McLaren junior driver, Gabriel Bortoleto is having a great outing in his first Formula 2 campaign as he sits well-positioned in P2 behind championship leader Isack Hadjar. This impressive performance has earned him his first-ever drive in a McLaren F1 car.
The Brazilian currently sits on 154.5 points in the championship, with Hadjar leading him by 10.5 points. With just three rounds remaining in the championship, the battle for the title is set to go down to the wire. So, driving an F1 car would have given him some much-needed confidence.
Bortoleto took the MCL36 — McLaren’s 2022 car — for a spin at the Red Bull Ring in Austria as part of the TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) Programme which allows F1 teams to train their young drivers in F1 machinery provided the cars are at least two years old in spec.
In a video byte shared on Instagram by McLaren, the 19-year-old shared his enthusiasm for getting the opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dream of driving an F1 car. The Brazilian summed up his experience by saying, “I am super happy to finish my first ever day in Formula 1, TPC testing here in Austria.”
Bortoleto claimed that it was a special moment for him to fulfill his childhood dream of doing multiple laps in an F1 car. He added, “Learning new stuff, it’s a completely different thing from everything I drove in my life, but it’s the most unreal feeling as well.”
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However, giving Bortoleto the experience of a McLaren F1 car could also be a tactical move from the team to prevent him from going to other F1 teams who have shown interest in the Brazillian driver.
Bortoleto is not a threat to Norris or Piastri in the near future
If Bortoleto wins the 2024 F2 championship, he will join an elite group of drivers who have won back-to-back F3 and F2 championships, including Charles Leclerc, George Russell, and current McLaren driver Oscar Piastri. Several reports suggest that his performance has attracted Sauber’s interest for the 2025 season.
Sauber — who will transform into Audi’s works team in 2026 — have also been negotiating with Valtteri Bottas, whose current contract will expire at the end of 2024. However, Bottas is keen on signing another multi-year deal, instead of a one-year extension that will again see him fighting for his future in 2025.
While Bortoleto has made the shortlist at the Swiss team, there have been speculations about him being a potential threat to either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri at McLaren. This is especially because of his connections with former McLaren driver, Fernando Alonso, whose driver management company A14 manages the Brazilian youngster.
However, with both Piastri and Norris having contracts at least until the end of 2026 and 2027 respectively (the official length of the latter’s contract remains unknown), these speculations may not materialize.
