Bortoleto relieved to have a F1 seat from 2025: "I didn't want to go a year without driving"

Gabriel Bortoleto can breathe easy: no, he will not be on the sidelines, nor without a steering wheel in 2025. The current leader of the championship Formula 2 has secured his medium-term future by signing a multi-year contract with Sauber/Audi, starting next season. The Brazilian can now negotiate the end of his Formula 2 campaign with greater serenity, now that his future is assured in Formula 1… because let us remember that the Formula 2 champion no longer has the right to drive in the Formula 1 antechamber after his title. A situation that the protégé of McLaren (until the end of the season) absolutely wanted to avoid.

Bortoleto avoided the Piastri case

“It’s an incredible feeling. It’s like a dream. Since I was very young, I started racing with the dream of one day reaching F1 and today I am very grateful to be able to sign this contract and be on the starting grid in 2025. And I can’t wait to be there, Gabriel Bortoleto confided in the F1 podcast, Beyond The Grid. We have been discussing for a few months now what would happen, whether it would be in 2026 or 2025, but the news came not so long ago. I feel very good, because I did not want to go a year without driving. Now, to be able to continue driving – in F3, in F2 and now in F1 next year – I think that’s the best way to do it.”

A situation that was particularly experienced Oscar piastri with Alpine : Formula 2 champion in 2021, the Australian had not received an opportunity within the French team and had remained on the sidelines for a season, as a reserve, before going to McLaren in 2023. Other drivers have also seen their path to Formula 1 blocked by lack of opportunity despite a Formula 2 title in their pocket, the examples of Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire are the most recent.

Audi, "a beautiful project" to start in F1

Gabriel Bortoleto, for his part, managed to make a place for himself on the Formula 1 grid, thanks to the support of McLaren, his performances in the promotional formulas (Formula 3 champion, Formula 2 leader) and thanks to the confidence of Mattia Binotto, director of the Audi F1 project, who bet on him to lead the German manufacturer's project in the premier category alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

“I think the project that Mattia presented to me about Audi in Formula 1 – what he wants, what Audi wants, and obviously being the first Audi driver in history in F1 – is a great thing and an exciting project, underlines the Paulista. At the same time, when you have the chance to arrive in F1, you don't really wonder where you're going to be, you just get started and do your best. But I was very lucky to be offered a great project for my future over several years.

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