Who is Gabriel Bortoleto, the new Sauber driver praised by Verstappen

Former McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto to Sauber in 2025

Gabriel Bortoleto, born on 14 October 2004 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has enjoyed impressive career in feeder series since his debut in the Formula classes. From Formula 4 and then Formula Regional classes, he got up to Formula 3. The young Brazilian won the F3 championship in his debut year and is well on his way to repeating that in his first Formula 2 season, provided he can keep Red Bull Racing junior Isack Hadjar behind in the standings.

Bortoleto was (at the moment is) part of McLaren's training programme until the end of 2024. However, the Woking-based team decided to release the driver after he will join Sauber. Bortoleto will get a chance as a regular F1 driver alongside Hulkenberg in 2025, while Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou will have to leave the team.

Verstappen highly praises Bortoleto

Bortoleto is welcomed by some big names in Formula 1. He is the protégé of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen also praised the talent last weekend. "if I was Sauber, I would have signed him already," the Dutchman revealed during the Brazil 2024 Grand Prix weekend, not long before Bortoleto was announced by Sauber for next year.

The three-time world champion pointed out that now is the time to promote a younger talent, given there is a regulation change in 2026. "And ‘26, big rule change. It's always good to get used to a team already for a year, make your mistakes here and there, get integrated well, understand the car a bit. You always feel much more prepared and comfortable when you then start in ‘26," the Dutchman added.

Sauber makes changes in transformation to Audi

As part of their transition to become Audi in the 2026 season, Sauber announced several changes in 2024. For instance, former Andreas Seidl left and former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley, former sporting director at Red Bull Racing, were announced as the team's new leaders. An entirely new line-up was also chosen: Nico Hulkenberg was announced first.

For a long time, Bottas seemed the biggest contender for the second seat, but Sauber opted for young talent alongside the German's experience. Gabriel Bortoleto is let go by McLaren and joins Sauber as a regular F1 driver in 2025. Bottas in turn is very likely to return to the Mercedes family, where he would be a reserve driver.

Bortoleto joins an illustrious line-up of drivers from Brazil, including Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Emerson Fittipaldi, Carlos Pace, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa.

This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi

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