‘A fantastic, high-potential driver’ – Binotto explains the ‘no-brainer’ decision to sign Bortoleto

Sauber boss Mattia Binotto described new signing Gabriel Bortoleto as “a fantastic and high-potential driver” as the duo held their first press conference together since the news at the squad’s base in Switzerland.

Fresh from winning the F3 title at his first attempt, Bortoleto stepped into the world of Formula 1 when he joined McLaren’s driver development programme late last year. He got his first taste of F1 machinery this year at the Red Bull Ring, in a 2022-spec machine, and bounced back from a slow start to his debut F2 campaign to become the championship leader and title favourite.

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It was this mid-year turnaround that caught Binotto’s attention and encouraged the Italian to take a closer look at the 20-year-old Brazilian’s efforts in F2 as he pondered the dilemma of whether to go for youth or experience when deciding the identity of the driver who would take the second seat for 2025 alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

“I've seen that his career has proved [he is a fantastic and high-potential driver] through what he has achieved, what he is achieving,” said Binotto.

“The way he is driving impressed me and more than that, as I told him, is his capacity to develop, improve and progress through the season itself. He’s doing it in his season in F2. The start has been difficult, but then he's really been capable not to lose the direction of what he is to trying to achieve.

“He has shown progress this season and that's what counts the most for me.”

Binotto said he met Bortoleto a few weeks ago in his office in Hinwil and was immediately “impressed by his personality, attitude and mindset”. It was after that meeting that Sauber/Audi accelerated their pursuit of the Brazilian, who Binotto said was free to leave McLaren if he got this opportunity.

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“I don't think he's only a fantastic, high-potential driver, but he's a great, great person, too, and that's something for our project as well – it’s very important,” he added. “So overall, I’m very happy to be here announcing Gabriel.”

Bortoleto is managed by Fernando Alonso’s driver management agency A14. Binotto knows Alonso well from their time spent together at Ferrari but the Italian said he had very little contact with the double world champion regarding the Brazilian racer.

“I know very well Fernando from my past experience, because of how we met in the paddock,” said Binotto. “But he never influenced, never tried to come to me with a convincing argument because I think what convinced me was Gabriel, nothing else. So with Fernando, yes, I had once a chat but really, very little.”

A 'no-brainer' decision for Audi

In recent years, the tendency in Formula 1 has been to rely on experienced drivers - Fernando Alonso is still going strong at 43, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is 39 – rather than gambling on youth.

But Ollie Bearman’s stunning super-sub performance for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia earlier this year has triggered a change in mindset. Since then, he’s signed for a full-time seat at Haas next year, Mercedes have replaced Hamilton with 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, Alpine had promoted Jack Doohan and Williams swapped in Franco Colapinto for Logan Sargeant with RB bringing in Liam Lawson for Daniel Ricciardo.

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Future stars are now suddenly on trend. But while Binotto says the efforts of the aforementioned youngsters helped his confidence in employing young drivers, it was Bortoleto’s on-track antics and personality which really got the deal over the line.

“They are all doing very well,” said Binotto. “It's great for the sport. It's great for F1. I know they can do well but I don't think that I was waiting to see them doing well to make a decision.

“I followed Gabriel’s career, certainly even more intensively in the last weeks and months. I saw him racing and racing so well, being impressed by the speed, the potential.

“His capacity to first develop and improve [impressed him] and if I look around, I think [he] is one of the most talented and high-potential drivers we've got as rookies, and for Audi, that was a no-brainer – go for it.”

When debating whether to go for youth or experience, if it was the former Binotto said there was only one focus – “we would have gone for Gabriel”.

He added: “That would have been our choice. The second and last question we were asking ourselves was should it be straight in ‘25 or should we give him some time first to develop and then maybe postpone to ‘26 so but finally, we said yes.

“Maybe seeing also young drivers doing well in F1 gave me mainly more confidence with the fact that, yeah, Gabriel can do very well from the very start.”

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'I came to a conclusion that maybe we will need to have a young driver with us'

In choosing Bortoleto, it meant taking the difficult step to say goodbye to Valtteri Bottas, who was the other leading contender to get the seat in what would have been a fourth straight season with the team.

“I'm getting on very well with Valtteri,” said Binotto. “It has been [like that] since I've started here in August – a great relationship, building it, trusting each other. We really set up a good communication between us and we have several talks about the journey, the length/duration of the journey, and the difficulties we will face in the next seasons.

“We know that the next one will be a difficult season as a team and as a journey toward the Audi F1 transformation. It's a long journey.

“I think that's mainly on the duration where we will reflect together a lot and I came to a conclusion that maybe we will need to have a young driver with us.

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“So let's say we [Bottas and Binotto had an] understanding, if not agreement, certainly a mutual understanding of what's required. And more than that, I’d like to underline he [Bottas] has been certainly a very strong candidate.

“I know he's very fast. I know that he has proven to be very fast until today and very fit. He knows the team and he is very highly-rated and he's very highly-rated in the paddock. So overall, it has not been an easy [decision], but sometimes you need to come to a conclusion and make a decision. And we made it.”