Can Brazil's next big F1 hope cope with the weight of tradition and live up to Alonso's hype?

Brazil has a proud history in Formula 1. You think of two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi, three-time title winners Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, and to a lesser extent, but heroes all the same, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa.

Felipe Drugovich will consider himself unlucky, wrong time, wrong place, that after being crowned F2 champion in 2022, he was not the next of his countrymen to add his name to the list.

Instead, the 24-year-old has sat on the sidelines, waiting, hoping, wondering when - or perhaps if is more appropriate - his chance will ever come as he approaches his third season as a reserve driver with Aston Martin.

Instead, it falls on the young shoulders of Gabriel Bortoleto to carry the hopes and aspirations of a nation long starved of success in the rarified air that is Formula 1. He knows what is at stake.

"Brazil is quite crazy now," said Bortoleto in an exclusive interview with RacingNews365. "It's amazing to see the amount of fans, a lot of people supporting me from home.

"It's been eight years since the last Brazilian driver in F1, from a country that has had great talents - Senna, Piquet, Fittipaldi, Barrichello, Massa - so many good Brazilians,

"Then suddenly we stopped having Brazilian drivers in Formula 1. The country has really missed a Brazilian driver representing it, so it's a privilege for me to be able to represent Brazil.

"Obviously, I want to achieve big things for them in the future. They have been very good to me. They know what the situation is right now, and they have been very patient with me, and now they are expecting good things for the future."

Pressure for Bortoleto? What pressure?

You can imagine Borotleto has been deluged with messages of support from people from his homeland, chief amongst them Brazil football star Neymar.

Rather than being weighed down by expectations that would seemingly be brought to bear by being in such a position, he is embracing it.

"I never take any expectation as a bad thing," he said. "When people expect things from you, I would say it is because they trust your potential when they think you can achieve big things. If no one expects anything from you, it is because they don't believe in you.

"So I think it's very positive the Brazilians do this to me. I take it as a good thing because they're really supportive people. Obviously, when you don't win races they can get frustrated because they really want you to be up there representing the country.

"I get it, I fully do, and so I take it as a boost. It has been always very positive for me."

Given his circumstances, the Brazilian people may have to wait a while for his next win. He is a rare breed in F1, one of only a handful of drivers to win both the F3/GP3 and F2 titles and go straight into F1, following in the footsteps of Oscar Piastri, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc.

Unlike many rookies before him, who were pitched into F1 and told to perform to a level that would guarantee a second season, Bortoleto is at least blessed with a two-year contract. He knows his place is secure for 2026, when Sauber morphs into the Audi works team.

That is just as well, given how Sauber, in its Stake guise last year and this year, performed so badly in 2024 that it came close to ignominy. It almost finished the season without a point until Zhou Guanyu popped up with an eighth-place finish in the penultimate race of '24 in Qatar.

Blushes were spared, reputations just about saved, but make no mistake this will be another tough season for a team which is gearing up for a new lease of life in less than 10 months.

Bortoleto would appear to have a year's grace on his side before greater expectations fall on his shoulders. Not a bit of it as far as he is concerned. There will be no resting on any laurels.

"There are indeed some rookies in a tough situation because they only have a one-year contract and they need to perform," he said.

"But I'm someone who puts pressure on myself anyway, no matter how many years of a contract I have. My target has always been to adapt and perform as quickly as I can.

"Yes, I'm in a comfortable situation in that I have a good contract ahead of me, and I have good expectations for the future with Audi, but I still need to perform.

"Because they are putting a lot of effort and trust into myself, the main thing I can do for them is give 100 per cent of myself, being in the factory, working with them a lot and achieving the results they expect. It's not because you have a good contract that you don't have this pressure.

"I put the pressure on myself, and in a good way. I've always done this in the past, and it has always worked out for me."

The Alonso factor

There is at least the opportunity to learn, to grow, over the next 10 months before the pressure of being a works driver - when results will be demanded rather than hoped for - will be brought to bear.

Additionally, and somewhat remarkably, he will be able to watch up close and learn from his manager - two-time champion Fernando Alonso, who has long lauded Bortoleto, believing him to be the real deal.

Bortoleto is one of several drivers on the books of A14 that played a naturally vital role in engineering a move away to Sauber from McLaren, where there was zero chance of promotion to a race seat with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Bortoleto shakes his head in disbelief knowing he will be going up against Alonso on occasion this year.

"Fernando is a very professional guy," said Bortoleto. "He has been in Formula 1 for many, many years, but also someone who has been supporting me, helping me on my way to Formula 1, negotiating with Sauber, for example, and with McLaren when I joined them.

"He has also sometimes been there for me when I've needed to ask something technical. He has been very helpful."

Whether Alonso can do that again this year, Bortoleto chuckles when asked. "We have spoken a bit, and obviously, he wants me to do well.

"But let's see when we are together if it's going to be the same. He's a good guy, I'm sure he will still keep helping me, but he's also very competitive, so I will understand if he ignores me."