Nico Hulkenberg has shared some words of praise for new team mate Gabriel Bortoleto following pre-season testing, with the German stating that the rookie is “fast as hell” as they begin working together at Kick Sauber.
The Hinwil-based outfit will field an all-new driver pairing this season with Hulkenberg and Bortoleto, and both were in action at the wheel of the C45 across the three days of testing in Bahrain prior to the 2025 campaign getting underway.
Asked at the end of the test about how things are going with Bortoleto – who is making the step up to F1 after winning the Formula 2 championship in 2024 – Hulkenberg responded: “Very good. I think we get on really well – he’s a really nice guy, a smart kid, fast as hell!
“He learns really quickly. He did his first race sim here at the test, so I look forward to work alongside him.”
Hulkenberg and Bortoleto both got behind the wheel of Kick Sauber’s C45 during pre-season testing in Bahrain
As well as getting to know Bortoleto, Hulkenberg is also adapting to the many factors involved in joining a new team, having made the switch to Sauber following a two-year stint with Haas.
In terms of how he is finding this process, the 37-year-old reflected: “It’s going well. We’ve been working together since January, had many factory days, simulator days. Obviously now [this is] our first time at track, but I think on that side things are progressing well.
“I enjoy working with the engineers in the office, with Mattia [Binotto], with everyone in the garage and back in the factory. When you change team, there’s so many things to explore and discover – one of the nice things when you change team, compared to when you’re with a team that you’re settled in.
“Lots of things to discover, everything’s new, and it’s like a new relationship! It’s an exciting, interesting phase now.”
Looking back on how the team fared during pre-season testing, Hulkenberg is satisfied with what was achieved but acknowledges that the pecking order will not become clear until the opening race weekend gets underway in Australia.
“[Testing was] a quick three days – they feel long in a way but short at the same time,” he explained. “It’s been nice to get a hand on the car and to start working with my new team.
Hulkenberg: ‘No idea where we are’ after ‘intense’ Bahrain testing
“It’s been intense days – a lot of laps, a lot of data collected, which is nice to have next week off now and to process everything, to digest it, analyse it, and then start the season in Melbourne. I look forward to that.
“I think testing’s been okay, obviously I’ve no idea where we are, to be honest, but it’s more about finding a good starting point with the car and understanding how set-up changes work, all these kind of basic things, and I think we ticked those boxes, so we’ll see what we get in Melbourne.”
And when pushed on what the positives are on the car – as well as any areas for improvement – Hulkenberg added: “I think there’s always many areas to work on – obviously we come from a small way back, if you look at last year, so I think there’s many areas where we can work on and improve.
“Where we’re strong, I don’t know, to be honest! I think we’ll have to go into the competition and really measure ourselves one-to-one against the others and we’ll know.”
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