Zak Brown admits he’s keeping a very close eye on 19-year-old driver right now

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McLaren team boss Zak Brown has admitted that young Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto has really caught his attention this year.

Speaking on the Track Limits Podcast, Brown shared his thoughts on the teenager who stormed to victory in Formula 3 this year.

This winter has highlighted just how difficult it is for young drivers to break into Formula 1.

Every team retained their line-up for 2023 despite some drivers not setting the world alight with their performances.

Logan Sargeant was the final driver to be offered a new deal despite scoring just a single point with Williams.

It means that any youngster attempting to join the grid needs to be exceptional and have a prior connection with a team.

Unless you create the level of hype that Oscar Piastri did coming through the ranks, you need plenty of luck on your side as well.

McLaren chief Zak Brown has admitted that he already has his eye on Gabriel Bortoleto after his performances in F3 this season.

The 19-year-old Brazilian was superb in the series, achieving two wins and a series of podiums.

It was his consistency that won him the title, scoring points in 15 out of 18 races.

His promotion to F2 next year is well deserved but he still has a long way to go before he’s on the F1 grid.

McLaren team principal Brown impressed with Bortoleto

Asked if there was anyone in F2, F3 or any other junior programme that had caught his eye, Brown said: “Yeah, Gabriel [Bortoleto] the Formula 3 champion we just announced not long ago that he’s part of our young driver development programme.

“So, he’s going to be in Formula 2 for the first time this year so he’s clearly caught our attention.

“Ugo [Ugochukwu] who’s a bit younger, a few years behind, he’s doing great, winning a lot of races, he’s part of the family.

“So, because we have two young drivers we don’t want to have too many young drivers stacked up because if all goes according to plan, we kind of won’t have room for them.

“Some of the teams have rather large academies, 10, 12, 15 drivers, we want to kind of have two, three, four that are at different stages of their careers so that if a window of opportunity presents itself, we’ve for someone ready.”

Bortoleto will hope that Brown is suitably impressed in the future to give him his first taste of action in a McLaren sooner rather than later.

He may get his opportunity at a free practice event in 2024 although Pato O’Ward is the official reserve driver.

There are question marks over whether the Mexican driver’s racing style would suit F1 which could open the door to Bortoleto.

For now, he’ll be trying to follow in the footsteps of his fellow countryman Felipe Drugovich and take home the F2 title as long as he doesn’t get stuck waiting in the wings like the Ronaldo-backed driver.