One of the most exciting aspects of the upcoming 2025 Formula 1 season is how many young drivers are joining the grid.
Six drivers will be taking part in their first full F1 seasons next year, with Gabriel Bortoleto one of the biggest unknowns arriving in the paddock.
Bortoleto signed for McLaren’s Driver Development programme in October 2023 off the back of a title-winning Formula 3 campaign.
Fernando Alonso played a key role in Bortoleto signing with McLaren and has acted like a mentor for the young Brazilian.
However, just over 12 months later, Bortoleto has already moved on with Sauber his newest destination.
After clinching the Formula 2 title on his first attempt, he’s made the immediate step up to F1 for 2025, albeit with the slowest team on the grid.
That shouldn’t take away from his potential as he arrives in Formula 1 with a better junior record than the likes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar.
Alex Brundle, who has spent all season commenating on F2 and has seen Bortoleto’s talents close up, has told The F2 Show that the 20-year-old already reminds him of two-time F1 race winner Oscar Piastri.
Alex Brundle says Gabriel Bortoleto already reminds him of Oscar Piastri
Brundle was discussing how Bortoleto’s Formula 2 season progressed and recalled: “I remember saying such a similar group of things about Oscar Piastri when he made his way through.
“It’s the copy-paste way, it’s the textbook way of how to do what Gabriel Bortoleto has done this year.
“I think he’s a similar character in some ways. Extremely matter of fact, quite quiet, speaks in brief facts only and has that kind of consistent, ‘Okay, if I don’t win today, I’ll win tomorrow, if I don’t win tomorrow I’ll win the next day and I tell you what, if I don’t win all year, I’ll just get more points than everyone else.’
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
“It’s just a continuous movement forward through the series while racking up the points without ever allowing, let’s face it, the madness of some of the things that happen in Formula 2 to affect his performance.
“In Abu Dhabi, when you listened to their interviews before the final race of the year both he and Isack Hadjar, and how Invicta who I think are also a big part of that mentality and Bortoleto were going about it. The calmness was incredibly evident.”
Brundle admitted he didn’t want Bortoleto to get forgotten racing at the back for Sauber next year.
Fernando Alonso has high hopes for Bortoleto and how close he gets to Nico Hulkenberg will allow fans to judge just how fast he is.
Gabriel Bortoleto can’t be judged on 2025 season unless Sauber significantly improve
After 24 races in 2024, Sauber came away with just four points thanks to Zhou Guanyu’s brilliant drive in Qatar.
It was the only highlight of an otherwise depressing campaign that forced new team boss Mattia Binotto to change both of his drivers.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
666 |
| 2 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
652 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
589 |
| 4 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
468 |
| 5 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
94 |
| 6 |
Alpine F1 Team |
65 |
| 7 |
Haas F1 Team |
58 |
| 8 |
Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team |
46 |
| 9 |
Williams F1 Team |
17 |
| 10 |
Sauber F1 Team |
4 |
Valtteri Bottas and Zhou may both still be in the paddock next year, but didn’t do enough to earn race seats elsewhere.
READ MORE: Who is 2025 Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto? Everything you need to know
Hulkenberg will be responsible for leading the way for Sauber given his vast experience in the sport.
However, he’ll also be aware that Bortoleto is no slouch and while Brundle has compared him to Piastri, the German had a very similar junior career to his new teammate, arriving in F1 as a GP2 champion.
During F1’s post-season test in Abu Dhabi, Bortoleto was nearly a second slower than Hulkenberg, although those times weren’t representative due to the different tyres they using and other unknown variants such as engine modes and fuel levels.
