Gabriel Bortoleto

Gabriel Bortoleto will carry the hopes of a nation during his debut F1 season, with the reigning F2 champion becoming the first Brazilian to compete in the sport full-time since Felipe Massa in 2017.

Born in São Paulo, Bortoleto started karting at the age of seven and quickly began winning local championships, with support from his businessman father, Lincoln Oliveira, who has deep ties to Brazilian motor racing.

Just four years later, Bortoleto moved to Europe, where he continued his karting success on the international stage. This success set the foundation for his transition to single-seaters.

Bortoleto’s rise in motorsport has been rapid. He won races in every category he competed in, starting with Italian F4 and Formula Regional in 2021 and 2022, earning enough attention to sign with Fernando Alonso’s A14 management company.

Under Alonso’s guidance, Bortoleto reached new heights, capturing back-to-back F3 and F2 titles in 2023 and 2024, with the latter season featuring a stunning rise from last to first in the Monza Feature Race. This extraordinary performance made Bortoleto a highly sought-after talent for F1 seats in 2025.

Though his development deal with McLaren created some complications, the team was supportive of his desire to move up to F1. With McLaren’s driver lineup already settled, whispers of a move to Kick Sauber emerged and eventually became reality after a company-wide evaluation by new team principal Mattia Binotto.

Bortoleto was confirmed as a Kick Sauber driver for 2025, partnering with the experienced Nico Hulkenberg. He described his first official F1 test debut for Sauber in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2024 as an “amazing feeling,” and the 20-year-old is now eager to turn his F1 dreams into reality.