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Gabriel Bortoleto will race in Formula 1 alongside Nico Hulkenberg for the Sauber team in 2025.
But who is Bortoleto? You would have been mad to predict at the start of the year he would take an F1 seat for 2025, but such was his rise to prominence, Sauber has decided to ditch a 10-time race winner (Valtteri Bottas) to get him in.
Let’s find out more about the Brazilian.
Bortoleto's rise
Bortoleto, who turned 20 in October, is from Sao Paulo, and was a Brazilian karting champion before he worked his way up to world and European level, finishing third in basically every major trophy in 2018.
He made his car debut in Italian Formula 4 in 2020 with Prema finishing fifth, before a 15th place in Formula Regional European the following year threatened to derail his rise.
Bortoleto was only sixth the following year but that experience in Formula Regional clearly paid dividends as he won the 2023 F3 championship with Trident in an incredibly consistent year.
In 2024, Bortoleto has been part of a wild and unpredictable F2 season brought on by a new car mixing up the order and with reliability issues intervening for many drivers.
He had three retirements in a row across Jeddah and Melbourne at the start of the year but has only been outside of the points in two of the next 18 races again displaying how consistent he is capable of being. He won the feature races at the Red Bull Ring and Monza too.
He has a 4.5 points advantage over Red Bull hopeful Isack Hadjar, with four races across Qatar and Yas Marina to go.
McLaren didn’t want to let him go
It’s clear that Bortoleto has impressed McLaren on the sim and in the work he has done testing its older Formula 1 car.
With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri signed until the end of 2026, there was just no room to slot Bortoleto in and McLaren always said they would not stand in the way of a race seat for its junior.
“Having the possibility to talk about Gabriel, I would like to take this opportunity to say once again, how good a work he's been doing in junior categories, winning F3, leading F2 in the first season,” said McLaren’s team boss Andrea Stella at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
“And this is to lead into the fact that I think it's very, very normal and natural that Formula 1 teams are interested in having Gabriel as a driver.
‘In terms of McLaren, McLaren will not stop the possibility for Gabriel to drive Formula 1.”
What Sauber has said about signing him
“Led by Mattia, Audi's Formula 1 project is making great progress in many areas,” said Gernot Dollner, chairman of the board of Sauber Motorsport AG.
“The signing of the second driver is another milestone.
“We are currently witnessing a generational shift in Formula 1, with young drivers immediately making an impact.
“By signing Gabriel Bortoleto, we have secured one of these top talents. His signing underscores Audi's long-term strategy and commitment to Formula 1.”
What do we know about him out of the car?
Bortoleto’s favourite movie is Interstellar and his favourite TV show is Peaky Blinders. Don’t say The Race doesn’t bring you all the information you need to know…
He’s also never been to Rio de Janeiro but loves Mykonos, the Greek island, and is a real family-orientated person.
