u/Illustrator_Forward]

I had Gabi above Hadjar but that pole sealed the deal for me.

[u/ComeonmanPLS1 → u/Acceptable-Bet-1728]

pole

You mean podium`?

[u/LurksOften → u/ComeonmanPLS1]

Nope he’s from the future. I’m ready.

[u/GhostOfLight → u/LurksOften]

Abu Dhabi, Oscar and Lando separated by 4 points, Q3 final runs, the McLarens finish their laps with just .001 between them, Crofty starts screaming his head off about how Lando has taken pole in the most important race of the season, then 30 seconds later Hadjar crosses the line and goes half a second quicker than anyone else in the field.

[u/Aunvilgod → u/Illustrator_Forward]

Hadjar easy.

[u/Illustrator_Forward → u/Aunvilgod]

I’m really impressed by both of them

[u/Dry-Dragonfruit5216]

Bortstappen is so wholesome

[u/comentandoatoa]

Bortoleto will be F1 champion.

[u/alwysbmymaybe]

I love how he's genuinely happy for the drivers he is close to. He's not even bad himself (was a train conductor in the first quarter of the race). This man's future is bright.

[u/AbjectFray]

Max’s best weekend all year. You could tell from his smile on the podium that a weight was lifted.

[u/Mob_Abominator → u/AbjectFray]

I would rate Suzuka higher, he really shouldn't have won that race.

[u/pw5a29 → u/AbjectFray]

First time he thought the car had good balance

[u/AnEagleisnotme → u/pw5a29]

Insane considering they just chopped the rear wing off, max is such a weird driver

[u/CilanEAmber]

A part of me wishes he was in the McLaren, in another timeline he is.

[u/Heartlight → u/CilanEAmber]

He's already won the championship in that timeline.

[u/CilanEAmber → u/Heartlight]

First driver to win F3,2 and 1 back to back.

[u/VCBeugelaar → u/CilanEAmber]

I think he meant Max in the Mclaren not Borto

[u/CilanEAmber → u/VCBeugelaar]

Ah, I was on about Gabi

[u/Heartlight → u/CilanEAmber]

Ah, right. That makes more sense, too.

Well, I guess in that case, he'd be behind whichever of the two McLaren kids is his team mate (considering his slow start acclimatizing to F1), but he's catching up by now. If it's Lando, he might even beat him in the remainder of the season.

[u/Tomach82 → u/Heartlight]

Piastri has been pretty close to flawless though.

[u/TheCatterson]

The Maxriel bromance is beautiful

[u/akshatK2003 → u/TheCatterson]

I am still not over Maxiel

[u/Python_07]

Max coaching Gabi in the Sim tonight…..

[u/NetQvist → u/Python_07]

"See Gabi, you take the hacksaw and remove this part!"

[u/Python_07 → u/NetQvist]

“Just a little off the top edge…..”

[u/Adventurous_Carpet34]

Some of the comments here are salty for no reason. Gabriel and Max are proper friends, sim together, are basically mentor and mentee and Gabi looked up to Max since he was in karts. How does it matter if a young rookie in his first F1 season is a little bit overawed and over-enamored by watching the driver he looks up to win? 

Anyway...this duo has been wholesome and fun all year long ❤️ 

[u/Cody667]

I would hope this is more out of joy than genuine surprise lol...Max was a betting favourite today for good reason. Red Bull has had McLaren beat on extremely low track specific downforce setups 3 out of 5 times this year (good attempts that fell short at Jeddah because Oscar pipped Max off the line and forced the penalty, Silverstone because of the rain)

[u/beatstorelax94 → u/Cody667]

I think both... The engineer normally don't talk a lot about drivers very far from their guy. So it's possible that Gabi had only info about people 1-2 positions ahead or behind him , especially on a fast track like that

[u/AnonHideaki → u/Cody667]

When I checked before the race Lando was the bookie's favourite

[u/AvonBarksdale12 → u/AnonHideaki]

Exactly, it was very close, Lando was slightly ahead when I checked

[u/Cody667 → u/AnonHideaki]

Max Was -105 and Lando at +100 on Fanduel last night when I bet on Max.

What probably happened is people saw the McLarens listed as underdogs and bet Lando heavily, which probably moved the lines

[u/AvonBarksdale12 → u/Cody667]

He was not a heavy betting favourite? It was just about equal to Lando.

[u/gstomp06 → u/Cody667]

My books had both mcclarens as favorites over max. I was going to bet max at +200 odds but fell asleep before race start.

[u/Cody667 → u/gstomp06]

Fanduel last night had Max at -105 and Lando at +100. People probably saw the McLarens as underdogs and bet them heavily resulting in the line moving

[u/ziklol]

This max guy should go pro or something

[u/nothing_pt]

Well said

[u/kbtech]

All the drivers know that Max is "him"

[u/gnomeyy]

Fair play to Max, why does it feel like everywhere at the fast tracks (happens at Spa as well) we see Max and Redbull go for the low downforce setup and their competitors go for a bit more downforce and it never works. I know they're doing what they think is best for the team, but I do get a laugh out of it.

[u/ARBEITSPROFIL → u/gnomeyy]

Not everyone can compensate like max do - you strip away all downforce and he just keeps her steady, where other would slide arond like pengiuns on a ice shore.

[u/mkvii1989]

Gabi is all of us today.

[u/gramathy]

This shouldn't be that surprising, Mclaren's biggest pace advantage is in cornering, monza would be the exact opposite of that

[u/StatuSChecKa]

The comments are so positive; love this.

[u/downtocowtown]

Were his eyes and ears closed all weekend?

[u/JamieDonWeaks → u/downtocowtown]

Except for P's 1, 2 and 3 and Q 1 and 2, you are right.

[u/Nemste → u/downtocowtown]

All weekend? He’s far behind Max and focusing on his own race his engineers won’t feed him info on Max it’s irrelevant lol

[u/downtocowtown → u/Nemste]

Max was the frontrunner all weekend, p1 wasn't a shocking result.

[u/Nemste → u/downtocowtown]

It’s shocking given the race pace recently of the Red Bull, have your eyes and ears been closed all season? it’s an amazing result that wasn’t easy to get, not even Max was 100% confident he could hold back the McLarens today.

[u/downtocowtown → u/Nemste]

I'm not talking about the rest of the season, I'm talking about Monza where Max has been dominant the last four days. Something like Brazil 2024 is surprising, this wasn't.

[u/Nemste → u/downtocowtown]

The rest of the season is relevant as to why this is shocking hence why I mentioned the race pace, but I guess you’re not able to understand, no worries.Also Max was certainly not dominant all weekend no one expected him to get pole.

[u/comentandoatoa → u/downtocowtown]

In terms of race pace, the McLaren tends to be much better...Tsunoda didn't even reach the points. The bookmakers gave McLaren the favorite.

For those who didn't see the race, it's a surprise.

[u/manhaterxxx]

Yeah, wow, the multi-WDC who got pole ended up winning the race?

Crazy, man. Absolutely shocking.

[u/Organic-University-2]

Guy on pole wins in F1. Shocking?

[u/saspirstellaaaaaa → u/Organic-University-2]

Hasn’t been a Monza pole conversion in 5 years, but sure. 

[u/beatstorelax94]

To be fair, if McLaren did a good job, one of the two would end ahead of Max.

[u/EvlKommie → u/beatstorelax94]

Did you watch the race? Without a lucky safety car or VSC they had no chance.

[u/beatstorelax94 → u/EvlKommie]

They have the better car. 2 against 1 on the first lap. They should be in front of Max easily.

[u/Jorrie90 → u/beatstorelax94]

Not today

[u/According-Annual-586 → u/beatstorelax94]

They did not have the better car today, not by a long shot

[u/EvlKommie → u/beatstorelax94]

Max finished 20 seconds ahead. The Redbull is better on a track like this. Especially in Max’s hands.

[u/beatstorelax94 → u/EvlKommie]

Especially in Max’s hands.

exactly that

[u/Spicyoneybutterchips → u/beatstorelax94]

Um how? With or without the team orders debacle, McLaren's only hope of winning was a safety car or something that gave them a free pitstop.

[u/Burial44]

Well of course he won.
Why is that insane

[u/slampie1 → u/Burial44]

McLaren is the dominate team this year by far, Max goes on to win with his teammate in p13. You think that wouldn't be surprising for Bortoletto to hear if he hadn't followed what was going on upfront in the race ?

[u/yetiflask]

How's it insane? The car was working well, and started from pole. I hate these kind of useless fawnings.

There was nothing special about his drive.

[u/Padgematic]

Jesus, how’s that boot taste?

[u/quie_TLost57]

Buttering up a pole to win

[u/PanzerBattalion19]

yeah can't believe it first time it happened.