After a stunning Brazilian GP in wild conditions, it was announced last Wednesday that hometown talent F2 driver Gabriel Bortoleto will race for Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber next year, securing the penultimate seat on F1′s 2025 grid. The move comes after a wildly successful ascent through the lower formulas, winning F3 last year as a rookie and currently leading the F2 championship.
The timing of the announcement was an opportunity to highlight the young racer whose legacy could one day rival that of other Brazilian drivers.
The country has sent 32 drivers to the grid, and seen champions like Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Emerson Fittipaldi. Bortoleto will open the door to a South American fan base that is eagerly awaiting seeing one of their own return to F1, and will likely encourage viewership and sponsorship from the nation.
Bortoleto is 4.5 points ahead of second-year Red Bull Junior driver Isaac Hadjar in the championship and has had a dominant year in F2 for Invicta Racing, who lead the team standings by 35.5 points. Some consider Bortoleto’s best performance to be a stunning last-to-first win at Monza, but his record, scoring points every weekend but two, tells a story of consistency.
Current Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu aren’t in contention for the remaining VCARB seat, and are set to sit out the 2025 season. They may still be seen around the grid as reserve drivers, but as the grid gets younger and younger, it’s likely we’re reaching the end of Bottas’ final season.
Bortoleto will join Alpine’s Jack Doohan, Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli as full-season F1 newcomers. With Liam Lawson likely to take the final seat at VCARB, 2025 will see an influx of young drivers taking over 25% of the grid. This seismic shift to a new generation after a 2024 season with no rookies is bound to shake up battles up and down the grid.
The incoming Sauber driver’s linear rise to F1 differs from others in the rookie class. Bearman and Antonelli have raced alongside him in F2 this year, but Doohan and Lawson left F2 in 2023 and 2022 respectively after each joining the lower league in 2021. Antonelli skipped F3 this year after winning the Formula Regional European Championship and Formula Regional Middle East in 2023, and, like Bortoleto, is moving through the ranks quickly with just one year in F2.
These drivers may be set to comprise a quarter of the grid, but many of their F2 peers– some of whom have outperformed them – aren’t hopeful for a seat anytime soon. 2022 and 2023 champions Felipe Drugovich and Théo Pourchaire once hoped they might be the new kids on the grid, but failed to secure seats, serving as reserve drivers for Aston Martin and Sauber respectively. Bortoleto will be the first F2 champion to progress directly and immediately to F1 in four years.
His multi-year contract alongside veteran Hulkenberg could be strategic as Sauber prepares to transform into the Audi works team in 2026, They’ll bring a mix of experience and fresh momentum into a team in transition.
For Sauber, 2025 will be a year of building momentum toward the rebrand and preparing for new 2026 regulations. If Bortoleto can translate his F2 form into F1 results, he could quickly become a mainstay in Audi’s long-term vision, potentially giving Brazilian fans the championship-contender they’ve longed for, three decades since the nation’s last world champion.