Gabriel Bortoleto disagrees with Fernando Alonso: “Formula 1 hasn’t lost its magic”. Gabriel Bortoleto backs current F1 rules: "The magic is still there".

Gabriel Bortoleto has defended Formula 1’s current technical regulations, offering a very different perspective from Fernando Alonso, despite being one of the leading drivers in the Spaniard’s A14 Management academy.

More controversy over the regulations

The new technical regulations, which have been criticised repeatedly throughout the season, once again came under scrutiny during the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone. As on previous occasions, criticism came from multiple world champions, including Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen.

Verstappen had already remarked during simulator sessions that Silverstone now felt like “a different circuit” compared to previous years, while Alonso argued that overtaking is no longer determined by driver skill alone but simply by “pressing a button.”

Indeed, iconic corners such as Copse, Maggotts and Becketts are now taken at noticeably lower speeds than in previous Formula 1 eras. Nevertheless, Gabriel Bortoleto does not share the criticism directed at the current regulations and the characteristics of today’s cars, even if it comes from his own mentor.

Bortoleto backs the current generation of Formula 1 cars

The Brazilian, who also scored valuable points for Audi at Silverstone, sees the situation very differently and believes Formula 1 remains as exciting as ever.

“I don’t think the magic of this sport has been lost,” he told RacingNews365. “We’re still taking Copse at a crazy speed—280 km/h—and I still have to lift off the throttle to get through it. We’re not using the available grip to its full potential and we’re not extracting the maximum performance from it.

“Last year the concept was different, but I think we simply have to move forward. These are the current regulations, and if people keep complaining, then we just have to change. These are the rules we’ll have until 2030.”

“We’ll talk about it again when we reach 2030 and the next set of regulations arrives,” he added. “But we can’t spend three years discussing the same thing. At the end of the day, this is how things are. The cars are still fun to drive, even if they’re different, and we just have to adapt—that’s life.”