Gabriel Bortoleto has shown in recent races why Sauber decided to poach him from McLaren’s academy for the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Since the Austrian Grand Prix, Gabriel Bortoleto has scored 18 points for Sauber.
It means that in the same time period, he’s scored more points than teammate Nico Hulkenberg (17) despite the German finishing on the podium at the British Grand Prix.
Bortoleto has outscored Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Racing Bulls rising star Isack Hadjar and established stars like Carlos Sainz and Yuki Tsunoda in the same time period.
Fernando Alonso has nurtured Bortoleto over the past few years, and it’s easy to see the potential that he spotted in the 20-year-old.
Ted Kravitz believes Bortoleto is on the radar of every top F1 team, and it’s easy to see why.
Hulkenberg has a reputation for being one of the best qualifiers in Formula 1, but Bortoleto is beating him in their head-to-head right now.
The 2025 F1 teammate head-to-head battle of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto
His slow start to the campaign could be down to the lack of hours Bortoleto had completed in testing, with McLaren handing him very limited TPC [testing in previous cars] time last year.
Journalist Julianne Cerasoli has shared how Bortoleto’s reputation has quickly changed in his native Brazil.
His name appears to lend itself well to being adapted into new nicknames in Portuguese, and his latest moniker is much kinder than how he was originally dubbed in his native land.
READ MORE: Who is 2025 Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto? Everything you need to know
Photo by Jayce Illman/Getty ImagesGabriel Bortoleto earns new nickname after scoring points for Sauber this season
Cerasoli was speaking on the Nailing the Apex Podcast, and speaking about the 20-year-old’s burgeoning reputation in his homeland, she said: “So his nickname, you’re going to like this.
“So, Bortoleto doesn’t mean anything. It’s an Italian surname like mine, but at the beginning of the year, he was called ‘Borto-lento’, so ‘Borto slow’.
“Not the press, the social media, not the press.
“And then, this change to ‘Ponto-leto’, which is ‘Point-leto’. So he went from slow to points. So yeah.
“So, he can go back to where he was before easily.”
Gabriel Bortoleto previews the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after scoring points at Monza
Bortoleto has only raced at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix once, when Formula 2 visited the street circuit last year.
The Brazilian qualified sixth, before finishing fourth in the Sprint Race and fifth in the Feature Race on his way to securing the title last year.
Only one point has been scored by a Brazilian driver in Baku when Felipe Massa finished 10th for Williams in 2016.
- Friday 19th September to Sunday 21st September
- Friday 19th September 08:30 1st Practice
- Friday 19th September 12:00 2nd Practice
- Saturday 20th September 08:30 3rd Practice
- Saturday 20th September 12:00 1st Qualifying
- Saturday 20th September 12:25 2nd Qualifying
- Saturday 20th September 12:48 3rd Qualifying
- Sunday 21st September 11:00 Race
Bortoleto will hope to take that record on Sunday, and previewing the race in Sauber’s official pre-race notes, the 20-year-old explained: “It felt good to be back in the top ten in Monza: a further confirmation of the quality of the work we have been putting in.
“Baku is a very different kind of circuit – I’ve only raced here last year, in different machinery, and I’ve been practising at the sim in preparation for the weekend.
“I’m confident in our car and in the team: we’ve all been working hard to keep improving.
“Our goal, as always, is to put everything together from Friday onwards, stay consistent, and hopefully go for another points finish.”