Gabriel Lourenzo Bortoleto Oliveira (Brazilian Portuguese: ; born 14 October 2004) is a Brazilian racing driver who competes in Formula One for Sauber.
Born and raised in Osasco, Bortoleto began competitive kart racing aged seven, winning multiple national titles and graduating to junior formulae in 2020. A protégé of two-time World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso, Bortoleto became a race-winner in Italian F4 and Formula Regional European, before winning his first title at the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Trident. Bortoleto progressed to FIA Formula 2 in 2024, winning the championship that year with Invicta to become the seventh driver in history to win the GP2/Formula 2 title in their rookie season; at the Monza feature race, Bortoleto became the first driver to win from last on the grid in either Formula 2 or Formula One.
A member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme from 2023 to 2024, Bortoleto joined Sauber for 2025, ahead of their acquisition by Audi in 2026. Bortoleto is contracted to remain at Sauber / Audi until at least the end of the 2026 season.
Early and personal life
Gabriel Lourenzo Bortoleto Oliveira was born on 14 October 2004 in Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil. His father, Lincoln Oliveira, serves as chief executive officer and co-owner of the Stock Car Pro Series in Brazil. He founded Americanet in 1996, which merged with Vero in 2023 to become one of the largest internet service providers in Brazil, with a revenue of R$1.9 billion.
The family also operates KTF Racing, a stock car and kart racing team. His older brother, Enzo, formerly competed in Formula 4 and British Formula Three. Bortoleto is known as "Bibi" amongst his close friends. He is managed by A14 Management, a firm owned by Fernando Alonso, and his career is supported by Porto Seguro, O Boticário, Banco de Brasília, and Qualcomm Snapdragon. He has been dating computer science student Isabella Bernardini since 2020. His racing idol is Ayrton Senna.
Junior racing career
Karting
Bortoleto began karting in October 2011. Bortoleto started competing in the Campeonato Sulbrasileiro de Kart in 2012. Aged 11, he moved to Europe to pursue a racing career with support from his family. He remained in karts until 2019, with his most successful year being 2018, where he finished third in the European and World Championships in OK-Junior, and became vice-champion in both the WSK Super Master Series and the Andrea Margutti Trophy.
Formula 4
Bortoleto made his car racing debut in the 2020 Italian F4 Championship, partnering Sebastián Montoya, Gabriele Minì and Dino Beganovic at Prema Powerteam. His first podium came at Mugello, where he scored second, third, and a victory, taking his first single-seater win in the fourth round of the season. He scored two more podiums in Monza and finished the season fifth in the overall championship, ahead of Montoya but behind Beganovic and eventual champion Minì. Bortoleto also finished fourth in the rookies' standings.
Formula Regional European Championship
In March 2021 it was announced that Bortoleto would be making his debut in the Formula Regional European Championship with FA Racing, run by MP Motorsport. He scored his first points in the first race of the season in Imola, where he finished ninth. From there it took until the seventh round at the Red Bull Ring until Bortoleto scored again — this time claiming a podium in the second race. This began a run of top ten finishes, resulting in 15th place in the standings at the end of the year.
After competing for 3Y by R-ace GP in a partial campaign of the Formula Regional Asian Championship at the start of 2022, where he won in a reversed-top-ten race at Yas Marina, Bortoleto was announced to join R-ace GP ahead of the European Championship. While Bortoleto suffered with engine problems at times during the year, he managed to win at Spa, inheriting victory after teammate Hadrien David was penalised, and at Barcelona. He ended up sixth overall, being beaten by David but dispatching other teammate Lorenzo Fluxá.
FIA Formula 3 Championship
At the end of September, Bortoleto participated in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 post-season test at Jerez with Trident, partnering Oliver Goethe and Leonardo Fornaroli. Shortly afterwards, he was announced as a Trident driver for the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship, becoming the first driver to be announced to a team for that season.
In his first race at the Bahrain International Circuit, Bortoleto was penalised for causing a collision with Rafael Villagómez and was classified outside the points. This was followed by a victory in the following day's feature race when first-place finisher Gabriele Minì received a penalty. Having been elevated to an early championship lead, the Brazilian extended it at Albert Park by claiming pole position and a second consecutive feature race victory. He continued to score points in each race of the subsequent five rounds, even achieving a second place during the feature race at the Red Bull Ring and two runner-up finishes during the sprint races in Britain and Hungary.
Sitting on a comfortable lead at the top of the standings, Bortoleto would proceed to have his first non-scoring race of 2023 at Spa-Francorchamps, as a weak qualifying session was followed by contact caused by Dino Beganovic during Saturday's race, forcing the Brazilian to stop his car. Despite narrowly missing out on points in Sunday's race, a weak round from all of his immediate title rivals left Bortoleto with a 38-point advantage heading into the final round of the season. As Paul Aron and Pepe Martí missed out on pole position during Monza qualifying, Bortoleto was crowned FIA Formula 3 champion on Friday.
FIA Formula 2 Championship
Bortoleto entered Formula 2 for his 2024 campaign, joining Invicta Racing alongside Alpine Academy driver Kush Maini. He began the season by qualifying second for the season opener in Bahrain but was promoted to pole position after Maini was disqualified for a technical infringement. He scored points in both races, despite making contact with and spinning around Isack Hadjar at the start of the feature race. At the next round in Jeddah Bortoleto qualified 15th, finished tenth in the sprint and retired on lap 1 of the feature race with a driveshaft failure. He also retired from the sprint race at Melbourne after being sent into the wall by Pepe Martí, who had been squeezed by Hadar at the start, and also failed to finish the feature race thanks to a hydraulic failure.
Bortoleto bounced back by taking pole for the round in Imola and scoring his first points since Bahrain during the sprint, finishing sixth. Though he fell down to fourth at the start of Sunday's event, Bortoleto moved back to second after the pit stop phase; he chased down Hadjar but could not pass him before the race ended, claiming his first podium in F2 with second place. He then qualified ninth in Monaco and finished the sprint race in second, having started from the front row due to the reverse-top-ten format. He then finished the feature in eighth. More points followed in both Barcelona races, though Bortoleto was demoted from seventh to tenth in the feature after causing a collision with his teammate on the final lap.
In Austria Bortoleto qualified fourth and progressed from eighth to fourth during the sprint race, though he narrowly lost out on a podium to Paul Aron. On Sunday, Bortoleto passed race leader Joshua Dürksen on lap 4 and later overtook Martí, who had jumped him by pitting during a virtual safety car, to claim his maiden F2 victory and enter the top three in the championship. He progressed further with two points results at Silverstone but was penalised again due to a battle with Maini, this time being demoted from third to fourth after a last-lap overtake was judged to have happened off-track. In the Budapest sprint race Bortoleto struggled with tyre wear on his soft tyres, dropping to 16th, and finished fourth in the feature race after losing the podium to Richard Verschoor on the final lap. For the final round before the summer break in Belgium Bortoleto qualified second and fought for the victory with Hadjar, eventually ending up second and moving up to said place in the standings after a late technical issue ended Aron's race.
Bortoleto's start to the Monza round was a disaster: he spun in qualifying before setting a time, therefore necessitating a start from last place for both races. In the sprint race, Bortoleto charged through to eighth, sharing the final point with Dennis Hauger after crossing the finish line in a dead heat. It would however be the feature race where Bortoleto experienced his standout result of the entire year: he benefited from an opportune safety car, which, following his pit stop, allowed him to stay ahead of all drivers who had stopped prior to its deployment. Bortoleto drove out a gap to take a last-to-first victory and benefited from Hadjar's scoreless weekend to close up in the championship. He became the first driver to win from last on the grid in Formula 2. This performance later earned him the Mecachrome Outstanding Win Award at the end-of-year prize giving ceremony.
In the Baku round, Bortoleto finished the sprint race in fifth place and the main race in fourth, taking the lead in the drivers' championship by 4.5 points over Hadjar. Bortoleto qualified second in Qatar and finished fifth on Saturday. He then took the lead from Aron at the start of the feature race, only to be penalised for crossing the pit entry line behind the pit bollard when avoiding the pit lane entrance during a virtual safety car deployment. Though he progressed through the pack and crossed the line in first, Bortoleto was demoted behind Aron and Hadjar in the results, meaning that he and Hadjar would go into the season finale with a gap of half a point.
Bortoleto qualified second again on Yas Island. A charge from ninth to second in the sprint allowed him to enter the final race with a four-point advantage, as Hadjar finished fifth. The start of the feature race decided the championship fight, as Hadjar stalled on the grid. Bortoleto meanwhile took the lead from Victor Martins at turn one and although he was later overtaken by Dürksen following the pit stop phase, Bortoleto finished second and was crowned Formula 2 champion. He became the fourth champion in the FIA Formula 2 era to win the FIA F3 and F2 titles in successive years, following Charles Leclerc, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri, as well as the second Brazilian to triumph in the category after Felipe Drugovich in 2022.
Formula One career
In September 2022, Bortoleto announced that he had joined A14, two time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso's driver management company. After winning the Formula 3 title, Bortoleto signed with the McLaren Driver Development Programme in October 2023. He completed his first test in Formula One machinery at the Red Bull Ring in September 2024, testing the McLaren MCL36.
Around the time that he completed his first test, Sauber Motorsport COO and CTO Mattia Binotto marked Bortoleto as one of the contenders for a seat at Kick Sauber in 2025, ahead of their takeover by Audi. Then three-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen and race winner Oscar Piastri endorsed Bortoleto to be selected, with Piastri sharing his experience of not getting a seat immediately after winning the 2021 Formula 2 Championship and his hope that Bortoleto would avoid such a situation. Furthermore, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella revealed he would allow Bortoleto to leave their academy for Sauber if needed, praising him for his performances in his junior career.
Sauber (2025–present)
Bortoleto signed for Sauber in 2025, partnering Nico Hülkenberg on a multi-year deal beyond the 2026 regulation changes with Audi; they replaced Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. He was subsequently released from the McLaren Driver Development Programme. On debut at the Australian Grand Prix, Bortoleto received acclaim for progressing to the second qualifying session, outqualifying teammate Hülkenberg; he crashed out of the race in changing conditions. He finished nineteenth in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint following a final-lap collision with Jack Doohan, before finishing fourteenth in the main race after spinning into the gravel trap on the opening lap. He then finished nineteenth in Japan on an alternate strategy, as well as eighteenth in both Bahrain—where he described the C45 as "undriveable"—and Saudi Arabia.
Awards and honours
Karting record
Karting career summary
Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
QH
1
R
2
QH
13
R
31
QH
24
R
13
QH
12
R
10
QH
17
R
20
QH
(6)
R
(14)
QH
2
R
6
QH
1
R
3
QH
4
R
3
QH
9
R
6
QH
24
R
12
QH
19
R
10
QH
23
R
33
Racing career summary
† As Bortoleto was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. * Season still in progress.
Complete Italian F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
1
7
2
7
3
11
1
8
2
7
3
Ret
1
7
2
7
3
13
1
2
2
1
3
3
1
18†
2
3
3
2
1
Ret
2
8
3
8
1
4
2
C
3
4
Complete Formula Regional European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
1
9
2
11
1
23
2
22
1
23
2
21
1
18
2
28
1
17
2
18
1
28
2
12
1
7
2
2
1
11
2
9
1
6
2
8
1
8
2
28
1
6
2
9
1
7
2
3
1
6
2
5
1
4
2
5
1
Ret
2
8
1
9
2
3
1
14
2
1
1
15
2
5
1
7
2
1
1
Ret
2
2
Stock Car Brasil results
1
22
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
† As Bortoleto was a guest driver he was ineligible to score points.
Complete Formula Regional Asian Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
1
10
2
1
3
6
1
6
2
Ret
3
8
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
SPR
19
FEA
1
SPR
6
FEA
1
SPR
6
FEA
5
SPR
4
FEA
4
SPR
10
FEA
2
SPR
2
FEA
6
SPR
2
FEA
7
SPR
Ret
FEA
11
SPR
2
FEA
5
Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
SPR
6
FEA
5
SPR
10
FEA
Ret
SPR
Ret
FEA
Ret
SPR
6
FEA
2
SPR
2
FEA
8
SPR
5
FEA
10
SPR
4
FEA
1
SPR
4
FEA
6
SPR
16
FEA
4
SPR
10
FEA
2
SPR
8
FEA
1
SPR
5
FEA
4
SPR
5
FEA
3
SPR
2
FEA
2
Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicates fastest lap.)
Ret
14
19
18
18
† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance. * Season still in progress.
Original Wikipedia article last retrieved on 24 April 2025.