Gabriel Bortoleto details four vital things he learned from Ayrton Senna

Gabriel Bortoleto has reflected on the impact the late, great Ayrton Senna continues to have on his racing career.

As a Brazilian, three-time F1 champion Senna is naturally Audi driver Bortoleto's obvious hero, despite the decades between their respective times in F1 and the fact that the 21-year-old never saw his compatriot race, other than via old videos.

Even though Bortoleto has two of the greats of F1 in his corner, in two-time champion Fernando Alonso as his manager, and four-time title holder Max Verstappen, who has become a very close friend, he wishes Senna were still around today to also give him advice.

"I've thought about that already, and it would be great," said Bortoleto, speaking in an exclusive interview with RacingNews365 at the end of last season.

"Naturally, I would love to have met him somehow and to talk to him. It would have been amazing to do that with my hero.

"But sometimes in life, we cannot have it all." Poignantly, Bortoleto added: "Maybe one day I will meet him somewhere else."

Bortoleto, however, has still managed to learn from Senna over the years, not only from watching the videos, but also from what he has picked up in speaking with those who were around Senna at the time.

Asked specifically as to what he had gleaned, Bortoleto detailed four key aspects of Senna's character that have personally stood him in good stead.

"Discipline, dedication, intelligence, and he was a great person outside of racing," assessed Bortoleto. "If you take all of that, it made him the driver he was.

"That's what I take from him, not only the driver he was on track, but how great he was with people off it.

"One of the things I've tried to do as well, and I've heard from many journalists, is that he tried to explain to them how he felt with the car, and to help you guys understand, which is quite interesting.

"Because it's not an easy job, what you guys do to expose to the whole world what we do as a driver, so I think it's good. And I heard from many people that he was very good at that.

"He tried to explain to them and help them understand what he did on track.

"All of this made him a legend, a great driver, and a guy who was able to build a legacy for decades and decades that will last forever."