INSIGHT: Behind the scenes at Gabriel Bortoleto’s first F1 test with Kick Sauber

Gabriel Bortoleto had a whirlwind few days at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, first beating Red Bull-backed rival Isack Hadjar to the Formula 2 title and then making his maiden F1 test appearance with Kick Sauber, who recently signed the young Brazilian for the 2025 season. F1.com was present to follow one of the sport’s newest stars as he got his first proper taste of life in the top echelon…

0730 – Arriving at the track

It’s a typically pleasant start to the day in the Abu Dhabi desert, with already mild temperatures and the glorious orange glow from the sunrise covering a Yas Marina Circuit that was illuminated by hundreds of powerful floodlights and bright neon panels overnight.

F1.com has been in the paddock for around an hour, flanked by some rather tired looking mechanics, engineers and other team members who had reached their final on-track task of the year – the end-of-term feeling also bringing plenty of smiles and jokes.

As the start of the test edges closer, the men and women from the teams up and down the pit lane are gradually joined by the drivers set to pilot their cars, including highly rated rookie Bortoleto, who strolls through the gates for his big day at half past seven.

With 90 minutes before the track goes green, Bortoleto heads to the far end of the paddock – and the Sauber hospitality unit – for a quick, light breakfast, where he catches up with Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer Mattia Binotto.

Bortoleto shared a few words with Binotto before heading out on track in Abu Dhabi

0800 – Pre-test meetings

While Nico Hulkenberg was signed before Binotto’s arrival in the summer, the Italian made the call to adopt an all-new line-up for the 2025 season, parting ways with both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu in favour of F2 champion-elect Bortoleto.

It means that the drivers – even if Hulkenberg remembers a few employees from his previous, short stint at Hinwil back in 2013 – and Sauber’s trackside crew have plenty of work ahead to get to know each other, build effective relationships and become a slick operation.

Other youngsters involved in the post-season test have already carried out Testing of Previous Cars days or taken part in Free Practice 1 sessions with their affiliated teams, but Bortoleto has never before driven a Sauber.

Following Bortoleto’s chat with Binotto, the 20-year-old wastes no time as he joins new team mate Hulkenberg in the engineering room to one side of Sauber’s hospitality unit for a briefing and full rundown of the planned testing programme.

0850 – Heading to the garage

With those engineering introductions out of the way, Bortoleto emerges from the Sauber camp sporting an all-black race suit and boots – the only contrast coming via a small Brazilian flag and driver name etched into the fabric around his waist.

After getting suited and booted, it was time for Bortoleto’s first Sauber F1 test to begin

He walks past F1.com as a man on a mission, his body language appearing confident and his eyes laser focused, followed a few moments later by Hulkenberg, who shares some laughs with Haas mechanics seeing him in another race suit after two seasons with the team.

Weaving his way between shipment containers bound for the first test and races of next season, and the international photographers still in town, Bortoleto soon disappears down a narrow corridor taking him the back of the Sauber garage and the car he will be driving.

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Ten minutes out, Bortoleto adopts full concentration mode, slotting in a set of perfectly moulded earplugs, placing a fireproof balaclava over his head and popping on a striking yellow, green and blue helmet – reminiscent of late, great national hero Ayrton Senna’s.

0900 – Getting down to business

As the clock strikes nine and the green light switches on at the end of the pit lane, Bortoleto and the rest of the attending drivers hit the track and start racking up some valuable mileage.

The outfit’s dedicated ‘young driver’ for the test (i.e. someone who has competed in two or fewer Grands Prix), Bortoleto is given access to the same Pirelli tyre compounds used over the Abu Dhabi race weekend – two sets of C3s, four sets of C4s and two sets of C5s.

That differs considerably to Hulkenberg’s programme, with the experienced German instead sampling the homologated versions of Pirelli’s 2025 tyres, which include a new ultra-soft C6 compound to expand the manufacturer’s already comprehensive range.

It was a dream realised for Bortoleto when he rolled out of the pits for the first time

A slightly sluggish getaway from the pits is the only noticeable hiccup while Bortoleto completes his first laps as a confirmed F1 driver, adding to a TPC outing earlier this year with the McLaren team who allowed him to leave their stable and seize the full-time chance at Sauber.

1330 – Lunch break with family

With no formal lunch break punctuating the nine-hour day, the 10 teams – all running two cars for the test’s two elements – are left to choose their own windows for a breather, and by half past one it’s time for Bortoleto and Sauber to regroup in the paddock.

Across three-and-a-half hours of running so far, Bortoleto has reached the equivalent of a race distance in mileage, spread across various short and long runs, while a best time of 1m 25.306s puts him eighth on a timing screen topped by new Williams racer Carlos Sainz.

As well as another conversation with his engineers and team chiefs to run through the first set of data they have gathered together, Bortoleto gets a moment to sit down with his proud family and friends and refuel for the afternoon – pasta and vegetables the food of choice.

1500 – Another blast at the wheel

By mid-afternoon, with the midday heat having passed and the first signs of a sunset rolling in, Bortoleto is back in the cockpit to pick up his programme and run through to the 1800 chequered flag, when the Yas Marina Circuit will be covered by the night sky once more.

Bortoleto completed 686.5 kilometres across the nine hours of testing at Yas Marina

It’s another mixture of runs for the newcomer, taking in Pirelli’s allocated soft, medium and hard tyres, with Sauber and Audi advisor Allan McNish – the former Toyota F1 driver and multiple 24 Hours of Le Mans winner – watching on as an interested observer.

By the end of the day, Bortoleto has hit 130 laps – more than two Grand Prix distances at the Abu Dhabi venue – and lowered his best effort to a 1m 24.738s, leaving him 18th out of 23 drivers on a timesheet that little can be taken from given the differing run plans in play.

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He takes to the pit lane one more time, stops on the white and yellow marks next to the garage and is wheeled back inside, where he jumps out of the car, thanks his new colleagues for their work throughout the day and then wanders over to the Sauber hospitality unit.

There, with Hulkenberg sitting alongside him, Bortoleto plays his part in a full debrief, offering an assessment of the day’s programme and providing his impressions of Sauber’s 2024 car, as well as soaking up some initial feedback from engineers.

1900 – A message to the factory

After those activities, Bortoleto can begin to switch off and let the milestone moment sink in, filming some messages for the team’s factory staff in Hinwil and Neuburg to talk through his first official day at the team and look ahead to what will be an emotional debut season in 2025.

Sauber’s new signing described an “amazing feeling” after bringing the test day to a close

With just 92 days until the curtain-raising Australian Grand Prix, the next few weeks and months – either side of a well-earned Christmas break – will be decisive for Sauber as they finalise their next challenger, and the very first that Bortoleto can call his own.

1930 – Time to head home

Half an hour later, Bortoleto’s on and off-track jobs have all been ticked off, meaning he is free to leave the circuit, head to his hotel and prepare for the flight home.

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In the meantime, Sauber share a release with the world’s media to provide some extra details on their day and, more importantly, the first words from Bortoleto about what it felt like to hit the track and what’s to come.

“Today marked my first day as a Formula 1 driver – it’s an amazing feeling,” he comments. “I think overall we had a positive testing session – I put my focus on adapting to the car, learning as much as possible, getting used to the engineers, to the mechanics, everyone in the team.

“F1 cars are so much quicker, it’s definitely very different from Formula 2 obviously, but I’m looking forward to this new chapter. I am even more proud to be part of this team now and excited to see what we can achieve together next year.”