Stake F1's Gabriel Bortoleto has revealed he is eager to partner Max Verstappen in an endurance race in the future, revealing that he "would love it" to happen.
The Brazilian's comments fell during a conversation about Verstappen's recent competitive GT3 debut at the Nordschleife.
At the end of September, Verstappen partnered Team Redline sim driver Chris Lulham in the ninth round of the NLS Series in a Ferrari 296 GT3 and claimed a debut victory.
Verstappen qualified in third and was behind the wheel for the first two hours of the four-hour event, taking the lead at the first corner.
Verstappen and Lulham's car remained at the front for the remainder of the race, marking a sensational GT3 debut for the Red Bull driver.
It did not surprise Bortoleto to see the four-time world champion secure victory, although he also made sure to praise Lulham's performance having only recently moved into actual GT racing.
Asked by select media including RacingNews365 if Verstappen's GT3 victory surprised him, Bortoleto said: "No, I'm not surprised. He's winning in F1, why wouldn't he win in GT3?
"It's obviously different categories, but I think he already beat the unofficial Nordschleife record. So I expected him to do well in the race and he did.
"Not only him, but a very good job from his team-mate, good friend of mine as well, Chris Lulham. He did an amazing job coming from the sim world to the real track. The performances he has been putting in at the races he has been doing is very impressive."
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For Verstappen, his ultimate GT racing dream is to compete in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, something he could do as soon as next season.
While Bortoleto's immediate focus is on F1, the reigning F2 champion is eager to partner both Verstappen and Fernando Alonso in an endurance race in the future.
Questioned on whether he would like to partner Verstappen in an endurance race, Bortoleto responded: "I would love it. It's something I definitely want to do in the future, not now.
"It's not my focus. I just joined Formula 1, I want to have a long career here and a successful one, hopefully.
"But definitely, one day I would love to share a car with him, maybe with Fernando as well.
“It would be very, very cool to share [a car] with them, a race like that, have a new experience."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look ahead to this weekend's Singapore GP! The trio start with a discussion about Max Verstappen's Nordschleife heroics, before turning their attention to the make-or-break Marina Bay Circuit.
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