The persistent rumours in the paddock have been confirmed: in Formula 1 a lands young Brazilian. From karts to his debut in single-seaters, from winning the title in F3 to the open fight in Formula 2, Who is the future Sauber driver, Gabriel Bortoleto?
Who is Gabriel Bortoleto, future Sauber driver
Gabriel Bortoleto Oliveira was born in São Paulo October 14, 2004. His first approach with the card It happened in 2012, the year in which he took part in some national competitions, including the Sulbrasileiro de Kart Championship. His adventure with karts continues until 2019, after an excellent season that saw him conquer the third place in the European and World Championships in the category OKContinuing on the streak of successes, he became vice-champion both in WSK Super Master Series that inAndrea Margutti Trophy.
Il debut of Bortoleto on board a single-seater takes place in 2020 in the Championship of Italian F4 with Prema team. Gabriel achieved his first podiums at Mugello, a circuit where he placed second, third and finally first, thus taking his first victory. After two more podiums, the young Brazilian talent closed the Season in fifth place. In 2021, the future Sauber driver moves to FA Racing, a team that allows him to compete in the Formula Regional European ChampionshipThe following year he raced in the same category, but moved to the French team R-ace GP. Bortoleto gets the sixth position in the standings and has the opportunity to take to the track also in the Formula Regional Asian Championship. In September of the 2022, the young pilot joins A14, the company of management of the two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.
The Formula 3 Championship victory
At the end of 2022, the Italian team Trident announced that Gabriel Bortoleto would have been part of the line-up Formula 3 team, joining Leonardo Fornaroli and Oliver Goethe. In his debut race, Bortoleto it was penalized for causing an accident with Villagómez – thus causing him to finish out of the points. In the Feature Race the following day, Gabriele Minì crossed the finish line in first place, but due to a penalty the victory it was inherited from Gabriel. In the second round, the Australian one, Bortoleto takes pole position and victory of the second Feature of the season, thus extending its lead.
In the next five stages he continued to place in the points zone, making the consistency is your key to success. A contact with Dino Beganovic during the Sprint Race on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit causes Bortoleto's first retirement: it is his first race concluded without points. The future Sauber driver showed up at the final stage in Monza with a advantage of 38 points on his direct rivals. Since both Paul Aron and Pepe Martí failed to obtain pole position on the Italian circuit – worth 2 points, Gabriel Bortoleto is Formula 3 Champion on Friday qualifying.
Formula 2 debut with Invicta Racing
After winning the F3 title in his debut season, Bortoleto is landed in F2 with Invicta Racing. The Brazilian, who joined the club in 2024 McLaren's driver development program, qualified second on the opening stage in Bahrain. His teammate's disqualification meant he was promotion to pole sitter in the Sunday race, which he finished in sixth position.
A Imola Gabriel scored his first points since Bahrain, crossing the line in second position and thus securing his first podium in the preparatory category. The second podium comes in Monaco – during the Sprint, several appearances in the points zone follow. In Race 2 in Austria, Bortoleto takes the lead of the race when Maloney pits on lap 7. On lap 18, after the pit stop, he passes Martì, thus going to win his first race in Formula 2.
Bortoleto in the running for the title fight
The Brazilian slowly climbs the drivers' standings, reaching second place before the summer break. Gabriel's return from vacation was not the best, after a disastrous qualification which forced him to start from the last row. After an excellent comeback, Bortoleto cuts the Sprint finish line in eighth position alongside Dennis Hauger, thus forcing the stewards to assign each of them half a point.
In Feature Races, Bortoleto succeeds in thecrazy feat of coming back from last place and winning the race. The win, combined with Hadjar failing to take home any points from the Italian weekend, allowed Gabriel to close the gap in the standings. Finishing fourth and fifth in the two races in Baku – and capitalising on Hadjar's double zero – Bortoleto took the lead in the Championship of F2. The Brazilian left Azerbaijan with a 4.5-point lead over the Frenchman and 34.5 over Zane Maloney. With two more rounds on the calendar, the The title fight has entered its heart: future Sauber driver Bortoleto, Red Bull home talent Hadjar or FE rookie Maloney, Who will become Champion?
Bortoleto – Sauber: the official announcement is here
Gabriel Bortoleto is added to the list of young talents who have blossomed in the lower categories and who – starting next year – will make their Formula 1 debut. After Oliver Bearman in Haas, Kimi Antonelli in Mercedes, Jack Doohan in Alpine and Franco Colapinto in Williams (at least for the rest of the 2024 season), Gabriel Bortoleto also arrives in the top category.
Rumours have been circulating in the paddock for some time now, but the official announcement has finally arrived: Bortoleto will join Nico Hulkenberg starting in 2025. Gabriel will be the first Brazilian driver to take part in a full F1 season since 2017.
