Gabriel Bortoleto

If you follow junior formula racing at all, you’ve had Gabriel Bortoleto circled on your radar for a while now. This young Brazilian enters Formula 1 with Kick Sauber for 2026, and his journey here tells you a lot about just how competitive the F1 junior landscape has become. He came through the McLaren Driver Development programme before ultimately signing with Sauber — and the speed, maturity, and racecraft he showed in Formula 3 and Formula 2 made that investment a no-brainer.

Here’s what makes Bortoleto’s arrival even more compelling: he carries the hopes of an entire nation of motorsport fans. We’re talking about a lineage that includes Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Rubens Barrichello. Brazil’s passion for F1 is genuinely unmatched, and Bortoleto’s emergence has reignited that fire in South America’s largest country. His smooth driving style and clever tyre management have already drawn comparisons with some of those legendary predecessors. No pressure, right?

At the Australian Grand Prix, Bortoleto gets to experience one of F1’s most iconic events as a fresh-faced rookie. Melbourne’s diverse, multicultural crowd — including a significant Brazilian-Australian community — will make sure he feels the love at Albert Park. Trust me, this is a debut season the motorsport world will be watching very closely.

Career Statistics

Driver Profile

Gabriel Bortoleto kicks off his Formula 1 journey in 2026 with Kick Sauber, and the timing couldn’t be better — the team is gearing up for full Audi works status, which means he’s getting in on the ground floor of something potentially massive. Having Nico Hulkenberg as a teammate gives him the perfect mentor and benchmark to measure his own growth against. The 2026 regulatory reset means everyone starts from a clean sheet, which honestly is about the best gift a rookie can ask for. Everything about his talent and hunger suggests he’s got the goods to follow in the footsteps of Brazil’s all-time greats.

NC — Staff sports writer, australiafootball.com