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Gabriel Bortoleto is one of the more impressive and competitive rookie drivers featured on the 2026 F1 grid. He won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 World Championships consecutively in 2023 and 2024, and was also signed with McLaren F1 as their test driver.
Bortoleto debuted in Formula 1 with Sauber this year, and has proven to be one of the more competitive drivers on the grid. While his journey in racing seems to be rather impressive, he had a difficult time finding himself at the top level of motorsport.
He recently revealed that his brother, Enzo, sacrificed his racing career so that he could continue behind the wheel.
"The person I love the most in my entire life he sacrificed everything he could have had to give me the opportunities. So, he's the guy that had to go through it all before me, so I didn't have to. The guy that protected me from everything so I wouldn't take the punch," Bortolet said.
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"The decision he made at 16, 17 to stop racing so I could continue because it couldn't be afforded. He made sure I had a chance to continue, the least I could do for him was I guess was to get to F1, that was our dream as brothers."
His brother, Enzo, raced in the BRDC British Formula 3. Gabriel has been consistent in Formula 1 so far, scoring crucial points for Sauber, as the team recovers from difficult previous seasons.
Sauber team principal backs Nico Hulkenberg as teammate Gabriel Bortoleto outscores him
Nico Hulkenberg scored his first Formula 1 podium earlier during the 2025 British GP. He defended against Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari and finished the race in P3. This gave the team a boost in their championship standings.
However, the German driver hasn't scored any points since the race. Moreover, Gabriel Bortoleto has also managed to outperform him in recent races. Addressing the situation, team principal Jonathan Wheatley claimed that there is no "fundamental" issue with Hulkenberg, and the margins that he was outqualified were very narrow.
"It’s a question that I’m being asked more and more often now. I personally don’t feel there’s any fundamental issue here," Wheatley said in Baku. "Nico is a tremendous, experienced and fast racing driver and many, many times he’s been out-qualified by a thousandth, a hundredth. It’s not always a big thing. I honestly think it’s just transient."
He further mentioned that Gabriel Bortoleto has also had a rapid pace on some of the tracks that he has previously raced at.
"Gabriel’s fast as well, and if one of them gets the lap right, one of them is going to out-qualify the other. Gabriel has certainly been at a run of circuits where he’s more familiar with. With Nico, I don’t think there’s anything big to get over. He’ll just string it together."
Gabriel Bortoleto has scored 18 points in the season so far. Paired with Hulkenberg's 37, the team has a strong hold in eighth place of the Constructors' Championship.
