Max Verstappen:

“I would have signed him already”

Max Verstappen

(Bild: APA/AFP/Miguel SCHINCARIOL)

Brazil, the home of world champions Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Emerson Fittipaldi, currently has no driver in Formula 1, but 20-year-old Gabriel Bortoleto is knocking hard on the door. The young man from São Paulo won Formula 3 last year and is the current leader in Formula 2. Bortoleto already has an important advocate in the person of Max Verstappen: The Dutchman would put him in a Formula 1 cockpit as early as 2025.

There is only one vacant Formula 1 seat for next year, which is not contractually guaranteed to any driver. This is the second cockpit at Sauber alongside that of Nico Hülkenberg. Verstappen said he would sign Bortoleto immediately if he had the decision. "If I was Sauber, I would have already signed him," the Dutchman explained ahead of Bortoleto's home race at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

According to Verstappen, it would make sense to put your trust in young drivers now, especially given the extensive rule changes at the start of the 2026 season. "It's always good to get used to a team for a year, to make mistakes here and there, to integrate well, to understand the car a little," said the championship leader. "You feel much better prepared and more comfortable when you start in 2026."

Sauber will already be the works team of the German global brand Audi in 2026. The experienced German Hülkenberg is on a multi-year contract when he leaves Haas after the current season. Numerous candidates are vying for the second seat for 2025 and beyond, including the two current Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, Franco Colapinto (Williams), Mick Schumacher (Mercedes replacement driver) and Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin replacement driver).

Drugovich is also Brazilian, and his mother's family has roots in Austria, among other countries. The now 24-year-old won Formula 2 in 2022 and has been waiting for a job as a regular driver ever since.

Bortoleto is part of McLaren's junior program and is managed by A14, a company founded by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. Both McLaren and Alonso's racing team, Aston Martin, have filled both positions.

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri can put himself in Bortoleto's shoes because of his own history and agreed that the Brazilian deserved a place in F1. "I think he has done a very impressive job," said the Australian. "I know from my own experience how painful it is not to get a seat. So I hope for his sake that he doesn't have to go through that."