Who is Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto? Age, nationality, stats and more

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Gabriel Bortoleto is one of motorsport’s rising stars and made his debut in Formula 1 with Sauber as an Audi driver in 2025, so here is everything you need to know about him.

The young Brazilian burst into life in single-seaters after winning the Formula 3 title in his rookie season in 2023. Bortoleto winning the F3 title also tempted McLaren to sign him to their Driver Development Programme in October 2023, before graduating to Formula 2.

Bortoleto’s performances in F2 with Invicta Racing after emerging as a title contender as a rookie would even convince Audi to sign him to race for Sauber on a multi-year contract in November 2024. He is also managed by two-time Formula 1 champion, Fernando Alonso.

Gabriel Bortoleto won back-to-back Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships

Alonso’s A14 Management signed Bortoleto in 2022, the year before he won the Formula 3 title. But up until his F3 title, Bortoleto failed to achieve much success in any junior single-seater category.

The Brazilian started out in go-karts in his native country in the Open do Brasileiro de Kart, winning the Mirim class before taking the Cadete class title two years later.

Bortoleto remained in karts until 2019, with his most successful year coming in 2018. The Brazilian came third in the European and World Championships respectively, as well as finishing second in both the WSK Super Master Series and the Andrea Margutti Trophy.

PREMA gave Bortoleto his debut in single-seaters in Italian F4 in 2020, which returned his first podium and win in the fourth round at Mugello – finishing second, first and third in the three races. Bortoleto finished the year fifth overall, collecting two more podiums.

For the 2021 season, Bortoleto stepped up to the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) with FA Racing by MP, finishing 15th overall with one podium before moving to R-ace GP for 2022 where he won twice and scored five podiums to finish sixth overall.

That same year he signed for Alonso’s management company, Bortoleto also won one race in six appearances in the Formula Regional Asian Championship. He further made a few appearances in stock car racing back in Brazil in 2021 and 2022.

Bortoleto then secured his promotion to the Formula 1 support bill in 2023 as he debuted in FIA Formula 3 driving for Trident. Success was also immediate for the Brazilian, who went on to win the F3 title during Bortoleto’s rookie season with a 45-point lead over Zak O’Sullivan.

Only finishing outside of the points three times and only recording one retirement all season was essential for Bortoleto’s F3 title. He started the term strongly with Feature Race wins in Bahrain and Australia but did not win after round two, registering four second-place results.

Invicta Racing then swooped to sign Bortoleto for the 2024 Formula 2 championship but had to wait until the Feature Race at Imola in round four for his debut podium in P2. Consistency evaded Bortoleto as Invicta learned F2’s 2024 car with three retirements in his first six races.

But after the rounds in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia, Bortoleto built an F2 title charge. He finished all but one of the remaining 22 races inside the top 10, sealed Feature Race wins in Austria plus Italy and six more podiums to lift the title with an F1 contract already signed.

Bortoleto’s F2 Feature Race win at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix even saw the Brazilian start in P22 and last after crashing in qualifying at Monza, before capitalising on a safety car. It was a key result in his title bid, as Bortoleto edged Isack Hadjar by 22.5 points at the season finale.

His back-to-back F3 and F2 wins saw him join Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Charles Leclerc who have also achieved the feat.

Gabriel Bortoleto is managed by Fernando Alonso and was a McLaren Academy driver

Bortoleto credited Alonso for getting the drive at Trident which returned his F3 title in 2023. The Brazilian also signed with the McLaren Driver Development Programme in October of that year.

McLaren have a rich history in Formula 1 with several drivers’ and constructors’ titles since debuting in the championship in 1966.

The Woking-based squad have also provided pathways for some top F1 talent, most notably multiple-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Lando Norris also developed in their academy system, which Alex Albon was a part of in his karting days.

Bortoleto joined a list of established racing drivers in the programme, such as the 2023 World Endurance Championship winner Ryo Hirakawa and McLaren’s IndyCar driver, Pato O’Ward.

With the support of McLaren, Bortoleto embarked on his debut season in Formula 2 with Invicta Racing in 2024. His first win further arrived in the Feature Race on the Austrian Grand Prix support bill in race 14 of the year.

But McLaren would release Bortoleto from his academy contract in November 2024 to allow the Brazilian to join Sauber and debut in F1 in 2025. Bortoleto agreed to sign a multi-year contract with Audi ahead of Sauber becoming the German brand’s works team in 2026.

So, with that in mind, F1 Oversteer takes a look at everything that you need to know about Bortoleto with the Brazilian already catching the attention of many…

Who is Gabriel Bortoleto?

Gabriel Bortoleto is a promising Brazilian racing driver, currently competing for Audi after making his debut in 2025.

He graduated to Formula 1 at the start of 2025 with Sauber after Audi elected to sign Bortoleto over retaining Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu to partner fellow incoming teammate, Nico Hulkenberg.

How old is Gabriel Bortoleto? When was he born?

At the time of writing, Gabriel Bortoleto is 21 years old and was born on October 14 in 2004.

Where was Gabriel Bortoleto born? What is his nationality?

Gabriel Bortoleto is Brazilian and was born in Sao Paulo, which is the most populous city in Brazil and the most populous Portuguese-speaking city in the world.

How tall is Gabriel Bortoleto? What is his height in feet?

Standing at a height of 1.84m, Gabriel Bortoleto measures in at 6ft tall.

Meet Gabriel Bortoleto’s girlfriend, Isabella Bernardini

Gabriel Bortoleto is dating a fellow Sao Paulo native but not much is known publicly about his girlfriend, Isabella Bernardini. She attended the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in support and was very emotional watching Bortoleto win the Formula 2 title.

The computer scientist has been dating Bortoleto for at least four years and regularly attends the

How good is Gabriel Bortoleto? What’s been said about him?

After displaying some exceptional skill in Formula 3 in 2023, Gabriel Bortoleto became a driver hot on everyone’s mind. Especially after signing as a McLaren junior, many began to realise the talent that he possesses.

After signing with McLaren following his F3 title, Bortoleto’s team principal at Trident Giacomo Ricci said via Autosport: “We chose him because we knew there was a talent there… Also, naturally, he was not making mistakes. For him, it has been always easy to put the three sectors together.

“Even if it was green, green, green, not purple, not going for P1, it was easy for him to go to a very strong level by putting the three sectors together. That for me was a big plus. Since I saw this, from the 2022 post-season test, I started to become very optimistic…

“Did I expect to win with Gabriel Bortoleto before signing him? I would say no. But after the first three days of post-season testing, at that time, I became really optimistic that we had someone in the car with all the ability to fight in his rookie season for the title.

“I was expecting him to fight for the top five positions in the championship. But at the same time, I have to say, that immediately in the post-season test in 2022, I saw someone that he was special.”

Gabriel Bortoleto’s Formula 1 career stats

Gabriel Bortoleto faced intense pressure entering the 2025 season, following his back-to-back wins in Formula 3 and Formula 2. The young Brazilian is starting to show his talent, taking five-point finishes, although he finished 19th in the championship standings.