Nico Hulkenberg pays bizarre 'printer' compliment to Gabriel Bortoleto

Nico Hulkenberg has paid Gabriel Bortoleto a bizarre compliment, comparing his Sauber team-mate to "a printer that never runs out of ink".

Following a difficult start to his rookie season, albeit unsurprising given the hangover from last year's wretched campaign for the team when it mustered a miserable four points from 24 grands prix, Bortoleto is finally starting to prove why he won the F3 and F2 titles the past two years.

Since upgrades were applied to the car mid-season, allowing Bortoleto greater feel and confidence in it, the Brazilian has scored all of his 18 points in the last six races, with a best of sixth in Hungary.

After finishing last in the constructors' championship, his form is allowing Sauber to challenge for fifth this year. At present, it trails Williams by 31 points with eight races remaining.

Bortoleto has also picked up where Hulkenberg left off, as the veteran German driver has not scored a point since his historic third place in the British Grand Prix, ending his record for the longest run in F1 history without a podium for a driver since the start of their career.

"He's just doing a really good job," said Hulkenberg, speaking to the media, and when asked by RacingNews365 where he felt Bortoleto had the edge on him at the moment.

"He's a machine. He produces laps like a printer that never runs out of ink. It's pretty astonishing.

"You've all come to see who he is and how he drives. He hardly makes any mistakes, given that he is a rookie. He produces the laps very comfortably, so he's just doing a really good job. He's strong.

"He's on a steep learning curve, and like any rookie in their first year, it's a lot to take in, a lot to process. All I can say, he's one for the future."

Bortoleto was naturally grateful to Hulkenberg for such remarks when put to the 20-year-old, particularly coming from someone he says he looked out for when he was in F3 and F2 in qualifying.

"I always used to watch him and be like, 'This guy is so quick," said Bortoleto. "And then when I knew I was going to be his team-mate, to be honest, I was like, 'Oh, that's going to be tough. This year is going to be pushy for me'. I knew I would need to raise my level and everything.

"Honestly, it's very close between us. If you look at the data, it's so close. We are extracting a lot from the car.

"It's just that the midfield this year is so tight that every millisecond you find can put you in or out. And this has been the situation, that we have been so close to each other."