{"id":127138,"date":"2025-09-08T06:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T06:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/127138\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T06:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T06:07:10","slug":"who-slept-best-last-night-mattia-binotto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/127138\/","title":{"rendered":"Who slept best last night: Mattia Binotto"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a year\u2019s distance it does look like a total no-brainer, so it\u2019s even difficult to imagine Mattia Binotto could\u2019ve overlooked Gabriel Bortoleto<\/a> in favour of anyone else through his binoculars. Yet, it really wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

It was around Monza in 2024 when rumours started to circulate around the paddock about Bortoleto being on Audi\u2019s radar \u2014 even before his impressive “from last to first” victory in F2. Still just a title contender, not a champion back then, he definitely looked like a promising talent \u2014 but success in F2 is never a guarantee for F1.<\/p>\n

How many young and promising drivers were there to choose from a year ago?<\/p>\n

Sitting on the bench, Sauber had one of those, a former \u2018future superstar\u2019\u00a0Theo Pourchaire<\/a> (unlike Bortoleto at the time, already an F2 champion) who, those close to the team say, wasn\u2019t even considered for a promotion. The fact that the team used Robert Shwartzman<\/a>\u00a0(who switched to IndyCar in 2025) for FP1 outings last year speaks for itself.<\/p>\n

And speaking about those underdelivering on huge promise, the Russian-turned-Israeli racer \u2014 whom Binotto himself was a huge fan of \u2014 also looked like a rock star in his debut Formula 2 campaign. Yet, just a year later, despite scoring pole position for the Indianapolis 500 mere months ago<\/a>, Shwartzman has almost completely disappeared from F1’s radar.<\/p>\n

And these were just two examples, both right in front of the Italians\u2019 eyes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost common knowledge in the paddock that Valtteri Bottas<\/a> even signed a contract extension with Sauber in early autumn, only to hand it to the new team boss who kept the Finn waiting. That signed piece of paper probably sat on Binotto\u2019s desk for a while \u2014 maybe he even felt, at some point, like grabbing a pen and signing it \u2014 but as discussions progressed with Bortoleto, and with the Brazilian\u2019s performances getting better and better in F2, it must have first gathered dust, then sunk under a pile of documents on helpful suggestions for how to improve the team\u2019s pitstops \u2014 finally ending at the bottom of the stack.<\/p>\n

By the time F1 got to the Brazilian GP, Bottas\u2019 contract extension had no doubt been carefully filed into a shredder.<\/p>\n

\"Valtteri <\/p>\n

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber<\/p>\n

Photo by: Zak Mauger \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll never know in full detail what these talks with Bortoleto were about \u2014 but don\u2019t make the mistake of thinking the final decision was only about his titles. It never is in F1. Results do, indeed, prove Gabriel\u2019s exceptional talent. But his place in the select club of those who won both F3 and F2 on the first attempt was sealed only after he already had his F1 seat. Still, results wouldn\u2019t have been Binotto\u2019s only reason.<\/p>\n

Ask Carlos Sainz<\/a>, and he\u2019ll tell you how amazed he was to find out Binotto\u2019s Ferrari had studied his whole career, down to karting performances, before approaching him in 2020. It was his work ethic, his methodical approach that the Italian was looking for when replacing Sebastian Vettel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here, it might have been Bortoleto\u2019s eagerness to learn and his ability to absorb information like a sponge that really convinced the new man at the helm of Audi\u2019s F1 project \u2014 and perhaps also Gabriel’s personal likeability.<\/p>\n

It was back in Bahrain during pre-season testing when a conversation with Nico Hulkenberg<\/a>\u2019s manager caught me off guard. \u201cSuch a nice guy,\u201d Raoul Spanger, the German driver\u2019s right-hand man, said in what was just a private conversation \u2014 usually with any driver\u2019s manager you\u2019d never hear a single nice word about the guy on the other side of the garage. Sitting with a journalist, you\u2019d really want to use the opportunity to push your driver\u2019s narrative. That\u2019s just how it goes. Minutes later, Gabi showed up to give Spanger a proper hug and say, \u201cMan, when I grow up, I want to be like you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two men, who had only known each other for a couple of months, burst out laughing.<\/p>\n

Still in Bahrain, Bortoleto rushed into Hulkenberg\u2019s room as soon as he heard his session was aborted because a tiny speck of carbon \u2014 the byproduct of some good old-fashioned mechanics\u2019 work with an angle grinder \u2014 had got into Nico\u2019s eye. Gabi brought his own medical kit to try and rescue his new team-mate, who even failed to attend the first press-conference of the year, so bad the injury was…<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t Binotto who made the call on hiring Hulkenberg, yet it\u2019s almost the most harmonious driver pairing now. You feel it when you see them patting each other on the shoulder in the media pen after qualifying or races; you even feel it watching Sauber\u2019s silly social media clips, with the constant banter about Hulk being \u201ctoo old.\u201d You sense it when you talk to people in the team. You could see it in Bortoleto rushing through parc ferm\u00e9 at Silverstone to be the very first to congratulate Hulk on his podium.<\/p>\n

\"Gabriel <\/p>\n

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, Mattia Binotto, Sauber<\/p>\n

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bortoleto is almost too nice a guy \u2013 to an extent that you wonder if that\u2019s just a tactic to extract as much knowledge as possible from anyone around the F1 paddock. And that\u2019s not only with Hulk. He\u2019s friends with Max Verstappen<\/a>, too \u2013 and the Dutchman openly says he doesn\u2019t mind sharing not only his sim setups with the youngster, but also some practical F1 advice.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s before mentioning that a key figure for managing his career is the two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso<\/a>, owner of A14 Management.<\/p>\n

Bortoleto is in F1 to learn from every interaction with anyone. And boy, he learns fast.<\/p>\n

In the last seven qualifying sessions, including the one for the sprint in Spa, Bortoleto has been quicker than Hulkenberg, a driver with the reputation of being one of the fastest over one lap.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also quite telling how the German himself reacts to that fact.<\/p>\n

\u201cHas Gabi got the edge on you at the moment, do you feel?\u201d he was asked on Saturday, having qualified P12, while his younger team-mate once again reached Q3.<\/p>\n

There are a million ways an F1 driver is supposed to answer a question like that. You\u2019d need to mention the balance, of course, some car characteristics you still need to nail, some \u201cinstability\u201d or \u201cweird feeling\u201d. You can say you need to use an \u201calien\u201d driving style to get the lap time, after all.<\/p>\n

\"Nico <\/p>\n

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber<\/p>\n

Photo by: Andy Hone \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Hulkenberg didn\u2019t need any of that. Perhaps because he\u2019s always been a straight talker, perhaps because he\u2019s not at the stage of his career where he needs excuses. But surely also because he\u2019s not afraid to praise Bortoleto.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just doing a really good job,\u201d Nico said. \u201cYou know, he\u2019s a machine. He produces laps like a printer that never runs out of ink. It\u2019s pretty astonishing, you know, and I think you\u2019ll come to see [more in the future] who he is and how he drives.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, he hardly makes any mistakes for a rookie, and he does and produces the laps very comfortably. So, he\u2019s just doing a really good job, and he\u2019s strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s at a steep learning curve, obviously, naturally, like any rookie in the first year. It\u2019s a lot to take in, a lot to process but, yeah, all I can say, he\u2019s one of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

When was the last time you heard an F1 driver talk like that about his team-mate?<\/p>\n

Bortoleto\u2019s start of the season wasn\u2019t as spectacular as, for example, Antonelli\u2019s. And he hasn\u2019t yet had a peak like Isack Hadjar<\/a>\u2019s at Zandvoort. But what\u2019s really impressive about the Brazilian is the trajectory. It\u2019s not only his qualifying pace that keeps improving, he feels more and more at home fighting in the top 10 in the races.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d probably still refrain from calling his weekend in Monza a \u201c10 out of 10\u201d \u2014 saying he could\u2019ve done a better job by stepping on the brakes just as late as Alonso did on pit entry \u2014 but that\u2019s almost the only visible mishap during the Italian GP. The rest was flawless, at least to this observer\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n

\"Max <\/p>\n

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sam Bloxham \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Surely, Mattia Binotto has more insight into how rapid Bortoleto\u2019s development is, but there\u2019s not much more insight needed to see that his decision \u2014 one of the first for Binotto himself after he\u2019d been dropped into the struggling team \u2014 is already paying off. That Monza weekend must have removed any doubt, had the Italian had any.<\/p>\n

Bortoleto\u2019s future trajectory will depend a lot on what Audi\u2019s engine department in Neuburg comes up with next year.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t change the fact that Binotto, if things go Audi\u2019s way, has a potential superstar to build the team around.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

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