Herbert backs Bortoleto for Red Bull seat: “He has Alonso as mentor like Piastri has Webber”. Johnny Herbert believes Gabriel Bortoleto would be the ideal choice for a Red Bull seat.

Former driver’s opinion

Gabriel Bortoleto has stepped up his performance in this phase of the season, scoring points in four of the last six races, a tally that has moved him up to sixteenth in the Drivers’ Championship, ahead of Carlos Sainz. At Monza, the Sauber driver reached Q3 and battled in the points during the race, finishing in eighth position, also benefiting from the penalty given to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had crossed the line ahead of the Brazilian.

Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert would undoubtedly back Bortoleto if he were at Red Bull: “If it were up to me, I would give the Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen to Bortoleto,” Herbert told the portal Racing Tipster. “He has won consecutive championships in F3 and F2, but what really makes the difference is that he has Fernando Alonso as his manager and mentor, just as Oscar Piastri has Mark Webber. Alonso can give him that extra edge to keep improving, whereas Isack Hadjar has to manage on his own. Bortoleto races against Alonso, one of the greatest of all time, and he is gaining awareness and experience on track. At the end of every session or race day, they can compare notes. That’s an advantage. Even so, I don’t want to diminish Hadjar’s performance—he’s achieving great results with a car that is probably slower than the Red Bulls in terms of performance.”