The 2025 Formula 1 season has seen plenty of more experienced drivers in the paddock moved aside for a host of rookies to make their debuts.
Valtteri Bottas will be sitting in Mercedes’ garage after becoming their reserve driver, Kevin Magnussen will start racing sports cars while Zhou Guanyu’s future is still undecided after the 20 drivers on the 2025 F1 grid were confirmed.
Typically, youngsters entering Formula 1 arrive via some of the slower teams on the grid.
However, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Liam Lawson will both start the 2025 season in cars that could potentially win the Australian Grand Prix.
Toto Wolff has downplayed expectations on Antonelli for his F1 debut, but he’ll be secretly wondering whether he could spring a surprise at Albert Park.
Antonelli and Lawson will be joined by fellow rookies Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan, Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto when pre-season testing kicks off in Bahrain next month.
In a normal season, whichever driver won the Formula 2 championship would normally arrive in F1 as one of the biggest talking points, although Theo Pourchaire and Felipe Drugovich will argue that earning a race seat, to begin with, is challenging enough.
However, Bortoleto’s move to Sauber has gone slightly under the radar outside of Brazil.
Some of his most recent comments after arriving at their factory to begin work for this season have left his fans wondering if he’s actually destined to race for Ferrari one day.
Gabriel Bortoleto fans think ‘Ferrari is the goal’ after favourite track confession
Bortoleto was asked what his favourite Formula 1 circuit is and answered, ‘Imola’, before admitting that Piratelli is his favourite corner.
The young Brazilian was then asked what his favourite colour was and immediately answered ‘Red’.
This combination gave many fans the same idea and they quickly suggested that Bortoleto would be the perfect candidate to drive for Ferrari one day for this reason.
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One fan said, ‘Red, Imola, Italian surname…Ferrari is your destiny!’ while another simply exclaimed, ‘Ferrari!’
Another reacted and said: ‘Gabi digging for a place at Ferrari’ before another fan added: ‘Red! Gabi already pitching to Ferrari!’
‘The homie likes red like Ferrari?’, another Bortoleto fan said while another claimed, ‘But in between [the lines] he said Ferrari is the goal.’
Gabriel Bortoleto already has one big fan on the Formula 1 grid
Bortoleto’s record leading up to Formula 1 should be generating more attention than it has.
Winning back-to-back Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles is a rare feat and typically leads to a strong F1 career.
The likes of George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri are all race winners after following a similar career path.
READ MORE: Who is 2025 Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto? Everything you need to know
Leclerc started his career at Sauber as well before making the switch to Ferrari, while Russell spent three years learning the ropes at Williams before joining Mercedes.
Bortoleto may face similar struggles to the above pair with Sauber predicted to finish bottom of the Constructors’ Championship once again.
The Brazilian needs to get as close to new teammate Nico Hulkenberg as possible and use the consistency that won him last year’s title to prove he’s good enough for Formula 1.
Fernando Alonso is backing Bortoleto to thrive, but it might require Audi’s upcoming takeover to lift the team to the required level to be competitive.
