The 20 year old McLaren junior, personally managed by Fernando Alonso, is currently F2’s championship leader and had previously turned heads with a title-winning F3 campaign in 2023 — in his rookie year no less.
That track record helped give him the edge over other contenders for the seat including Mercedes reserve Mick Schumacher, F2 champion Theo Pourchaire and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen. He was also preferred to the team’s existing line-up of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas: the latter was even thought to have agreed terms with the team’s management until the opportunity arose to lock down Bortoleto.
Sauber’s chief operating officer, Mattia Binotto said the decision to sign Bortoleto for next year and beyond, when the team will rebrand as Audi, was “straightforward with no doubts at all”.
“I have been asking some drivers who have been driving with him and everyone was very impressed,” said Binotto. “But also because he is very young. For our journey, for the Audi F1 team, growing together with a young driver was very important.
“When we met I was immediately impressed by the attitude. So not only as a driver we decided, but as a person. He can really be a leader for the team. He’s already demonstrated in the junior categories that he has what it takes to be a winning driver.”
Even among the other highly-rated the other F1 rookies next year, Oliver Bearman (Haas), Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) and Jack Doohan (Alpine), Bortoleto’s record in junior categories stands out. Here we look at the stunning, title-worthy drives that have convinced Sauber that the Brazilian is truly F1 ready.
Formula 3 — 2023
Australia
Bortoleto was quick to impress in F3
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Bortoleto was scarily quick to impress in his rookie year of Formula 3: earning a front row start at the season-opener in Bahrain and inheriting a feature race win from Gabriele Minì who received a late time penalty.
But his second F3 race weekend in Melbourne was perhaps his most impressive performance of the season. He started on pole, almost two-tenths clear of second-placed Grégoire Saucy, and led from the off.
Despite two safety car restarts, Bortoleto remained unfazed by the growing pressure applied by Saucy behind him and led from lights to flag — racing with experience beyond his years.
Against a field which contained the likes of Paul Aron, Franco Colaptino and Zak O’Sullivan — all of whom would receive F2 promotions for 2024 — Bortoleto was the stand-out talent.
Britain
An underwhelming qualifying session at Silverstone saw Bortoleto start eighth for the F3 sprint race over the 2023 British GP weekend. But the championship leader was quick to get back to the front.
He was sixth by lap six, and a daring move into Brooklands on Mini soon meant he was running inside the top five. Further impressive passes followed and by the chequered flag he was up to second, just three seconds off the rear wing of race-winner Colapinto.
The result was critical in the fight for the championship, as Bortoleto extended his lead to 44 points over Josep Maria Martí with three rounds remaining.
Hungary
The Hungaroring’s few overtaking opportunties proved no problem for Bortoleto
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Bortoleto put on another masterful display of racecraft in Hungary. From fourth on the grid in the sprint, he bagged himself another hard-fought podium finish.
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Cambridge Kisby
On a circuit where overtaking is troublesome, even in smaller F3 cars, Bortoleto was quick to try and rectify another underwhelming qualifying performance. He first dispatched Christian Mansell on lap five before setting after the race leaders — who had pulled five seconds clear.
Bortoleto struggled to close the gap, but a safety car three laps from the finish brought the Brazilian back within range of the top step.
When racing resumed, race leader Mini disappeared into the distance, leaving Bortoleto to scrap for second with Nikita Bedrin. The Russian put up a wily defence of his runner-up spot, but on the final lap at the penultimate corner, Bortoleto pulled off a daring switch-back move to claim a second-place finish.
The result further extended his championship advantage, so much so that Bortoleto ultimately claimed the F3 title — becoming the first Brazilian in history to do so — after qualifying in Monza, as Aron and Marti failed to score the two bonus points for pole position.
Bortoleto has proven a formidable opponent in his first F2 campaign
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Following a promotion to Formula 2 for 2024 with Invicta Racing, Bortoleto initially struggled against stronger opposition.
Although he qualified on pole for the season-opener in Bahrain, he finished a disappointing sixth in the feature race and then failed to score at all in Jeddah and Melbourne. But the Brazilian’s rookie title challenge quickly began to take shape at Imola.
Bortoleto had a weak start to Sunday’s feature race from pole and dropped to fourth but remained in the hunt for victory as others around him crumbled.
After race-leader Oliver Bearman stalled in the pitlane, Bortoleto ran second behind Red Bull junior Isak Hadjar, and continued to apply pressure as the lap counter climbed. Ultimately he was unable to find a way past, but his show of pace didn’t go unnoticed.
Austria
Bortoleto’s first F2 race win came on the undulating Red Bull Ring, where he proved to be in a class of his own.
From early as lap four, the Brazilian’s pace proved superlative as he passed Joshua Dürksen at Turn 4 and quickly established a comfortable leading advantage.
After the first round of pitstops he reemerged from the pitlane in eighth, but made quick work of the congested field ahead of him — passing Marti into Turn 3 to take the net race lead on lap 20.
From there, it was relatively smooth sailing as Bortoleto streaked into the distance to claim a dazzling race win. Those behind him squabbled for the scraps.
Italy
Bortoleto’s most impressive junior drive to date arguably came over the 2024 Italian Grand Prix weekend, as he drove from last on the grid to the top of the podium to announce himself as a true F2 title contender.
After crashing out in qualifying, he started the F2 feature race in 22nd place — while title rival Isak Hadjar started on the front row.
A wild start saw the Brazilian move up to 14th by lap six, when the leaders began to make their first round of pitstops. As those ahead of him pulled into the pitlane, Bortoleto stayed out and inherited the race lead — although he was still yet to stop.
But after Dennis Hauger spun and stopped at Turn 1 two laps later — prompting the deployment of the safety car — the race was soon turned on its head.
Bortoleto made his first stop of the race and re-emerged from the pitlane in sixth. Only a corner after racing resumed, he was up into fourth and three laps later he passed Invicta team-mate Kush Maini for the race lead.
Now on fresh rubber, Bortoleto proved uncatchable: extending his advantage lap by lap until reaching the chequered flag — almost ten seconds clear of Zane Maloney in second.
