Gabriel Bortoleto has explained that Sauber's initial plan was to give him a full-time drive in 2026, when the team becomes Audi F1.
The F2 champion will, however, be associated with Nico Hulkenberg from next season in the team based in Hinwil. He will drive with the number 5, which was previously used by Sebastian Vettel.
Speaking at the FIA end-of-year awards gala, the Brazilian mentioned that “Things changed very quickly” during the discussions, which began around the Italian Grand Prix at the beginning of September.
Bortoleto was a member of McLaren's young driver program and at the time, Stake F1 was close to signing Valtteri Bottas for a year.
However, the Finnish driver was keen on a two-year contract and an agreement between the parties was ultimately never reached, which opened the door for the 20-year-old to become the first reigning F2 champion to immediately get a place in F1 from Mick Schumacher in 2021.
“We had talked a lot since Monza – a little before, but nothing was decided,” explained Bortoleto during the awards ceremony in Rwanda.
“There was actually more talk about 2026 than 2025 at that point, and then things changed very quickly.”
Bortoleto, who joined the list of drivers who won back-to-back F3 and F2 titles while still a rookie on both occasions, highlighted the announcement of his promotion to F1 as one of the highlights of his season.
The previous three drivers to achieve this feat, Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri, all achieved Grand Prix victories, something the Sauber driver hopes to emulate in the years to come.
“When I got the message that I was going to run in 2025, for me it was one of the biggest moments of my life. I really didn't expect it.”
“I wasn't with my family members at the time, but I called them immediately. For me, it was a childhood dream come true – and also for my family, everything for which we've been working on since I was very young, was coming true.”
“So yeah, that was definitely one of the best moments, not on the track, it was off the track, but it was awesome.”
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