Sauber seemingly had one of the most difficult decisions to make when it came to their driver line-up for 2025 with several candidates to choose from but only one seat to fill, having already signed Nico Hulkenberg in April this year. The Swiss team ultimately decided to sign current F2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto for the second seat.
A few days after making that decision, Sauber COO Mattia Binotto revealed that Mick Schumacher was also a driver his side had shortlisted since he knows the German’s strengths and weaknesses because of their days at Ferrari together. “We’ve had discussions. (Schumacher, ed.) was definitely a strong candidate,” Binotto revealed to Formula1.com.
“I know him very well from the past and I know his strengths and maybe weaknesses, but I definitely think he would have been a good choice,” added Binotto. However, the Italian did not explain why his side decided to sign Bortoleto over Schumacher despite deeming the former Haas driver a good choice.
Former F1 team boss Franz Tost has expressed disappointment in Sauber’s decision to sign Gabriel Bortoleto alongside Nico Hulkenberg for the 2025 season, believing Mick Schumacher would have been the better choice. Tost considers Bortoleto “a risk factor” despite his strong… pic.twitter.com/ZOiC2zMdv3
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“We just decide to go for Gabriel (ed.), and that’s it,” is all Binotto said. With the F1 teams once again having snubbed Mick, his uncle Ralf Schumacher believes that his nephew’s chances of returning to F1 are almost over.
Ralf believes that Mick should now just focus on something else, whether that is to continue in endurance racing or pursue another discipline entirely. While Sauber’s decision to snub him will surely be a disappointment for Mick, there is nothing but jubilation for Bortoleto, who has not even finished the F2 season yet.
How did Bortoleto emerge as a top candidate for Sauber?
Bortoleto did not have the best of starts to this year’s F2 season, something he admitted in an interview himself, but it is the remarkable consistency he has shown later on in the season that helped him become a top candidate for Sauber. After failing to register a podium in any of his opening three race weekends, the Brazilian started getting positive results from the Imola GP weekend onwards.
He finished second in Imola during the feature race before registering another second-place finish in the sprint race in Monaco the very next weekend. However, his purple patch only began after he won the feature race at the Red Bull Ring in late June.
The 20-year-old then added another win during the feature race at Monza in late August and registered consistent top-five finishes to get the lead in the F2 standings. Now, with just two F2 race weekends remaining, Bortoleto has a 4.5-point lead over Isack Hadjar to hang on to if he is to win the championship.
Such consistent performances from him resulted in Sauber deciding to sign him for the 2025 campaign. Moreover, since Bortoleto is a part of Fernando Alonso’s management company, the Spaniard could have also played a role in helping the young Brazilian get an F1 seat this year.
