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Kick Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto gave a short reaction to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen congratulating him after the former scored his first points in the sport in the 2025 Austrian GP. It was a weekend to forget for the Dutch driver as he crashed out of Lap 1 after starting the race from P7 behind his title rivals.
The four-time F1 world champion's qualifying was ruined owing to Pierre Gasly's spin bringing out the yellow flags in Q3. However, he managed to make a decent getaway from the start and moved up a position, but was unfortunate when Kimi Antonelli crashed into him.
Meanwhile, it was a memorable weekend for Gabriel Bortoleto as he followed up his maiden finish in the Q3 with his first-ever points in F1 after he finished P8. The Brazilian got a helping hand from Verstappen in qualifying, which helped him qualify P8 and hold onto his position amidst the opening lap chaos.
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The rookie and the world champion shared an embrace in the media pen with Max Verstappen congratulating Kick Sauber driver, saying:
"Well done my man!"
To which Bortoleto replied with an appreciative reaction:
"Thanks for all the help."
Max Verstappen has been close with Gabriel Bortoleto before the latter entered the sport, and often spends time with the latter away from the track as well.
Max Verstappen analyzes his disappointing Austrian GP weekend
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen conceded that his first lap incident with Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was unfortunate and believed that the Italian did not do it "on purpose".
As per F1.com, the 27-year-old reflected on his race and said:
“The incident with Kimi on the first lap was unfortunate but no one does that on purpose and I knew it was an accident. He apologized to me when we were walking back from the track and he came to my room afterwards to apologize again, we get on very well, he is an amazing guy and a super-talented driver.
"Unfortunately for us this weekend there weren’t a lot of positives and although we were unlucky with the yellow flag in qualifying yesterday and the incident today, we lacked pace throughout. We will have a look at everything we did from this weekend, I know how hard the Team works and we need to get a better understanding of the car," he added.
Max Verstappen now finds himself 61 points behind the championship leader and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri after 11 races and two Sprints in the 2025 season. The Dutchman has scored just 19 points from the last three weekends, with many believing that he is now out of title contention this year, owing to the difference in performance between the two teams.
