Gabriel Bortoleto

Gabriel Bortoleto
Bortoleto in 2024
Born	Gabriel Bortoleto Oliveira (2004-10-14) 14 October 2004 (age 20) Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
FIA Formula 2 Championship career
Debut season	2024
Current team	Invicta
Car number	10
Starts	22 (22 entries)
Wins	2
Podiums	5
Poles	2
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	TBA in 2024
Previous series
2023 2022 2022 2021–2022 2020	FIA Formula 3 Stock Car Pro Series FR Asian FR European Italian F4
Championship titles
2023	FIA Formula 3

Gabriel Bortoleto Oliveira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡa.bɾiˈɛw boʁ.tuˈlɛ.tu o.liˈve(j).ɾɐ]; born 14 October 2004) is a Brazilian racing driver, currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Invicta.

Born and raised in São Paulo, Bortoleto began competitive kart racing aged seven, winning multiple national titles and graduating to junior formulae in 2020. A protégé of two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso, Bortoleto won his first title at the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Trident. Having also been a race winner in Italian F4 and the Formula Regional European Championship, Bortoleto progressed to Formula 2 in 2024. At the Monza feature race that year, Bortoleto received widespread acclaim for his win from last on the grid, becoming the first driver to do so in either Formula 2 or Formula One.

A member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme from 2023 to 2024, Bortoleto completed his first Formula One test at the Red Bull Ring in September 2024, driving the McLaren MCL36. He is set to join Sauber for the 2025 season onwards, ahead of their acquisition by Audi in 2026.^[1]

Gabriel Bortoleto Oliveira was born on 14 October 2004 in Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil.^[2]

Bortoleto started karting in his native Brazil in 2012 in the Campeonato Sulbrasileiro de Kart. He remained in karts until 2019, with his most successful year being 2018, where he finished third in the European and World Championships in the OKJ-category respectively, and became vice-champion in both the WSK Super Master Series and the Andrea Margutti Trophy.^[3]

Bortoleto made his car racing debut in the 2020 Italian F4 Championship, partnering Sebastián Montoya, Gabriele Minì and Dino Beganovic at Prema Powerteam.^[4] His first podium came at Mugello, where he scored second, third, and a victory, taking his first single-seater win in the fourth round of the season.^[5] He scored two more podiums in Monza and finished the season fifth in the overall championship, ahead of Montoya but behind Beganovic and eventual champion Minì. Bortoleto also finished fourth in the rookies' standings.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2021 it was announced that Bortoleto would be making his debut in the Formula Regional European Championship with FA Racing.^[6] He scored his first points in the first race of the season in Imola, where he finished ninth.^[7]

At the end of September, Bortoleto participated in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 post-season test at Jerez with Trident, partnering Oliver Goethe and Leonardo Fornaroli.^[8][9][10] Shortly afterwards, he was announced as a Trident driver for the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship, becoming the first driver to be announced to a team for that season.^[11]

In his first race at the Bahrain International Circuit, Bortoleto was penalised for causing a collision with Rafael Villagómez and was classified outside the points. This was followed by a victory in the following day's feature race when first-place finisher Gabriele Minì received a penalty. Having been elevated to an early championship lead, the Brazilian extended it at Albert Park by claiming pole position and a second consecutive feature race victory. He continued to score points in each race of the subsequent five rounds, even achieving a second place during the feature race at the Red Bull Ring and two runner-up finishes during the sprint races in Britain and Hungary.

Sitting on a comfortable lead at the top of the standings, Bortoleto would proceed to have his first non-scoring race of 2023 at Spa-Francorchamps, as a weak qualifying session was followed by contact caused by Dino Beganovic during Saturday's race, forcing the Brazilian to stop his car.^[12] Despite narrowly missing out on points in Sunday's race, a weak round from all of his immediate title rivals left Bortoleto with a 38-point advantage heading into the final round of the season.^[13] As Paul Aron and Pepe Martí missed out on pole position during Monza qualifying, Bortoleto was crowned FIA Formula 3 champion on Friday.^[14]

Bortoleto graduates to Formula 2 for his 2024 campaign, joining Invicta Virtuosi Racing alongside Alpine Academy driver Kush Maini.^[15]

Bortoleto began the season by qualifying 2nd for the season opener in Bahrain but was promoted to pole position after teammate Kush Maini was disqualified from qualifying for a technical infringement. In the sprint Bortoleto would finish 6th despite contact with Isack Hadjar into turn 1. Bortoleto would then finish 5th in the feature race marking a decent first round for the Brazilian. At the next round in Jeddah Bortoleto would qualify 15th. In the sprint Bortoleto would just miss out on points finishing in p10. The feature race however would go awfully as Bortoleto would retire on lap 1 with a driveshaft failure ending a miserable weekend for Bortoleto.

Bortoleto would qualify 9th for the round in Melbourne but he would retire from the sprint after Isack Hadjar wedged Pepe Martí into him sending him into the wall at the pit lane exit. The feature race wouldn't go better as Bortoleto would retire on lap 6 with a hydraulic failure ending another miserable weekend for Bortoleto. Bortoleto would bounce back by taking pole for the round in Imola. Bortoleto would finish the sprint 6th scoring his first points since Bahrain. Bortoleto would drop to 4th at the start of the feature race but move back into 2nd after the pitstop phase. He would chase Isack Hadjar down but the Frenchman held on for the win by half a second. This 2nd place finish marked Bortoleto's first podium finish in formula 2.

Bortoleto would then qualify 9th in Monaco and finished the sprint race in 2nd marking a 2nd podium in a row. He would then finish the feature in 8th. Bortoleto qualified 4th for the round in Barcelona and would finish the sprint race in 5th. In the feature race Bortoleto finished 7th but fell to 10th after a penalty for causing a collision with teammate Kush Maini ending what was a very average weekend for the Invicta driver.

Bortoleto would qualify third for the round in Austria and finished the sprint in 4th. Bortoleto took the lead of the feature race in Austria and pitted when Zane Maloney stopped on lap 7. Bortoleto would take the lead off Pepe Martí on lap 18 and never looked back to take his first win in formula 2 moving him up into third place in the championship with 85 points after 7 rounds.

Bortoleto qualified 6th at Silverstone. During the sprint he had a long battle for third place with teammate Kush Maini which ended with Bortoleto passing Maini on the line to take the final podium place. However the stewards deemed that Bortoleto had completed the pass off the track so he was given a 5 second time penalty dropping him back behind his teammate to fourth. In the feature race Bortoleto finished 6th after a quiet race taking some points home for his title bid.

Bortoleto qualified 4th for the round in Hungary but would finish the sprint 16th after his tyres ran out. He would bounce back by finishing 4th in the feature race. For the next round in Belgium Bortoleto qualified 2nd but he finished the shortened sprint in 10th. In the feature race Bortoleto dropped behind title rival Isack Hadjar at the start. Bortoleto tried to stop later than his rivals and use his tyre advantage to win the race but Isack Hajdar would hold on to the win meaning Bortoleto finished 2nd. Despite this he moved up to 2nd in the standings due to Paul Aron's retirement on the last lap but Bortoleto now sat 36 points behind championship leader Hadjar going into the summer break.

Bortoleto's qualifying for the next round in Monza was a disaster as he qualified last for both races. Bortoleto would put a brilliant charge to go from last to 8th in the sprint but he would share the point with Dennis Hauger as both crossed the line side by side. The feature race however would be even better as Bortoleto would go from last to first after benefitting from a safety car caused by Dennis Hauger spinning at turn 1. The win coupled with Hadjar failing to score points during the weekend allowed Bortoleto to slash the Frenchman's lead down to 10.5 points with 3 rounds to go, igniting his championship challenge for the first time in 2024. He become the first driver to win from last on the grid in either Formula 2 or Formula One.^[16]

In the Baku stage, Bortoleto finished the sprint race in 5th place and the main race in 4th, taking the lead in the drivers' championship. Bortoleto took advantage of the disastrous classification of Isack Hadjar, who did not score in Baku. The Brazilian driver left Baku with a 4.5 point advantage over Hadjar and 34.5 over Maloney in third.

In September 2022, Bortoleto announced that he had joined A14, two time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso's driver management company.^[17] After winning the Formula 3 title, Bortoleto signed with the McLaren Driver Development Programme in October 2023.^[18] He completed his first test in Formula One machinery at the Red Bull Ring in September 2024, testing the McLaren MCL36.^[19]

Around the time that he completed his first test, Sauber Motorsport COO and CTO Mattia Binotto marked Bortoleto as one of the contenders for a seat at Kick Sauber in 2025, ahead of their takeover by Audi.^[20] Three-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen and race winner Oscar Piastri endorsed Bortoleto to be selected, with Piastri sharing his experience of not getting a seat immediately after winning the 2021 Formula 2 Championship and his hope that Bortoleto wouldn't have to go through a similar notion.^[21] Furthermore, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella revealed he would allow Bortoleto to leave their academy for Sauber if needed, praising him for his performances in his junior career.^[22]

During the weekend of the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix, rumors emerged that Bortoleto had signed a contract with Sauber for the 2025 season.^[23] Sauber confirmed this on 6 November 2024, announcing that Bortoleto would partner Nico Hülkenberg on a multi-year deal from 2025 onwards; the two will replace outgoing duo Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.^[1]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† As Bortoleto was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† As Bortoletto was a guest driver he was ineligible to score points.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• Official website (in Portuguese)
• Gabriel Bortoleto career summary at DriverDB.com