The 18-year-old from São Paulo is the first Brazilian to claim the coveted international title
On this Friday, September 1st, the Brazilian flag once again waved at the top of international motorsport. São Paulo native Gabriel Bortoleto secured the championship title of the 2023 FIA Formula 3 season this morning in Monza, Italy.
At just 18 years old, Bortoleto’s life has been centered on motorsport since the age of six when he began competing in go-karts. After observing his older brother Enzo’s competitions, the young boy took his first laps at the Kartódromo Granja Viana in the São Paulo metropolitan region. From there, over time, he conquered tracks across Brazil and, when the first opportunity arose at the age of 12, he headed to Europe in search of advancement.
GROWTH ON EUROPEAN TRACKS
With a permanent residence in Italy since 2017, Gabriel stood out in karting competitions, even achieving third place in the World and European Karting Championships in 2018, while competing in the OK Junior category. In 2019, he displayed great competitiveness in the OK grid, the premier class of world karting, and naturally progressed to formula competitions in 2020.
Competing for the renowned Prema team in the Italian F4 Championship, the young Brazilian displayed his talent. Despite facing grids with over 30 cars, he consistently ranked among the fastest, secured podiums, victories, and finished the season in fifth place.
In 2021 and 2022, Bortoleto participated in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA). During these two years in the championship, Gabriel matured significantly as both an individual and an athlete. Just as in the previous category, the Brazilian left his mark by achieving victories and podiums. His performance led to an invitation to test in FIA Formula 3, a precursor to Formula 1, with the Trident team – the champions of the 2022 season. With impressive results during tests at the Jerez de La Frontera Circuit in Spain, the Milan-based Italian team had no doubts and signed Gabriel for the 2023 season.
THE F3 SEASON
Since late 2022, Gabriel Bortoleto entered into a partnership with A14 Management, a company founded by Fernando Alonso, to manage and guide his career. Always accompanied by Spaniard Albert Resclosa (a partner of Alonso) and his driver coach Roberto Streit, Gabriel began building his championship title in the first round of the 2023 season in Bahrain, Middle East. On that occasion, Bortoleto won the feature race – the main race of the weekend – and from then on, never relinquished the lead in the Championship.
In the second round of the year, held in Melbourne, Australia, Gabriel shone again, securing pole position and another feature race victory. Encouraged by these positive results and following all the on-track and off-track guidance from Alonso, Bortoleto continued through the subsequent rounds, consistently earning points.
To clinch the title this Friday, Gabriel arrived in Monza having secured five podium finishes throughout the season, establishing a 38-point lead over the second-placed Estonian driver, Paul Aron. The only chance for his competitor to contend for the title would be to capture all the points of the weekend, including the two points for pole position in this round, which today were achieved by Oliver Goethe – Gabriel’s teammate. Therefore, with 36 points still up for grabs over the weekend and Gabriel holding a 38-point advantage, even if he did not score any points in the Saturday and Sunday races, the other competitors could not catch him.
“I am truly thrilled with the achievement we reached today here in Monza. I have always been dedicated in all the competitions I participated in and, especially this year; I feel I have grown tremendously both on and off the track. The opportunity to have come this far was undoubtedly special, and I sincerely hope to continue raising the Brazilian flag in pursuit of my goal to become a successful Formula 1 driver. I dedicate this achievement to God, to my family, to the Trident team, to the professionals who have been with me on this journey, and to all those who cheered for me and supported me throughout the year. To Banco BRB, Ebury, and Americanet – the companies that sponsored me this season – I extend my heartfelt gratitude,” celebrated the 18-year-old Brazilian with many smiles.
The competition weekend’s schedule in Monza continues normally for Gabriel. In this morning’s qualifying session, he recorded the fifth best time. With this result, he will start the Saturday Sprint Race from eight and the Feature Race on Sunday from fifth position.
Check out the official schedule in Brasília time:
Saturday (September 2nd)
Sprint race – 4:25 AM (BandSports)
Sunday (September 3rd)
Main race – 3:15 AM (BandSports)
Pictures: James Gasperotti | KTF Sports
Press office of KTF Sports
Responsible journalist: Flávio Quick