The 20-year-old has shone in the junior categories that mirror the F1 calendar, earning a place in McLaren’s young driver program en route to the Formula 3 title last year.

Fernando Alonso played key role in Bortoleto’s move to McLaren and has mentored the youngster this year as he attempts to win back-to-back championships.

Winning Formula 2 in your first campaign is always a strong indicator of talent, as the names who have already achieved this feat are prestigious.

F1 race winners Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri both have titles on their CVs.

However, Piastri’s year-long wait for a seat shows how difficult it can be to take that final step. That’s why Bortoleto jumped at the chance to join F1’s slowest team.

Bortoleto was interviewed on the F1 Nation podcast and asked about how his signing came about.

He also explained why Sauber did not announce his move while Formula 1 was in Brazil, where he could have celebrated the news in front of thousands of enthusiastic fans.

Gabriel Bortoleto explains why Sauber transfer was not announced at Sao Paulo Grand Prix

When asked why Sauber waited until after the event at Interlagos, Bortoleto replied: “I don’t think it was media related.

“They wanted to do this in front of everyone at Sauber with Mattia there too because Mattia was not in Brazil.

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“So I think they wanted to announce it for the whole factory before and then I could also tour the factory.

“In the day I was announced, I met everyone and I went to all areas. I saw the wind tunnel and everything.

“So, meeting everyone, I think it was the perfect situation to announce. In front of everyone on the team, I think it’s better than a race weekend because I was there to do a lot of media stuff.

“So I think it was better, but it had nothing to do with the number of people who were going to speak at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso’s advice followed by Gabriel Bortoleto to win an F1 seat

If a young F1 driver had to select a current driver to guide them through their junior career, many of them would choose Alonso.

The Spaniard has now surpassed 400 Grands Prix and shows no signs of slowing down even though his Aston Martin team is struggling during the second half of this season.

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Bortoleto followed Alonso’s advice ‘exactly’ to reach F1 and it is richly rewarded.

The Brazilian insisted in his interview with F1 Nation that he didn’t expect Alonso to simply abandon him now that they face each other.

However, he’s unlikely to share the best racing lines or overtaking spots on every track with someone who might be racing wheel-to-wheel with him in just a few months.

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