Formula 1: Reports: Brazilians on the future Audi team

Mick Schumacher’s chance of a Formula 1 comeback as a regular driver seems to be gone. According to a report on the homepage of the trade magazine “Auto, Motor und Sport”, the 20-year-old Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto will get the place next to Nico Hülkenberg next year. Apparently the contract is already fixed and the announcement is imminent, it was said on the sidelines of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Bortoleto, who comes from São Paulo, is currently leading the overall standings in his first year in Formula 2, having already won the Formula 3 championship as a rookie in 2023. He is also working as a development driver for McLaren this year. “As far as McLaren is concerned, we will not deny him the opportunity to drive in Formula 1,” said team boss Andrea Stella in São Paulo.

Bortoleto would sit in the Sauber instead of the Finn Valtteri Bottas, Hülkenberg would take over the cockpit from the Chinese Guanyu Zhou. Neither current driver has scored a single point this year, and Sauber is last in the constructors’ championship.

A rookie next to a veteran

Next year, Hülkenberg will move from Haas to Sauber, and from 2026 the racing team will compete as an Audi team. In addition to the 37-year-old native of the Rhineland, those responsible decided on a newcomer. It remains to be seen how great Mick Schumacher’s chances really were of getting the only officially available place in the driver field for 2025. Project manager Mattia Binotto recently said that the 25-year-old was also on the list.

The son of record world champion Michael Schumacher came to the American Haas team in 2021 after his titles in the Formula 3 and Formula 2 junior series. However, in two years he also struggled there with the car, which was rarely competitive, and did not have an easy time of it under the then team boss Günther Steiner.

Mick Schumacher’s missed opportunities

His contract was not extended; he has been a test and reserve driver for Mercedes since 2023. This year he will also be competing for Alpine in the Endurance World Championship. When a cockpit had to be filled there for 2025, he lost out to the Australian Jack Doohan. When Williams parted ways with Logan Sergeant this season, the British team – partner of Mercedes – opted for Argentinian Franco Colapinto.

This in turn is associated with a rapid rise to Red Bull. A visit by Red Bull’s team boss Christian Horner to the Williams team accommodation at the Interlagos racetrack fueled speculation. The 21-year-old Colapinto will only drive the remaining races for Williams this year, followed by Carlos Sainz from Ferrari. And at Red Bull the place next to world champion Max Verstappen could become available, even if his colleague Sergio Pérez stubbornly made himself public and described verifiable statements in this regard as rumors.