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Gabriel Bortoleto is a Brazilian driver, born on October 14, 2004 in São Paulo. He is racing in Formula 1 at Sauber for the 2025 season after being part of the McLaren Driver Development program.
Gabriel Bortoleto made his single-seater debut in 2020 in the Italian Formula 4 championship with Prema Powerteam alongside Sebastián Montoya, Gabriele Minì and Dino Beganovic. He finished fifth overall with 5 podiums, including a first victory at the Mugello circuit and finished fourth in the rookie standings. The following year, in 2021, the Brazilian made his debut in FRECA (Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine) with FA Racing, the team created by F1 world champion Fernando Alonso and scored his first points in the first race of the season at Imola, finishing ninth.
For his second season in FRECA, he joined R-ace GP and achieved five podium finishes, including two on the top step, which allowed him to climb to seventh place in the drivers' standings. The Auriverde was invited to take part in the FIA Formula 3 post-season tests in Jerez with Trident and became the first driver to be announced for the 2023 season. The São Paulo native entered the championship with the Italian team alongside Oliver Goethe and Leonardo Fornaroli. At the end of the year, he won the FIA Formula 3 championship title thanks to great consistency and joined the McLaren Driver Development programme.
The Paulista then arrives in Formula 2 at Invicta Racing for the 2024 season. He becomes the partner of Kush Maini. During an unpredictable season with 18 different winners out of the 25 entered, the championship was played until the last round neck and neck with Paul Aron and especially Isack Hadjar for Gabriel Bortoleto. Finally, it was the Brazilian who won over Hadjar, who stalled at the lights out during the last race of the season. He becomes the first driver to win the titles in F3 and F2 in his first year since Oscar Piastri (in 2020 and 2021).
Bortoleto made his first laps in a Formula 1 car, the MCL36, during a test organised by McLaren at the Red Bull Ring in 2024. After being graciously released from his obligations with the Woking team, the 2 F2024 champion will join the grid in 2025, partnering Nico Hülkenberg at Sauber. He will participate in the transition with Audi, since the German manufacturer will take control of the team from the 2026 season. For the moment, the Brazilian has only been able to take part in the post-season tests with his future family, completing 130 laps. The challenge promises to be a big one for the rookie who arrives at a team that came last in 2024 and has only managed to score four points from the 24 races on the calendar.
Revealed late, Bortoleto has always known how to maximize his opportunities in high-performance teams. He only really took off in F3 when he won the title. While he didn't pocket many victories, his consistency proved to be his greatest strength. Even if he is capable of having a great burst of speed, the margin for improvement remains enormous for the new hope of the Brazilian people.