FIA honour F1 star after HISTORIC achievement

Bortoleto, Verstappen, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

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FIA honour F1 star after HISTORIC achievement

The FIA awards officially crowned the 2024 champions across a variety of motorsport series

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Monday 16 December 2024 09:12 Updated: 17:40

The FIA have awarded an up-and-coming Formula 1 star for a record achievement following the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Many motorsport series, including F1, are now enjoying the winter break following the season finale in Abu Dhabi last weekend, with stars of the track taking the opportunity to rest and recuperate as anticipation builds ahead of 2025.

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The 2025 F1 season promises to deliver a whole host of exciting debuts for recently promoted rookie drivers eager to leave a memorable first impression in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Following Lewis Hamilton's announcement ahead of the 2024 season that he would be leaving Mercedes to instead start a new chapter at Ferrari, the F1 silly season kicked into gear much earlier than usual.

At the other end of the spectrum, F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto was the final rookie to be announced as being promoted to F1, having signed a contract with Sauber ahead of their transition into Audi in 2026.

F1 champion Fernando Alonso is Gabriel Bortoleto's manager

Gabriel Bortoleto has now won both the F3 and F2 championships as a rookie

Bortoleto officially crowned F2 champion

Unlike the 2024 F1 season, the F2 drivers' championship battle provided a race down to the wire heading into Abu Dhabi.

However, following a bizarre fault which counted Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar out of the season finale before it had even begun, Bortoleto secured the title, continuing his record run of impressive rookie drives.

After winning the 2023 F3 championship in his first season, the 20-year-old progressed to F2 where he has now completed the same feat as a rookie, entering the history books.

Doing the same in F1 will be significantly harder, but with the guidance of two-time champion Fernando Alonso as his manager, expectations are certainly high ahead of the young star's debut in 2025.

One final trip was necessary for the stars of motorsport this year as the season champions from a variety of FIA series headed to Rwanda to collect their trophies in the official award ceremony.

Red Bull star Max Verstappen picked up his fourth consecutive title after winning the F1 championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, while Bortoleto was honoured for his achievements.

The sport's governing body posted to their official account on social media platform 'X' to share the celebrations.

Gabriel Bortoleto is crowned 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship, achieving remarkable back-to-back rookie-season triumphs in both FIA F3 and FIA F2, forging his place in motorsport history alongside Charles Leclerc, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri.#FIAAwards2024 #F2 pic.twitter.com/2dUi3EP7Va
— FIA (@fia) December 13, 2024

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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