The Sauber team has finally decided on their long-awaited second driver alongside Nico Hulkenberg. It is none other than F2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto. The man who hails from Senna’s own country Brazil, is also McLaren’s junior academy driver and backed by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. The Brazilian driver will be driving for the Sauber F1 team next season replacing Valtteri Bottas. It's going to be full of rookies inside the F1 grid-like Oliver Bearman (Haas), Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), Jack Doohan (Alpine), and Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber).
Senna’s countryman
Brazil is the home country to many legendary Formula 1 drivers like Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Carlos Pace, Rubens Barrichello, and Felippe Massa. Now Bortoleto joins the list of these elite drivers to race in F1.
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Fernando Alonso backed the driver.
The two-time world champion Fernando Alonso has been backing the Brazilian talent since his junior days. He became the 2023 Formula 3 champion with the Trident team and now he is the championship leader of Formula 2. Gabriel Bortoleto was also given a promotion to race in Formula 2 for the Invicta Racing team in 2024. Many drivers in the current grid like Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri are from Formula 2.
McLaren Junior Driver
Ahead of the 2024 Season McLaren team was very impressed with Gabriel Bortoleto and he was immediately signed by the Papaya team as a McLaren Academy driver under the Driver Development program. He was a simulator driver for the team. But unfortunately, he can't have a seat in McLaren as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have long-term contracts with McLaren.
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How did he get Sauber's seat?
Bottas was the favourite to be resigned by the Swiss team but during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, it was said that the Sauber team won't be signing Bottas next year and Bortoleto became their favourite. McLaren Team’s principal Andrea Stella said if an F1 opportunity arrives for Bortoleto then they won't be standing in his way.
Time to make it big
Bortoleto is now seeing a big opportunity in front of him as most of the teams are looking ahead to the 2026 season. So there will be very little pressure to perform. If the Brazilian gives his 100% next year then he can regain his seat in the Audi F1 team and can also have other opportunities by the end of the season. In F2 he is sitting at the top with 4.5 points advantage against Red Bull junior team driver Isack Hadjar. He will fight in Abu Dhabi for the 2024 F2 crown. He won in Monza after starting from P22 and finishing victorious on the podium showing his potential talent.
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