Gabriel Bortoleto: From Osasco Karts to Formula One with Audi

Gabriel Bortoleto is a Brazilian racing driver who competes in Formula One for Audi. He won the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Trident and the 2024 Formula 2 Championship with Invicta Racing, and he scored his first Formula One points in 2025 with Sauber, the team that became Audi.

Who is Gabriel Bortoleto?

Gabriel Lourenzo Bortoleto Oliveira was born on 14 October 2004 and is a Brazilian racing driver. He was born and raised in Osasco, where he began competitive kart racing at the age of seven. His career has been built step by step through the junior formulae, and he is now a full-time Formula One driver.

He is described as a protege of two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso, and he is managed by A14, the firm Alonso runs. That link has been a constant in his path into the sport.

A 2023 Formula 3 title, a 2024 Formula 2 crown won from last at Monza and a Formula One debut with Sauber in 2025.

How did karting and early junior racing begin?

Karting came first in October 2011, followed by competition in the Sulbrasileiro kart series from 2012. Family backing took him to Europe at eleven, where he chased a career in racing.

His most successful karting year came in 2018, when he finished third in the European and World Championships in OK-Junior. He also became vice-champion in the WSK Super Master Series and the Andrea Margutti Trophy, before he stepped into car racing in 2020.

How did his early single-seater seasons go?

He made his car debut in the 2020 Italian F4 Championship with Prema Powerteam, and his first single-seater win came at Mugello in the fourth round of the season. He finished the 2020 season fifth overall and fourth in the rookies' standings.

The 2021 season in the Formula Regional European Championship, with FA Racing, a team run by MP Motorsport, opened with ninth at Imola for his first points. A podium in the second race at the Red Bull Ring followed, and he ended the year 15th overall.

In 2022 he competed for R-ace GP, in a partial Formula Regional Asian campaign early in the year and then in the full European Championship. He won a reversed top-ten race at Yas Marina in the Asian series, and his European wins came at Spa and Barcelona. He ended the European season sixth overall. Engine trouble came and went during the European season, and he was beaten by his teammate Hadrien David, while staying clear of his other teammate Lorenzo Fluxa.

How did he win the 2023 Formula 3 title?

After a post-season test with Trident at Jerez in 2022, he was confirmed as one of the team's drivers for the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship. He was the first driver announced for a team that year.

His first race at Bahrain ended with a penalty for a collision with Rafael Villagomez, but he won the next day's feature race after Gabriele Mini was penalised. He then took pole and a second consecutive feature win at Albert Park, and that gave him an early championship lead.

Spa was his only non-scoring race of the season, after contact with Dino Beganovic forced him to stop. He still entered the final round with a 38-point advantage. Bortoleto was crowned champion at Monza, after Paul Aron and Pepe Marti missed out on pole position in qualifying.

How did his 2024 Formula 2 title come together?

For 2024 he joined Invicta Racing, alongside Alpine Academy driver Kush Maini. He qualified second in Bahrain and moved to pole when Maini was disqualified for a technical infringement. The early rounds were rougher, with a retirement in Jeddah after a driveshaft failure and a further failure at Melbourne.

He bounced back at Imola, where he took his first F2 podium with second place behind Isack Hadjar. He was in the points at Monaco, finishing second in the sprint from the front row under the reverse-top-ten format. In Austria he claimed his maiden F2 victory after passing Joshua Durksen on lap four. The early problems had not finished, though: at Melbourne Pepe Marti sent him into the wall during the sprint, and a hydraulic failure ended his feature race.

By Belgium he was second behind Hadjar and was moving up the standings. The title fight then became a three-way contest, and Bortoleto took the lead in the drivers' championship at Baku by 4.5 points over Hadjar.

What made the 2024 Monza round so memorable?

Monza started badly. He spun in qualifying and had to start last in both races. In the sprint he charged through to eighth, sharing the final point after a dead-heat finish with Dennis Hauger.

The feature race provided his standout result. A safety car at the right moment let him stay ahead of drivers who had already pitted, and he pulled away to win from last on the grid. He became the first driver to win from the back in Formula 2, and the performance later earned him the Mecachrome Outstanding Win Award.

Qatar brought a setback. He was demoted in the feature race after a pit-entry infringement, which left him half a point behind Hadjar going into the finale. He qualified second again on Yas Island, and a charge from ninth to second in the sprint gave him a four-point advantage before the final race.

At the start of that race Hadjar stalled on the grid, and Bortoleto took the lead from Victor Martins at turn one. Durksen overtook him after the pit stops, but second place was enough, and he was crowned Formula 2 champion.

How did McLaren and Sauber open the door to Formula One?

The McLaren Driver Development Programme took him on in October 2023, following the Formula 3 title. His first run in a Formula One car came at the Red Bull Ring in September 2024, when he drove the MCL36 in a test.

Around that time Sauber's Mattia Binotto named him as a contender for a seat at Kick Sauber in 2025, ahead of the team's takeover by Audi. Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri both backed him, and McLaren's team principal Andrea Stella said the team would let him leave for Sauber if needed.

What was his 2025 rookie season with Sauber like?

He signed for Sauber in 2025 and partnered Nico Hulkenberg, on a multi-year deal that ran beyond the 2026 regulation changes. He was released from the McLaren programme. On his debut at the Australian Grand Prix he reached the second qualifying session, out-qualifying Hulkenberg, before crashing out in changing conditions.

The early races were a mix of solid runs and incidents. He spun into the gravel on the opening lap at China, and he later called the C45 undriveable in Bahrain. In Austria he qualified eighth, held his place, and then challenged Fernando Alonso for seventh in the closing laps. That gave him his maiden points and made him the first Brazilian to score in Formula One since 2017.

Upgrades helped Sauber become a midfield challenger. At Hungary he was seventh in qualifying and held off Lance Stroll for sixth. At Monza he finished eighth, and a barrier collision at Sao Paulo, with Lance Stroll's car behind him in the race, meant he missed qualifying for his home race.

How has the 2026 season gone with Audi?

He was contracted to remain alongside Hulkenberg at Audi in 2026. He scored the team's first points as a manufacturer entrant with ninth at the Australian Grand Prix. A hydraulic problem then saw his car withdrawn on the way to the grid in China, one of four cars that did not start that race.

Through the early rounds he finished thirteenth in Japan, twelfth in Miami and thirteenth in Canada. He then had three consecutive eleventh-place finishes at Monaco, Spain and Austria, each narrowly outside the points. His first points since Australia came with eighth at Silverstone, and he finished eighth again at Spa, before eleventh at Hungary.

What did the early 2025 rounds show?

The first half of his rookie year had plenty of variety. In China he finished 19th in the sprint after a final-lap collision with Jack Doohan, then 14th in the race after spinning into the gravel on the opening lap. Japan brought 19th place on an alternate strategy, and in Bahrain he described the C45 as undriveable.

Miami gave him a fifteenth-place sprint finish before a fuel system issue ended his race. In Monaco a first-lap incident with Kimi Antonelli at Portier left him last, and he recovered to 14th. Spain marked a turning point, as upgrades helped Sauber become a midfield challenger, and he was twelfth in qualifying and in the race.

What awards and other work has he had?

Bortoleto won the Aramco Best Rookie Award in 2023, the FIA Rookie of the Year award in 2024 and the Anthoine Hubert Award in 2024.

In November 2025 he launched a collection with the Brazilian brand Barthelemy. It drew on his time with Trident in Formula 3, Invicta in Formula 2 and Sauber in Formula One.

What are Bortoleto's main results?