Sauber seat battle: Bottas vs Bortoleto as Zhou Guanyu ruled out
Zhou Guanyu is set to lose his Sauber F1 seat as reports suggest Valtteri Bottas is competing against the Fernando Alonso-backed Gabriel Bortoleto to partner Nico Hulkenberg as the team begins its transition to Audi. As F1 heads into the 2024 Italian GP at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the stats do not look great for the 25-year-old Zhou as he trails in qualifying to the Finnish Bottas by 14-1 and trails in races 10-5, with a disparity of half a second being common through the season. It means that the man from China seems set to lose his seat after three seasons, despite being in negotiations with Mattia Binotto, as the decision seems to come down to Bottas and Bortoleto.
The ex-Mercedes man boasts an impressive CV by helping the Silver Arrows to five constructors’ championships from 2017-2021 as well as claiming 10 Grand Prix victories, 67 podiums and 20 pole positions whilst finishing runner-up in 2019 and 2020 behind Lewis Hamilton. Additionally, since joining Sauber he has scored 59 points in three seasons despite the team languishing at the back of the grid since the second half of 2022 and for all of 2024 and he has comprehensively had the beating of Zhou during that time. However, he faces the same problem as what caused his exit from Mercedes at the end of 2021: Contract length. At the age of 35, Sauber seem unwilling to commit to a multi-year deal, which is exactly what Bottas is looking for as per reports, opening the seat to Bortoleto.
Who is Gabriel Bortoleto?
The 19-year-old Bortoleto from Sao Paulo in Brazil. Currently racing in FIA Formula 2, the youngster has impressed Fernando Alonso and is a member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme. He is also 2023 FIA Formula 3 champion, claiming the title by 45 points in his rookie season ahead of Zak O’Sullivan. Since stepping up to F2, he has impressed equally by seamlessly transitioning through the categories. The Brazilian is second in the standings behind Isack Hadjar with two poles, four podiums and a feature race win in Austria as he competes for the title, where he aims to close a 36-point gap with four rounds to go.
He has been signed to Alonso’s management company since September 2022 showing his impressive talent that has been enough to woo the two-time F1 world champion into backing him. “Gabriel has extraordinary talent and is ready for big challenges and F1 is certainly the next step,” Alonso told MotorsportSpain.com on August 23. “He’s doing very well in F2, but you have to have the right time to get to F1. You can’t arrive too early or too late, you have to arrive at the right time and arriving at the right time will be Gabriel’s biggest challenge but of course, there are possibilities. He’s a driver that the teams are very attentive to, the drivers respect him, the teams also respect him and ask about him and not just Audi, so I hope we find some option.”
