When Gabriel Bortoleto positions his Sauber at his starting location on the Albert Park track on March 16, the Brazilian flag will be back on a Formula 1 Grand Prix grid for the Australian Grand Prix, opening round of the 2025 season. It will be the first time since Pietro Fittipaldi at the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Crowned with the title of Formula 2 champion acquired ahead of the Frenchman Isack Hadjar, also promoted to the premier category of motorsport with Racing Bulls, the native of São Paulo (Brazil) does not only wish to represent the Auriverde nation in Formula 1. The one who wears the colors of the Brazilian flag on his helmet wants to put the South American country back at the top of the Grand Prix rankings, like Emerson Fittipalrdi, Carlos Pace, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa.
« I am happy to represent my country, but I am not entirely satisfied with it, admits Bortoleto. I want to represent my country and do well, but I want to win races in the future, to fight for important things. First I have to improve as a driver and progress in F1, that’s the most important thing for me now, mBut my goal is higher than that. I’m not just happy to be a Formula 1 driver. I want to be able to fight for things and make my country proud with everything I can achieve. »
2025, however, risks being a learning year for the Paulist who arrives in a team unable to score points during 23 of the 24 Grands Prix of 2024. Bortoleto has already had the opportunity to taste driving a Formula 1 during the post-season tests which took place in Abu Dhabi, the Tuesday following the last Grand Prix of the season and especially his title gleaned in the antechamber of the F1.
« F2 was my goal until the end of the season. Then when I jumped in the Sauber on Monday to start preparing and doing big briefings and meetings with the team, that’s when things changed. It was really very good. No pressure, just a new start and a new journey. Let’s see how it goes. »
To see the future No. 5 shine, we will surely have to wait for the regulatory news in 2026, synonymous with the arrival of the German manufacturer Audi in F1 in place of Sauber. With the firm with the rings, will Bortoleto be able to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious elders?
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