With a year’s distance it does look like a total no-brainer, so it’s even difficult to imagine Mattia Binotto could’ve overlooked Gabriel Bortoleto in favour of anyone else through his binoculars. Yet, it really wasn’t.
It was around Monza in 2024 when rumours started to circulate around the paddock about Bortoleto being on Audi’s radar — even before his impressive "from last to first" victory in F2. Still just a title contender, not a champion back then, he definitely looked like a promising talent — but success in F2 is never a guarantee for F1.
