Here's the thing about modern Formula 1 friendships: they happen in the digital trenches, late at night, between stints on a simulator. As Motorsport.com reports, Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto and Red Bull's Max Verstappen share a close bond away from the track, regularly catching up during online gaming sessions. But when you have a four-time champion in your headset, casual chat inevitably drifts to business.
Bortoleto is currently navigating his second season in the championship and his first with Audi as a full works team. Sitting 15th in the drivers' standings with 10 points, he has played his part alongside team-mate Nico Hulkenberg to place Audi eighth in the constructors' standings, with the German having scored 13 points.
These are things that sometimes come into my head while we’re playing, so I ask him,
Naturally, the Brazilian has been picking Verstappen's brain on how Red Bull transformed itself into a title-winning force, hoping to apply those lessons to his own project at Audi. "I talk to Max often," Bortoleto said. "Obviously, the details stay between us, but we often talk about how I'm feeling, how I'm developing, what I want from Audi and how we're progressing as a team. I ask him questions about what he experienced at Red Bull before winning the world championship: what things were like, how the team worked."
These insights do not come from formal debriefs, but rather pop up spontaneously while the pair are busy racing online. "These are things that sometimes come into my head while we’re playing, so I ask him," Bortoleto explained. For the Brazilian, gaming serves as a vital release where he can unwind, noting that he is laughing and having fun because it is simply not work.
Bortoleto arrived on the grid with serious credentials, securing the Formula 3 title in 2023 and following it up with the Formula 2 crown in 2024, a campaign where Isack Hadjar finished as his closest rival and Kimi Antonelli took sixth. Those stellar junior results secured him an F1 seat with Sauber prior to Audi stepping in to take over the operation for 2026. Now, both Bortoleto and Verstappen gear up to return to action at this weekend's United States Grand Prix in Austin.
