Sauber announce signing of Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto to partner Nico Hulkenberg from 2025 onwards

Credit: Joe Portlock via Getty Images

Sauber have announced on Wednesday, that Brazilian Formula 2 driver, Gabriel Bortoleto, has signed with the team to join them from the 2025 Formula 1 season onwards.

Brotoleto will graduate from Formula 2, a championship he is currently leading with two rounds to go, and will partner Nico Hulkenberg in 2025 and 2026 when Sauber transitions into becoming the Audi F1 Team from 2026, when the new regulations are set to come in.

The 20-year old will become the first Brazilian full-time Formula 1 driver since Felipe Massa in 2017, as he would end his career that season with the Williams Racing outfit. In 2025, that will put an end to the seven-year drought.

Bortoleto has joined Jack Doohan, Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in being confirmed rookies for 2025 with Liam Lawson the favourite to make it five rookies at Visa RB next year. There is a possibility that the rookies on the 2025 grid could rise to six if Red Bull feel they must let already contracted Sergio Perez go. The door could open for Isack Hadjar, with Lawson likely to be Perez's replacement should he be let go by the Milton-Keynes based team.

Hadjar and Bortoleto are the two front runners for the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship title with Bortoleto having the championship lead by 4.5 points ahead of the two final rounds of the season.

Speaking to Sauber's media, in the announcement article of his signing, Bortoleto said: "This is one of the most exciting prospects in motorsport, if not in all of sports. Joining a team that combines the rich motorsport history of Sauber and Audi is a true honour. 

"Beyond simply being a member, I am to grow with this ambitious project and reach the pinnacle of motorsport. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity given to me by the team and be given the chance to work alongside an experienced driver like Nico [Hulkenberg]."

Kick Sauber and Formula 1 announced the signing of Bortoleto on Wednesday morning, which would also signify the end of Valtteri Bottas' and Zhou Guanyu's tenure with the team having both had three full seasons there each.

Bottas is without a seat for the first time since he made his Formula 1 debut back in march 2013 and he has had quite the Formula career to date. Hi teammate Zhou Guanyu will also be without a drive for 2025 as he bows out after three seasons. In that time, Zhou made history as he became the first ever Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix driver.

Prior to announcing the signing of Bortoleto, Kick Sauber would confirm Bottas and Zhou would be parting ways with the team at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season. 

On social media, Sauber said: "After open and constructive discussions with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, we mutually concluded that conditions to continue together would not be met so we agreed that it is time to part ways.

"We would like to thank both for the contribution they have made to the team in the last three years. They have been the embodiment of professionalism, using their experience and enthusiasm to support our growth."

Bortoleto is a driver who has come on leaps and bounds in previous years gone by and in 2023 won the FIA Formula 3 Championship and in 2024, he has a slim margin in the lead of the FIA Formula 2 Championship with his racecraft having really shone as well as his consistency.

Bortoleto will partner Hulkenberg for 2025 and 2026 with his debut Formula 1 Grand Prix set to come for him at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, which is the opening round of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

He will become the first Brazilian driver since Felipe Massa in 2017 to be a full-time member of the Formula 1 grid.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal