After an extended period of mulling over its driving options for Formula 1's 2025 season and beyond, Sauber had found itself in a binary choice between experience and youth. The Swiss outfit, which becomes Audi in 2026, has opted for the latter; Valtteri Bottas will leave the team at the end of the year, and F2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto will join in the Finn's place.
Sauber's hiring of the promising Bortoleto gives Brazil one of its own full-time F1 drivers to support since Felipe Massa left the grid at the end of 2017. Bortoleto joins an illustrious cast of names to hail from the South American nation: Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Carlos Pace, Rubens Barrichello, et al, and will hope to have the chance to thread his own legacy into F1's rich tapestry - if he's able to get up to speed and impress, of course.
