Gabriel Bortoleto had a stunning Formula 3 season in 2023. Stepping up from the Formula Regional European Championship, where he finished sixth in 2022, the Brazilian was a promising prospect, but not deemed as much of a title favourite as the likes of Prema rival and FRECA champion Dino Beganovic or his team-mate Paul Aron.
He showed flashes of speed at the 2022 post-season test in Jerez, turning heads after topping the morning session of the second day, and impressing Trident team principal Giacomo Ricci. But it wasn’t until the opening round in Bahrain that Bortoleto’s potential really showed.
The 19-year-old was immediately on the pace, topping free practice before qualifying second just 0.057s off Gabriele Mini’s pole time. He went on to win the Sunday feature race, immediately taking the lead in the standings – a lead which he would not relinquish. Next time out in Melbourne, he took pole and victory, giving him a 20-point lead over Mini after two rounds.
Though he would not win another race, four further podiums clinched him the title by 45 points over runner-up Zak O’Sullivan – the biggest championship margin since 2019. It was an astonishing charge, one which earned him a nomination for Rookie of the Year at the Autosport Awards.
Bortoleto’s command of the standings throughout was seriously impressive, and was reminiscent of his good friend Felipe Drugovich’s astonishing F2 title run a year prior. It has earned him a promotion to F2 this year with Invicta Racing, replacing 2023 third-place finisher Jack Doohan. But had Ricci, gambling on a rookie, expected such dominance from the young Brazilian?
“I’ll be honest, we chose him because we knew there was a talent there,” Ricci tells Autosport. “Then, from someone who is talented – there are lots of talented drivers in F3, the level like in F2 is outstanding – but from you believe is talented to the fact they will fight in his first rookie season, dominating also for me the championship, this is a big step.
“I was expecting for him to fight for the top five positions in the championship, but at the same time, I have to say, that immediately in the post-season test in 2022, I saw someone that he was special. We have all the references with the drivers from the past, and he in some corners was faster immediately.
“Also, naturally, he was not making mistakes. For him, it has been always easy to put the three sectors together. Even if it was green, green, green, not purple, not going for P1, but it was easy for him to go to a very strong level putting the three sectors together. That for me was a big plus.
“Since I saw this, from the 2022 post-season test, I started to become very optimistic. It’s one thing to say we’re going to fight for the top five, and one thing to start the season so strong and to be so competitive and of course, winning the championship.
“Did I expect to win with Gabriel Bortoleto before signing him, I would say no, but after the first three days of post-season testing, at that time, I became really optimistic that we had someone in the car with all the ability to fight in his rookie season for the title.”
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Ricci believes Bortoleto was “by far the most complete driver of the series,” adding that he was “good in any different conditions” and praising his tyre management skills, as well as his daring overtakes. He also noted Bortoleto’s incredible consistency throughout the year, finishing outside the top 10 just three times in 18 races, one of which was a retirement.
Bortoleto’s strong work ethic has not just endeared him to junior teams – since winning the F3 title in September, Bortoleto has signed to McLaren’s driver development programme
Ricci, who has managed the team since 2014, also credited Bortoleto and his team-mates Oliver Goethe and Leonardo Fornaroli with “amazing” chemistry, and their ability to share information and help each other.
But what impressed Ricci most was Bortoleto’s motivation. Having previously spoken of mentor Fernando Alonso’s inspiring commitment, Bortoleto moved to Milan to be near the team, visiting regularly to build strong relationships among the squad.
“I think he did one mistake in the whole season on his side, that’s it. The rest was very good and consistent,” Ricci says. “Absolutely impressive from a rookie to see this consistency and in addition, the motivation towards the job. He moved to Milan, he was 20 minutes from our factory, most of the days he was with us.
“Whatever we were asking, okay we have to do an upgrade on the simulator, we have to do this, we have to do that, he was always here. Sometimes it was just simply stepping in to say hello to keep everyone motivated and have a nice chemistry with the team, the mechanics, the engineers, with everyone.
“That for me was impressive from his side, and to see also someone that was fully dedicated to the job. Again, for me, he did some exceptional races. One for me that was very nice to watch was in Budapest when he had a last-lap fight with Barnard and the overtake in the last corner, that was amazing, I have to say.”
That level of commitment is something Bortoleto himself strives for, he tells Autosport. It was a conscious effort to integrate with the team in order to deliver the best results possible – something he hopes to continue with Norfolk-based outfit Invicta Racing this season.
“I think when you want to achieve great results, the first thing you need to build is a good team around you,” Bortoleto says. “Because a driver by itself or entrepreneur, whatever you do, I think you cannot do it, you cannot win or you cannot achieve anything by yourself alone, you always need to have the right people around you.
“So from everything that I learned from my family, since I was very young, is that need to have good people around you. And I believe that having a team in this sport is even more important, because driving is important for sure, but it's probably not even half of the job, there's a lot of people involved.
“So I made sure that with last year in Trident, I was going a lot of days on the team, basically every week of the year I was there doing a lot of sim, even if I wasn’t doing anything, you know, just going there to have lunch with the guys, to get a better feeling with them and them to know better how I work and also myself to know them better.
“And I'm doing the same I think with the new team, even if it's a little bit different because not everyone lives in Italy. Most of them don't live in Italy, but I still try and make all the efforts to be close to them and to try to recreate the same relationship I had with the guys in Trident.”
Bortoleto’s strong work ethic has not just endeared him to junior teams – since winning the F3 title in September, Bortoleto has signed to McLaren’s driver development programme, working on the simulator and helping with race preparation during the season.
He says his preparation for 2024 has been similar to last year, though he has been working even harder given the increased physical demands of F2 compared to F3. Though he may not live as close to the team, he is still working hard to integrate himself and recreate those strong relationships as he gears up for a second consecutive rookie campaign.
It will be a challenging year, pitting him against title favourites such as Prema’s Ollie Bearman and ART driver and 2022 F3 champion Victor Martins. The whole grid also faces the challenge of the new F2 car, introduced for this season.
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While some may struggle to adapt to the jump, Bortoleto’s unwavering dedication both on and off-track will surely stand him in good stead
“Preparing for pitstops, or new things, it's quite different from F3 to F2. It's much more complicated in F2 than F3, it was very easy, you just basically drop one clutch, we have two and then go full throttle, and the car starts.
“In F2 it’s much more complicated than that, so the only moment that we can really test it is in testing in Abu Dhabi last year, and in Bahrain this year.
“We don’t have as much testing, but still, it's enough time I think to understand the basics, and then for sure, during the season, we will get better and better on this on the sides of starting and everything.
“From everybody that I heard in the past, they always struggle a little bit with that side in the beginning of the year, you know, but experience is everything. So you do it every time and you get better every time.”
Invicta Racing team principal Andy Roche says Bortoleto has already been settling in well with the team, for whom he will drive alongside Alpine Academy member Kush Maini. He too praises Bortoleto’s hard work, and says he is “very determined” and “a quick learner”.
“Gabriel’s settling in well,” he says. “He spent time with the team last year, visiting us in Norfolk ahead of the post-season test, so everyone was already familiar with him by November.
“With introductions out of the way and his seat fit sorted, we were able to get straight to it in Abu Dhabi. Gabriel’s a great driver and his successful F3 championship campaign obviously makes working with him an exciting prospect anyway, but the fact that he’s also easy to get on with and has made a great impression on the team is a bonus.
Roche adds: “Gabriel will be hoping to keep up the momentum on the back of his F3 championship win, and we’ll be hoping to capitalise on that momentum. We’re no strangers to title fights and we will do what we can to put our drivers in the best position to achieve great things in 2024.”
Roche is right when he says keeping that momentum will be key for Bortoleto as he embarks upon another tough journey. But while some may struggle to adapt to the jump, Bortoleto’s unwavering dedication both on and off-track will surely stand him in good stead.
