F1 champion Max Verstappen admits swapping team secrets with rival

Max Verstappen

Verstappen admits swapping team secrets with F1 rival

Max Verstappen revealed his race strategy to one of his F1 rivals

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 24 March 2025 11:58

Max Verstappen has admitted to giving tips to his Formula 1 rival and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Sauber star enjoyed support from legends such as Fernando Alonso during his F1 debut, with the Brazilian driver revealed as the champion’s protégé and that he is under his management team.

Unfortunately on his F1 debut, Bortoleto had to deal with some harsh comments from Helmut Marko, who classified him as a 'B' driver, to which the youngster provided a mature response and was determined to prove the Red Bull chief wrong.

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Bortoleto has received support elsewhere in the Red Bull camp however, and was given some key advice by the team's four-time world champion at the Australian GP.

Verstappen swaps team secrets with Bortoleto

According to Motorsport.com, Verstappen spoke to the media ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix and revealed that he offered Bortoleto some words of advice before the race, including Red Bull's strategy secrets.

"I speak to Gabi [Bortoleto], quite a lot. He's a very nice guy," Verstappen said.

"When he asked me questions, I'm not someone that hides stuff on the grid.

"After the national anthem he came to me and said, 'Max, what are you going to do?' I said put inters [intermediate tyres].

"He said, 'really? really?!' I said, 'Yeah, put inters on. It's fine. And if you're not really sure, just ask the team maybe to do something with the tyres, but inters.'"

"It's normal. I mean, it's your first race, it's always very stressful and quite intimidating. He's a very nice guy. He's a great driver and honestly, I really like his approach. He's just a hard worker and he's very passionate about Formula 1."

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