F1 News
Will Bortoleto remain under McLaren's wings after joining Sauber?
It was announced on Wednesday morning that after Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou will leave Sauber, and that Gabriel Bortoleto will join the team. But what does this mean for McLaren, where the Brazilian is a development driver this season.
Bortoleto leaves McLaren's development programme
After earning a full-time seat, Gabriel Bortoleto will no longer be part of the McLaren Drivers Development programme after the end of the season, the team report. McLaren already have a secure line-up in Formula One, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
"It has been a pleasure to work with Gabriel over the last year and to have been able to contribute to his success and growth as a driver through the McLaren Driver Development programme. We have a strong driver line-up in Lando and Oscar, and therefore we have always been clear that we would not stand in the way of an opportunity for Gabriel to progress whilst we are not in the position to offer him a seat with McLaren."
The driver currently leads the F2 to championship by 4.5 points ahead of Isack Hadjar, with two weekends to go in the feeder series, driving for Invicta Racing. "We look forward to continuing to support Gabriel in his campaign for the 2024 FIA Formula 2 title and wish him all the best for his career beyond F2."
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