logo
Motor racing-Brazilian Bortoleto feels the weight of history in Monaco

Motor racing-Brazilian Bortoleto feels the weight of history in Monaco

The Star23-05-2025
Formula One F1 - Monaco Grand Prix - Circuit de Monaco, Monaco - May 23, 2025 Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto arrives ahead of practice REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
MONACO (Reuters) -Gabriel Bortoleto can feel the weight of history as the Brazilian rookie prepares to race around the same metal-fenced Monaco streets once dominated by his Formula One idol Ayrton Senna.
Triple world champion Senna, whose death at Imola in 1994 shocked the sport, won a record six times in the Mediterranean principality including five in a row with McLaren between 1989 and 1993.
Bortoleto, also from Sao Paulo and last year's Formula Two champion who also won the Formula Three title the season before, will be the first Brazilian since Felipe Massa in 2017 to start the showcase race.
The 20-year-old Sauber driver, whose team will become the Audi factory outfit next year, said his father had told him stories about Senna for as long as he could remember.
"He was, he is, my idol," he told Reuters in an interview. "I believe he was the greatest. I think not only as a driver, but as a person, the Brazilian driver that did the most for the country, did the most for everyone."
The legacy, he added, remained very much alive as well as the country's thirst to produce another winner and eventual champion.
"Definitely I feel it, you know, and it's obvious because everyone that represents a country, and you are the only one doing that in this series, you end up feeling that from the fans and everyone," he said.
"It doesn't matter what position we are in right now, because I'm sure we are going to get better in the future as a team and everything, but having someone on the grid is super important to keep our country alive in this sport."
NO POINTS
Bortoleto has yet to score a point in seven races with Sauber, currently last of the 10 teams, but he made light of his situation.
He has the example of manager and mentor Fernando Alonso, a double world champion with Renault in 2005 and 2006 who went through his 2001 debut season with tail-enders Minardi without scoring.
Alonso, still racing at 43 with Aston Martin, has also yet to open his account in 2025.
"It's not nice to not have points, but I really don't care because my target in Formula One is not to score one point and 'now I have a point in the season'," said Bortoleto.
"My target here is to develop and grow as a driver like I see I'm doing and one day be fighting for a championship and win.
"I'm not here to be a guy that scores a couple of points. Who remembers about these people that score a little bit of points and they finish P13 in the championship?"
Bortoleto has a contract for 2026 and said this year would be a learning one.
That includes having to move aside as a backmarker for faster cars -- such as his friend, simulator racing rival and four times world champion Max Verstappen -- when blue flags are waved.
"I'm not used to that, you know, I've never got a blue flag in my life before Formula One," said Bortoleto.
"I'm sure that one day, hopefully I will be blue flagging people... you know patience is everything and hopefully my career in Formula One is not a short one.
"I'm here to stay for very long, and at some point I'm sure I'm going to have a good car to deliver strong results and to celebrate good things with this great team I have behind me."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Norris takes Spa pole on all-McLaren front row
Norris takes Spa pole on all-McLaren front row

New Straits Times

timean hour ago

  • New Straits Times

Norris takes Spa pole on all-McLaren front row

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium: McLaren's Lando Norris edged out championship-leading teammate and Formula One title rival Oscar Piastri to take pole position for what could be a wet and chaotic Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday. The Briton blasted around the long Spa-Francorchamps circuit in a best time of one minute 40.562 seconds on Saturday, with Piastri 0.085 slower, to secure his fourth pole in 13 races and 13th of his career. Norris will be chasing his third win in a row to cut the Australian's nine-point lead. "The car has been flying all weekend, Oscar's been doing a good job all weekend so we're pushing each other a lot," said Norris, who was third in the earlier sprint race with Piastri second. "It's tough because you kind of see where your strengths and weaknesses are. And you learn from each other quickly. It's a good but tough battle that we have at the minute." Norris said he was expecting rain and drizzle on Sunday and possibly a chaotic race. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start third and Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen, winner of the sprint, qualified fourth with a tweaked set-up for the expected Sunday conditions. The grand prix will be a first for Laurent Mekies as Red Bull principal after long-time incumbent Christian Horner was sacked two weeks ago. FINE MARGINS Norris had been fastest in the opening phase of qualifying, with Piastri a close second, and the positions were reversed in the second section before the final top-10 shootout left the Briton on top. His first lap of the decisive phase proved good enough, Norris unable to go any faster on his second run when Piastri threatened but made an error at Stavelot. That turned the tables after the Australian's dominant pole for the sprint by nearly half a second. "I felt like the car was very good again, but it's fine margins out there. It's obviously not a bad place to be starting but there was more in it, which is always disappointing," said the Australian. "After the sprint, I was aiming for P2," he added, referring to Verstappen winning from that position thanks to the slipstream he picked up from the car ahead. Verstappen had looked like qualifying third until Leclerc pushed him down in the dying seconds. Behind the top four, Alex Albon qualified fifth for Williams with George Russell sixth for Mercedes and ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, whose performance was the Japanese driver's best so far with Red Bull. Racing Bulls had Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson eighth and ninth with Sauber's Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto completing the top 10. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, last year's winner with Mercedes, failed to get through the first phase after his best lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. The seven-times world champion, who has yet to stand on the podium since his move to Ferrari at the end of last season, will start 16th and said it was "not acceptable." Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli also struggled and will start in 18th place. Aston Martin had Fernando Alonso qualify 19th and teammate Lance Stroll 20th.

Cycling-One of the hardest, if not the hardest, Tours I've been in, says Pogacar
Cycling-One of the hardest, if not the hardest, Tours I've been in, says Pogacar

The Star

timean hour ago

  • The Star

Cycling-One of the hardest, if not the hardest, Tours I've been in, says Pogacar

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 20 - Nantua to Pontarlier - Pontarlier, France - July 26, 2025 UAE Team Emirates XRG's Tadej Pogacar celebrates on the podium wearing the yellow jersey after stage 20 REUTERS/Benoit Tessier PONTARLIER, France (Reuters) -Tadej Pogacar all but sealed his fourth Tour de France title on Saturday after surviving what he claims is one of the most brutal Tours he has ridden, leaving only Sunday's ride into Paris between him and another triumph in the world's greatest race. The defending champion leads Jonas Vingegaard by 4:24 in the general classification heading into Stage 21, which will feature a spectacular finale with three climbs of the Butte Montmartre in the French capital — a twist on the traditional Champs-Elysees parade. 'Every year we say it's the hardest Tour ever, but I know that this year's Tour was something on another level,' Pogacar told reporters after finishing Saturday's 20th stage in the main bunch. 'Maybe one day we went a bit easier, but if you look at the power files throughout the whole Tour, it's been really amazing and tough. Even today we almost went all out from start to finish.' The 26-year-old, who previously won the race in 2020, 2021 and last year, said the gruelling route had tested the peloton to its limits. 'I must say that even though it was the hardest, one of the hardest Tours I ever did, I enjoyed it and had good shape and good legs. Really looking forward to the last day tomorrow,' Pogacar, who has won 10 stages in the last two Tours, added. After crossing the line on the penultimate stage, Pogacar, who on Friday said he was counting down the kilometres to Paris, hinted at a quick return to his bike despite three punishing weeks on the road. "Monday, I travel home, Tuesday maybe I go on the bike. You never know — if I feel good, I do a bit of riding, stop for coffee and enjoy summer at home," he said with a smile. Asked about a possible appearance at the Vuelta a Espana later this year, which could further cement his place among cycling's greatest in case of victory, Pogacar remained non-committal. "We will decide a couple of days after the Tour, after everything is calm. Then we can make decisions for the next races," he said. "I think it's going to be tough to decide. Of course, I would like to go to the Vuelta. Every year I do the Tour and I would like to do the Vuelta one day also, yeah, we will see." World champion Pogacar has won the Tour three times, achieved a rare Giro-Tour double last year, and has already claimed victory in three of the five Monuments - the most prestigious one-day races - prompting comparisons with Belgian all-time great Eddy Merckx. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Cricket-Henry guides New Zealand to T20 Tri-Series win over S Africa
Cricket-Henry guides New Zealand to T20 Tri-Series win over S Africa

The Star

time2 hours ago

  • The Star

Cricket-Henry guides New Zealand to T20 Tri-Series win over S Africa

Cricket - ICC Men's Champions Trophy - Group A - India v New Zealand - Dubai International Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - March 2, 2025 New Zealand's Matt Henry celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of India's Virat Kohli, caught out by Glenn Phillips REUTERS/Satish Kumar/File Photo (Reuters) -New Zealand seamer Matt Henry restricted South Africa to three runs from the last over to seal a three-run victory in the Twenty20 International Tri-Series final at the Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe on Saturday. Chasing 181 for victory, South Africa needed eight off the last eight balls with six wickets in hand, and seven from the final over, but brilliant catches in the outfield by Michael Bracewell and Daryl Mitchell helped restrict them to 177 for six. Dewald Brevis looked as though he had won the game with 31 from 16 deliveries and was an inch or two from completing the job as he launched Henry towards the square-leg boundary, only for Bracewell to juggle the ball as he stepped over the rope back into play to complete the catch. Mitchell took a superb diving effort at long off to dismiss George Linde, who looked as though he would win the game for the South Africans with a big hit down the ground. Senuran Muthusamy could not get bat to ball on the final delivery of the game from Henry, who finished with figures of 2-19 from three overs. "As a group we have been playing some really good cricket and to get over the line in a really tight game, I am proud of the guys," Henry said. "It is credit to the attitude of our team, making sure we stay in the fight and knowing that wickets can change things." New Zealand were sent into bat and amassed 180 for five. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra both scored 47. Teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 51 from 35 balls in South Africa's reply and they looked to be coasting home before Brevis' dismissal and the excellent final over from Henry. "We played a pretty good game, it was a match of millimetres," South Africa captain Rassie van der Dussen said. "We have had guys making debuts and experimented a bit (in the series), so for the young guys to come in and get so close, we will learn a lot from this." Zimbabwe were the third team involved in the Tri-Series, but lost all four group games. (Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Ed Osmond)

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store