Photo: Sauber Group
Formula 2 points leader Gabriel Bortoleto has hailed the approach Sauber’s chief operating officer Mattia Binotto has taken in bringing him into his Formula 1 team for 2025.
Bortoleto currently has allegiances to two of Sauber’s rivals, as he is a McLaren junior and his career is guided by Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s A14 Management company.
The 20-year-old Brazilian’s links to Emanuele Pirro, who brought him into McLaren’s driver development programme, helped put him on Sauber’s radar and into F1 seat talks through mutual paddock contacts.
Since speculation began about Bortoleto being F1-bound, he has repeatedly stated that A14 (including Alonso) has handled negotiations regarding his future while his focus has been on F2.
“I’m a McLaren driver until Sunday of Abu Dhabi race. Still with them as part of the academy; they’re giving all the support needed for these two rounds [that conclude the F2 season],” he said on an official F1 podcast this week, which was recorded after he was announced by Sauber for 2025 last Wednesday.
“We are aiming for finishing this championship the best way possible. So all the work I was doing before I will keep doing. And the reason why I choose Sauber, I think the project that Mattia showed me about Audi in F1, the future, what he wants, what Audi wants, and to be the first Audi driver. It’s such a great thing and an exciting project.
“I’m looking forward to it. At the same time, when you get the chance to [race in] F1, you don’t think so much ‘where I’m going to be [down the line]’. More just jump in and do the best you can. But I was a very lucky guy to be offered a nice project for my future, a multi-year situation.”
Sauber’s announcement of Bortoleto only confirmed his presence in its 2025 line-up, despite talks actually beginning with a 2026 seat in mind preceded by a year as reserve driver. Binotto said “his capacity to first develop and improve, and if I look around I think [he] is one of the most talented and high-potential drivers we’ve got as rookies” made it “a no-brainer – go for it” situation for Audi (which will brand Sauber’s entry from 2026 onwards) to sign him for both seasons.
“Mattia wants me to be very focused in F1 after Abu Dhabi. He wants me first to focus as much as I can in F2 so he’s not going to put me in situations that can take out my focus. And then after that, he wants to create a very good atmosphere around me in the team and to put people that he knows can help me to develop as a rookie in F1.
“So I think he has a very good leadership and a mentality to give me the best conditions possible to step up to F1, feel comfortable, feel that I am in the right position, don’t feel any extra pressure that is not needed.”