Mattia Binotto considered keeping Valtteri Bottas after what he saw from Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli

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Gabriel Bortoleto is set to make his full-time F1 debut with Sauber for the 2025 season after being confirmed by the team as their driver alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

Both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu will leave the team at the end of the season following what has been one of their worst seasons since 2014, having yet to score any points between them.

Zhou plans to stay in the F1 paddock and will announce his plans in due course, while Bottas is eyeing a potential reserve role at his old team Mercedes.

Bortoleto has been rumoured as a potential candidate for the drive after Mattia Binotto claimed he would like to see a rookie driver paired with Hulkenberg. However, Audi had other ideas for the Brazilian before giving him a full-time seat according to a report in Formu1a.uno.

Audi wanted to put Gabriel Bortoleto on a similar test programme to Andrea Kimi Antonelli

The driver lineup at Sauber for the 2025 season was always going to be with the view of the 2026 season when the team will be taken over by Audi.

Bortoleto gained some attention after he took the lead in the Formula 2 championship following the Monza round in September, having won a few races in the category this season.

According to the report by Formu1a.uno, Audi’s original plan was to give Bortoleto a year of preparation similar to what Mercedes did with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, before guaranteeing him a seat in 2026.

His deal with Sauber means that his role at McLaren has now come to an end, having been part of their driver academy throughout this season.

Martin Brundle says F1 ‘more complete’ with Brazilian driver

Bortoleto has been part of Fernando Alonso’s driver management company A14 and faces the prospect of being the first driver to race against somebody who manages him in F1.

The 20-year-old has already had his first taste of F1 machinery with a test at the Red Bull Ring for McLaren earlier this year in a 2022-spec car.

READ MORE: Who is Gabriel Bortoleto? F2 and McLaren junior driver’s age, nationality, stats and more

Martin Brundle thinks the F1 grid is ‘more complete’ with a Brazilian driver on it, while Karun Chandhok said it was good to see Sauber promoting younger talent.

Bortoleto is the first Brazilian driver on the F1 grid since Felipe Nasr raced in the 2016 season with Sauber.