Gabriel Bortoleto

Early and personal life

Gabriel Lourenzo Bortoleto Oliveira, born 14 October 2004 in Osasco, São Paulo, is a Brazilian racing driver. His father Lincoln Oliveira is CEO and co-owner of the Stock Car Pro Series, founded Americanet in 1996, and co-owns KTF Sports, a team competing in Stock Car and karting. Bortoleto’s older brother Enzo previously raced in BRDC British Formula 3. Known to close friends as “Bibi,” he is managed by Fernando Alonso’s A14 Management.

His sponsors include Porto Seguro, O Boticário, Banco de Brasília, and Qualcomm Snapdragon. Since 2020, he has dated computer science student Isabella Bernardini. His racing idol is Ayrton Senna.

Junior racing career

Bortoleto began karting in October 2011 and competed in the Campeonato Sulbrasileiro de Kart in 2012. At age eleven he moved to Europe with family support. His most successful karting year was 2018, finishing third in the European and World Championships in OK-Junior and vice-champion in the WSK Super Master Series and Andrea Margutti Trophy. He made his car racing debut in the 2020 Italian F4 Championship with Prema Powerteam, scoring his first win at Mugello and finishing fifth overall.

In 2021 he debuted in the Formula Regional European Championship with FA Racing run by MP Motorsport, finishing 15th in the standings. After a partial 2022 Formula Regional Asian campaign with 3Y by R-ace GP, where he won a reversed-top-ten race at Yas Marina, he joined R-ace GP for the European Championship, winning at Spa and Barcelona to finish sixth overall. He participated in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 post-season test with Trident and was announced as a Trident driver for the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship, the first driver confirmed for that season.

Formula One career

In September 2022 Bortoleto joined A14, Fernando Alonso's driver management company. After winning the Formula 3 title, he signed with the McLaren Driver Development Programme in October 2023 and completed his first Formula One test in the McLaren MCL36 at the Red Bull Ring in September 2024. Sauber COO and CTO Mattia Binotto marked him as a contender for a seat at Kick Sauber ahead of Audi's takeover. Bortoleto signed for Sauber on a multi-year deal beyond the 2026 regulation changes with Audi, partnering Nico Hülkenberg and replacing Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

He was released from the McLaren programme. On debut he outqualified teammate Hülkenberg but crashed out in changing conditions. He finished nineteenth in a sprint after a final-lap collision with Jack Doohan and fourteenth in the main race after spinning on the opening lap. Subsequent results included nineteenth in Japan, eighteenth in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and a retirement from the main race with a fuel system issue while running thirteenth.

In Emilia Romagna he started fourteenth and dropped to eighteenth on an alternate strategy. A first-lap incident with Kimi Antonelli at Portier dropped him to last, from which he recovered to fourteenth.

Did You Know?

• Bortoleto became the first driver to win a Formula 2 feature race from last on the grid, doing so at Monza.
• His father Lincoln Oliveira founded Americanet in 1996, which later merged with Vero to become one of Brazil's largest internet providers.