Sauber-Rokie Gabriel Bortoleto showed top performance in the last Formula 1 races and won some results that were not to be expected. The young Brazilian has long since drove on the note of the big teams.
For Gabriel Bortoleto, the last six Formula 1 races ran (almost) like clockwork. The clean-rookie posted two nullers at the rain race in Silverstone and in Zandvoort, but he drove into the points in Montreal, Spa, Budapest and finally Monza.
With already 18 World Cup counters, the Brazilian is the clear number two behind Red Bull’s high-flyer Isack Hadjar in the rookie ranking. A development that has not been hidden from the other teams.
Bortoleto arouses desires in Formula 1
“Gabriel has underlined his potential to be able to become a star of Formula 1 in the future. And all top teams are already interested in him,” said “Sky Sports” insider Ted Kravitz that the only 20-year-old has aroused desires with his achievements.
Nevertheless, the long-time F1 reporter made it clear that Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Co. “He stays with Sauber and Audi to work for the future in her exciting project,” said Kravitz.
Open driver construction sites at some teams
It can only be speculated which top team would have reported to Bortoleto. The fact is that the two places in McLaren are occupied by Oscar Piatri and Lando Norris in the long term. With the other large teams, however, the situation is much more unclear.
There have been speculation around the two Mercedes cockpits in the past few weeks. In 2026 the silver arrows continued with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, but the young Italian in particular has long been counted.
At Ferrari, this applies to Lewis Hamilton, who has so far had a very weak debut season in red. At Red Bull, in turn, the question of the Verstappen team mate only arises to a limited extent. Here Hadjar is considered the undisputed top candidate.