Fernando Alonso sends message to Gabriel Bortoleto after helping him secure Sauber seat

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Gabriel Bortoleto will partner Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber next season, the team announced on Wednesday. Bortoleto becomes the fourth rookie to join the 2025 Formula 1 grid.

Oliver Bearman was the first, with Haas signing him in July off the back of his impressive stand-in showing for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia. Bearman has since featured in two more F1 races, giving him an advantage over his peers.

Alpine have promoted Jack Doohan from a reserve role to replace Esteban Ocon, who will race alongside Bearman at Haas next year. And most notably, Mercedes have chosen Kimi Antonelli as their successor for Lewis Hamilton.

Bortoleto outranks the PREMA duo in the current F2 standings, poised to battle RB hopeful Isack Hadjar for the title in the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. He’s signed a multi-year deal.

Before unveiling the 20-year-old, Sauber confirmed the departure of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. Of the two, it was only really Bottas who stood a chance, but youth won out in the end.

Bortoleto and Hulkenberg will form Audi’s inaugural line-up when they enter F1 in 2026. McLaren agreed to release him, acknowledging that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris had blocked his path.

Fernando Alonso congratulates Gabriel Bortoleto after he lands Sauber seat

Bortoleto is represented by A14 management, Fernando Alonso’s company. This will make for a truly bizarre situation.

Alonso will be racing against one of his own clients next year. The 43-year-old will be on the grid until at least the end of 2026 after penning an extension earlier this year.

On Wednesday afternoon, Alonso shared a post from the official Formula 1 Instagram account on his story. He simply added ‘congratulations’, along with the Brazilian flag and an applause emoji.

Bortoleto may lean on the two-time world champion’s unparalleled experience before he makes his debut. He’s due to make his 400th start in Qatar in a couple of races’ time.

Why Martin Brundle is delighted that Audi have signed Gabriel Bortoleto

Why Bortoleto’s connections with Alonso have no doubt helped him secure a seat, it’s fully deserved on the basis of his junior formulae performances. He won the F3 title last year and could follow that up by taking the F2 crown.

Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Charles Leclerc have all achieved this feat. They’re now amongst the highest-rated drivers on the grid.

Felipe Massa sent a message to Bortoleto after Wednesday’s news, telling him ‘Brazil is smiling again’. The former Williams and Ferrari driver was his country’s last representative, retiring in 2017.

Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle also welcomed Bortoleto’s arrival. He says F1 seems ‘more complete’ with a Brazilian driver on the grid.