Delighted Bortoleto 'glad I was fighting' Alonso and Verstappen as he takes best F1 result in Hungary

Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto admitted he was "glad I was fighting" the likes of Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen during the Hungarian Grand Prix, having secured his best result in Formula 1.

The Brazilian put in an impressive performance at the Hungaroring on Sunday, claiming sixth at the chequered flag which was his third time in the points in the last four races.

Bortoleto ran between multiple world champions Alonso and Verstappen during the opening phase, having started seventh and ahead of the Red Bull driver on the grid while also surviving a possible investigation for a false start.

Despite being unable to find a way around Alonso, Bortoleto held off the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in the closing stages to earn sixth, as well as being voted Driver of the Day by F1 fans.

"It's difficult to beat him, he knows how to play the game and slowing down at the right time, pushing at the right time," said Bortoleto of Alonso, who is also his manager.

"Also having Max [Verstappen] behind was not easy at the beginning of the race and keeping him behind me was super tough. Honestly [it] was a great race and I'm glad I was fighting with these guys at this moment of my career."

Having had a difficult start to his maiden season in F1, Bortoleto has gone on an impressive run of form which has included points finishes in Austria, Belgium and now Hungary.

Along with team mate Nico Hulkenberg, Kick Sauber has scored points in the last six races and sit P8 in the Teams' Championship, but only one point behind Aston Martin and a further 18 adrift of Williams in fifth.

Bortoleto admitted that he has learned a lot from his first 14 races in the championship, and that he really "wants to drive again to keep this momentum" as F1 embarks on a three-week summer break.

"I was a very rookie-rookie driver when I started the season but that's of course normal and you progress a lot through your season when you start at that level and I feel like I've been learning so much," said Bortoleto to Sky Sports F1.

"Not only in raw speed but I think mainly an understanding of my car and what I need from it, work with the engineers and everyone."

He added: "We did an amazing job [in Hungary], the team gave me an amazing car for today's race. We managed to put everything in place. The strategy was great. I don't see how we could finish this half of the season better."