Fernando Alonso: Gabriel Bortoleto would be ‘front page news’ if he was English

Fernando Alonso believes Gabriel Bortoleto is being overlooked because he’s not English, after the Brazilian impressed again with a standout performance for Sauber at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Bortoleto scored points for the third time in four races as he continued his impressive run of form before F1’s summer break.

The Brazilian finished sixth at the Hungaroring, Sauber’s second-best result of the 2025 F1 season so far.

Bortoleto has gone under the radar this season, mainly due to Sauber’s slow start to the year.

The attention heading into the new season was mainly on Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman and Liam Lawson.

Antonelli and Lawson drove for top teams at the start of the year, while Bearman was considerably hyped for his standout reserve performances in 2024.

It could be argued that Bortoleto has been F1’s standout rookie.

He’s got the edge over veteran teammate Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying and has continued to up his game on race day.

Alonso praised Bortoleto after the Hungarian GP, describing him as the “best rookie of this generation.”

Speaking to DAZN Spain, Alonso said: “He is the best rookie of this generation. If he were English or something like that and finished sixth with a Sauber, he would be on the front page of every newspaper.”

Alonso’s praise for Bortoleto is unsurprising.

Bortoleto is part of Alonso’s management company - A14 Management - and they share a close relationship.

A strong weekend for Alonso

Alonso also enjoyed an impressive weekend in Hungary.

The two-time world champion qualified and finished fifth.

The Hungarian GP was comfortably Aston Martin’s best race of the year, as Alonso and Lance Stroll qualified just a tenth off pole position.

Alonso conceded that Aston Martin’s turn of speed was a surprise.

“It is a surprise, definitely it is a surprise. It’s a nice surprise,” Alonso told written media after the race on Sunday in Budapest.

“The good thing is that we were competitive and we were fast. The concerning thing is that we don’t know why. In a way, we need this week at the factory to analyse exactly what are the differences between Spa and Hungary, what are the differences on the car as well, on the setup, on the aero devices that we were racing with.

“Obviously, the main theme for us was the front wing that was new this weekend. If that front wing gives us that much of performance, that’s very good news, but I think that has to be understood at the moment.”