Three podiums in four races and a reputation as one of Formula 1's best drivers so far in 2025 make George Russell an obvious benchmark for most of the grid.
But the driver in last place in the championship sees Russell as a reference for an unusual reason.
While Russell's consistently strong performances so far this year did get acknowledged by Gabriel Bortoleto in the build-up to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it was a far less successful part of Russell's F1 career that prompted Bortoleto to mention him.
Bortoleto, who has a best finish of 14th so far in his rookie season and is one of only four drivers yet to score a point, was asked how he is coping with a season that has started so differently to his back-to-back title-winning seasons in Formula 3 and Formula 2.
After joking that he hoped to be as "flat out" in Jeddah practice as the person asking the question, Bortoleto replied: "It's not easy, if I'm honest. It's not easy.
"You come from two championships, you’re used to being in this [press conference] room but actually after a race, because you win or you are on the podium.
"Now for us, it's already a mega job if you're going to Q2 or fighting for Q3.
"But there's always going to be someone paying this price at the beginning. If you see George Russell at the beginning of his Formula 1 career, I don't think he scored a point in his first season, or something like this.
"And now he's one of the best drivers on the grid and doing such a great job. I wouldn’t say fighting for the championship right now, but he's constantly on the podium or fighting for things.
"So it's all about having patience."
Bortoleto's callback to Russell's lowly beginnings struggling at Williams does not quite work as a like-for-like comparison because Russell's 2019 season was spent in a car even less competitive than Bortoleto's 2025 Sauber.
But it is very appropriate as a comparison in principle. Sauber has not made it out of Q1 in the last two events with either Bortoleto or Nico Hulkenberg - although Bortoleto did get into Q2 on his debut while Hulkenberg, through fortune rather than outright pace, scored points in the Australia season opener.
Back in 2019, a rookie Russell qualified on the last two rows of the grid for all but four races and - as Bortoleto noted - didn't score a single point all year.
He also didn't score a point for Williams in his second F1 season either. The three points Russell earned in 2020 were from the unexpected substitute appearance at Mercedes in place of Lewis Hamilton, a race Russell should have won but ended with only ninth place and fastest lap because of a problem with the wrong tyres being fitted and then a puncture as he attempted to recover.
To top it off, Russell then spent a third season in the lower-midfield, albeit in a slightly more competitive Williams that he scored points in four times.
Since moving to Mercedes in 2022, Russell has flourished into a three-time grand prix winner, scored 17 podiums in that time, and earned five pole positions. Mercedes has described him as one of F1's best three drivers, potentially on his way to becoming the outright best, and his 2025 form has been lauded across the paddock.
While there is no guarantee Bortoleto's career follows the same trajectory, his point that all he can do is be patient - and impress where he can - is absolutely correct. It is also in line with what he expected, given Sauber finished last in 2024 and only scored points in the penultimate race of the season.
Hence, Bortoleto said his situation is "not news for me" as "it's not that I came to this season expecting to be fighting for podiums or points every race".
"I knew what I was going to go through, and I just needed to be strong and keep it up," he said.
"The team has been very clear with me since the beginning that that was our situation and we just fight for it.
"I know it's not nice to be in the situation we are, but it is what it is. That's life."
This leaves Bortoleto, who has made a good impression in F1 with his speed in qualifying and off-track demeanour, trying to take the reality of being a rookie at the back in F1 in his stride.
Russell rode out multiple seasons in machinery that was too uncompetitive and Bortoleto's mindset is that he is now paying his own dues, hopefully before Sauber enters a better chapter after it morphs into Audi's works team next year.
"There's nothing much I can do right now - just learn, try to grow as a driver in these tough moments and do a better job every race weekend," he said.
"Get better, because I'm not fighting for points right now, that's the realistic situation. Not me, not Nico. Nico did a very good job in Australia with a messy race and managed to score points, but realistically in the last three or four rounds we have not been able to be there by pure pace.
"What we need to do now is try to point the team in the right direction with the development of the car. We saw last year with Sauber as well - they were last through the whole year basically, and I think with one or two upgrades they brought, they were back to fighting for Q3.
"In this world I've learned something: everything can happen. So we cannot give up."
