Who Is Sauber's / Audi's Newly Signed Driver Gabriel Bortoleto?
F1
The Sauber F1 team (future Audi) announced they decided to give their second seat for 2025 and beyond to Gabriel Bortoleto. But who is he?
Gabriel Bortoleto is a 20-year-old Brazilian driver who was born in Sao Paulo (where the 21st round of the 2024 season took place) on October 14, 2004.
Bortoleto wasn't particularly successful in junior series like Italian F4 (P5), Formula Regional European Championship (P15), and Formula Regional Asian Championship (P14).
However, the 20-year-old showed what he's got during his first season in F3, which he won quite decisively - with a 45-point lead over the driver in second place.
It was after this stellar season in F3 that McLaren's driver development program signed Gabriel Bortoleto. He has been part of McLaren throughout the 2024.
However, the Papaya team is currently more than satisfied with both of its drivers - Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, so it was clear that the Brazilian would have to convince other teams with his performance somehow, and he has managed to do just that.
After winning F3, Bortoleto joined F2 with the Invicta Racing team. With two race weekends to go before the end of the F2 season, the 20-year-old leads the F2 Championship, which is remarkable considering it is his first season.
Bortoleto has a chance to achieve what only a few drivers in history did. He can win F2 and F3 in two consecutive rookie seasons and join the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, and George Russell.
His best performance of the F2 season came during the feature race at Monza, where he went from P22 on the start to take an astonishing victory.
It is no surprise that he caught the Sauber F1 team's attention, which announced on November 6th, 2024 they signed Gabriel Bortoleto with a multi-year deal to race alongside Nico Hulkenberg (whose deal with Sauber was announced earlier this year).
COO and CTO of Sauber Motorsport AG, Mattia Binotto, said about the 20-year-old Brazilian future F1 driver in the official statement:
"Gabriel has already demonstrated in the junior categories that he has what it takes to be a winning driver. We are very pleased that he will become a team member of Sauber and Audi."
"Together with Gabriel, we are on a journey towards success, and we will evolve into a unified force to shape a new era for Audi in motorsport."
"Nico and Gabriel represent the ideal combination of experience and youth, positioning us strongly for the future."
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