Alonso hails ‘best of the new generation’ Bortoleto as he explains how relationship as manager works

Fernando Alonso has heaped praise on prodigy Gabriel Bortoleto, labelling the reigning F2 champion the “best of the new generation”.

Bortoleto earned an immediate F1 promotion with Kick Sauber after clinching the F2 title in his rookie season. Following in the footsteps of Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri, this success was achieved back-to-back after claiming the third tier crown the year before in F3 – previously GP3.

This year, the Brazilian faces the intriguing situation of racing against his manager, Alonso.

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Both drivers crashed out in the treacherous Australian Grand Prix conditions, but asked ahead of the Chinese weekend to assess Bortoleto’s performance, Alonso was full of praise.

“Very impressive, very good, but no surprises,” he said. “He’s the best of the new generation – together with Ollie [Bearman].

“He's well prepared. He worked really hard all winter long, and I think Melbourne is not the easiest track to make your debut. The race especially was super tricky for everybody, so it was a hard test, but it was very impressive – the first of many.”

Sitting together in the pre-event FIA press conference, the strong bond between the pair was evident, although Bortoleto joked: “He’s being nice because there’s cameras, you know.”

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Despite the ease between the two, however, things could become considerably more tense should there be direct competition on track.

Joking about how these situations would be managed, Alonso said: “I think there are clear rules that I stay in front, that’s my understanding!

“No, jokes aside, it’s great to see Gabriel’s career so far. For us at A14 [Alonso's management company], we feel extremely proud of the relationship. This year is going to be the first year he’s not winning, so we have to maybe accept that. But it’s part of his learning curve.

“For me, it’s a bit different. All the advice and insights I’ve given him over the past two years – it’s a bit strange now because I’m giving him the same, trying to help him as much as I can with experience of circuits , preparation, how to approach race weekends, marketing activities, the way to spend energy, save energy – all those kinds of things.

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“I don’t think this is affecting the performance. At the end of the day, we rely a lot on our teams, our cars, and our packages.

“I don’t feel like I’m giving away something magic and someone will benefit. I’m just trying to apply common sense and help him perform when he puts the helmet on, which is the most important part of Formula 1. I think it’s working fine and will continue to do so.”

Bortoleto added: “Regarding the rules, I have in my contract that I need to give him a slipstream every time I see him in quali!

“No, but as Fernando said, he’s been very good. He’s been able to teach me a lot of these things – how to maximise my performance on track by managing my efforts outside of it.

“Things like how to handle the days here, Thursdays and Fridays, to be focused on what really matters during the weekend. It’s been very nice so far.

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“In Australia, we didn’t really get to fight each other properly, but hopefully, in China, we can have some side-by-side battles. That would be nice for me.

“I’ve watched him my whole life racing, and now racing against him in Formula 1, with him also being my manager, it’s going to be very nice. A good opportunity.”