McLaren set to give Gabriel Bortoleto ‘two options’ if he’s offered 2025 Sauber seat

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With just eight race weekends left in the 2024 Formula 1 season, there will already be a few teams and drivers looking ahead to next year in the hopes of having a faster car and better prospects.

Excitement will be high at Aston Martin after Adrian Newey’s arrival was confirmed but also because this year’s AMR24 has been way off the pace of the top four teams.

There are still two teams – RB and Sauber – who have yet to confirm their final driver line-ups although Liam Lawson is being prepared to potentially replace Daniel Ricciardo next year.

Mattia Binotto is the man in charge of deciding who will join Nico Hulkenberg next season.

From Sauber’s current drivers, Valtteri Bottas is more likely to be retained over Zhou Guanyu.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber from team principal to Audi future

However, Binotto is considering rookies Theo Pourchaire and Gabriel Bortoleto if he decides he wants to pair experience with youth for Sauber’s final season in F1 before becoming the Audi works team.

Journalist Isa Fernandes was speaking on Motorsport Brazil’s YouTube channel about Bortoleto’s situation.

There’s plenty of excitement in Brazil that they might finally have a driver on the grid once again.

Felipe Drugovich was their last hope after winning Formula 2 in 2022 but his opportunity appears to have dried up.

Bortoleto is managed by Fernando Alonso and part of McLaren’s junior team and Sauber have been told they have two options if they want the 19-year-old to be part of their line-up next year.

How Gabriel Bortoleto could emulate George Russell with 2025 Sauber move

Talking about how Sauber could sign Bortoleto from McLaren, Fernandes said: “There are two options if Bortoleto completes this transfer to Sauber from McLaren.

“Bortoleto can sign a permanent contract with Audi, in other words, he breaks his link with McLaren and becomes an Audi-only driver without any kind of relationship [with McLaren].

“Or he will be loaned by McLaren and then eventually, if necessary, over the course of his years at Audi, he can return to McLaren since it was a loan.

“Things are being designed so that he continues as a McLaren academy driver and goes on to Audi.

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

“The suggestion is for McLaren to grant this loan for at least two years and then be able to extend the contract format for another year.

“We still don’t know the exact details of the deal of how they’re going to put together this part of it, but it’s probably very likely that he will go to McLaren as a loaned driver because later Mclaren can take him back to the team.”

Fernandes compares the move to when George Russell joined Williams for three seasons before returning to Mercedes.

Mattia Binotto held talks with Gabriel Bortoleto at back-to-back races

Bortoleto’s connection with McLaren is a blessing and a curse when it comes to the driver market.

McLaren offered Bortoleto his first F1 testing day last week, something that wouldn’t have been possible without that partnership.

However, it also complicates negotiations if another team on the grid is interested in his services, particularly as McLaren are unlikely to need him for some time given how well Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are driving.

Binotto was spotted talking to Bortoleto at Monza after his incredible performance to go from last to first in the F2 Feature Race.

That follows Bortoleto having conversations with the Audi boss in Zandvoort and that might be making Bottas and Sauber’s other options slightly nervous.