Gabriel Bortoleto has said he hopes Helmut Marko was watching the timesheets during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.

The Brazilian rookie made it into Q2 in his first qualifying session, getting the better of his more experienced teammate Nico Hulkenberg.

Gabriel Bortoleto: I will hopefully prove Helmut Marko wrong

The Sauber driver is one of the five rookie drivers embarking on his first season this year, with the reigning Formula 2 champion securing a seat with Sauber for the Swiss team’s final year before evolving into Audi.

Bortoleto ended up being one of the stars of the show on Saturday, making it into Q2 as he eclipsed the likes of Red Bull’s Liam Lawson and the (damaged) Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli.

In the lead-up to the Australian Grand Prix, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko had offered a blunt assessment of Bortoleto’s talents, labelling the Brazilian a ‘B’ driver during an interview with ServusTV.

Asked about Marko’s comments after making it into Q2 at Albert Park, Bortoleto said he is eager to prove the Austrian wrong.

“Yeah, maybe he will check live timing today,” he quipped.

“But, as I said before – and I stick to the same – his opinion is not going to change my life. I will hopefully prove him wrong with time. Maybe today was already the start of it.

“Everyone can have opinions, headlines can be very tough, and I’m sure I’m going to prove him wrong in time.”

Unusually, Bortoleto’s Sauber starts in the midfield from not far behind his mentor and manager, Fernando Alonso, who lines up in 12th place – Alonso’s A14 Management overseeing the career of the Brazilian.

As for whether that will factor into how he races the Spaniard in Sunday’s Grand Prix, Bortoleto joked, “I’m going to divebomb him! No, I’m kidding.

“We’re gonna have the same respect to each other, like with any other driver that respects me, and I’m sure he’s gonna be fair. I’m gonna be fair, and we’re gonna have a good time together.”

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Gabriel Bortoleto savouring prospect of wet Australian Grand Prix

Having fared well in the dry conditions of the weekend so far, another opportunity looks set to arise for Sunday’s Grand Prix as rain is expected to fall during the Australian Grand Prix.

Despite the added trickiness of a wet afternoon, Bortoleto said he’s tremendously excited by the prospect.

“Wet is one of my favorite conditions,” he said.

“I’ve not been running in the wet so much in recent years, because… I don’t know why, it just didn’t rain, actually! But, every time I jump in the rain, I’m very happy to drive, and I have a lot of fun. In the rain, everything can happen.

“I cannot change the conditions we’re gonna have. So I just accept it. I look up and understand what I can do for tomorrow, and that’s it.

“But it is what it is – the conditions we have. I like rain, I always felt comfortable driving, and it’s good experience as well.

“To have this at the beginning of the career, at least it happens now, and not in the moment that I am fighting for something bigger, and I don’t have the experience.

“So it’s important to have everything happening in my life now, and I can experience everything, do mistakes, do things right, and experience them.”

Having made it into Q2, Bortoleto’s attempts to go quicker saw him get out of shape over the kerbs – fortunately holding the car without binning it. Explaining his mistake to awaiting media after the session, the Brazilian said, “I tried a bit too hard in Turn 4 and ended up running a bit too much on the kerb there, and let’s say skateboarding the car a bit.

“Initially, I was not even sure I could keep it still on track – I was a bit too risky there.

“But I knew that, to put the car maybe further away, even in Q3, that would be very tricky today, because I don’t think we had the pace to.

“I needed to make a perfect lap, that’s ended up as a no lap, but quite happy with Q1 – still a solid result there, and solid first quali ever in my career in F1.

“It’s not an easy track, it’s a very tricky one. You see a lot of experienced drivers, World Champions, spinning and making mistakes.

“But that’s our level – when we are fighting for that millisecond, when we are fighting for nothing basically, we need to push the car to the limit, and sometimes you end up running too wide or not finishing your lap.”

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