Gabriel Bortoleto celebrates winning the race with the Brazilian flag in the background — Photo: © IMAGO

Audi

Who is Gabriel Bortoleto? Audi F1's NEW driver signing

The Sauber-owned team have a new driver for 2025

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 6 November 2024 16:03

Gabriel Bortoleto has been confirmed as a new driver for Sauber/Audi for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, and possibly beyond as the outfit heads into a new era.

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the 20-year-old currently leads the F2 championship, and has been linked with a seat on the F1 grid for some time.

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The current Sauber-owned team are set to become Audi in 2026, and signed German veteran Nico Hulkenberg earlier in the season, and have been searching for a partner for the 37-year-old.

Having scored zero points so far this season and sitting bottom of the constructors' championship, Sauber decided to axe both current drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu in favour of the young Brazilian Bortoleto.

Early life and career

Bortoleto was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil on October 14 2004, and began his karting career at the age of just eight.

The Brazilian stayed in karting up until 2019, when he was 15, and instead took up single-seater racing in the Italian F4 championship.

Bortoleto raced in that particular series in 2020 with Prema Racing, finishing fifth overall in the standings and claiming his first single-seater race victory in the process.

He then graduated up to the Formula Regional European Championship, competing in that series in 2021 and 2022, claiming two wins and six podiums in that time.

Did Bortoleto race with McLaren?

In 2023, McLaren signed Bortoleto as a member of their driver development programme, with the team looking towards the future despite their current youthful driver lineup of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Bortoleto competed in F3 with the Trident team in the 2023 season, claiming the championship in that series, beating current Williams driver Franco Colapinto in the process.

Gabriel Bortoleto won the 2023 F3 championship

Having clearly excelled in that series, the step up to F2 for the Brazilian in 2024 also came with real ease, with Bortoleto currently leading the championship with just two rounds to go, in an intense rivalry with Red Bull junior driver Isack Hadjar.

After a spluttering start, Bortoleto claimed his first podium in Imola with the Invicta Racing team, before claiming his first series victory at the Red Bull Ring.

Bortoleto's recently confirmed move to Sauber/Audi has led to McLaren having to let go of the Brazilian driver from their driver development programme, wishing him luck in a post on social media.

Is Alonso Bortoleto's manager?

Yes, two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso is the manager of Bortoleto, through his management agency A14 Management.

At the Belgian Grand Prix, Alonso was reportedly spotted in the Sauber motorhome, with Spanish media suggesting that the 43-year-old was trying to negotiate a deal for the Brazilian driver to join Sauber for 2025.

Fernando Alonso is Gabriel Bortoleto's manager

Who was the last Brazilian driver on the F1 grid?

Bortoleto will join the grid from 2025, making him the first full-time Brazilian driver on the grid since Felipe Massa in 2017.

Massa raced in the sport between 2002-2017, claiming 11 grand prix victories and 41 podiums. The Brazilian narrowly missed out on the world championship in 2008 by just one point to Lewis Hamilton, almost joining Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Emerson Fittipaldi as Brazilian world champions.

The last Brazilian to feature in an F1 race was Fittipaldi's nephew Pietro Fittipaldi, who took part in two races in the 2020 season for the Haas team in place of Romain Grosjean.

Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Audi