Ecclestone helped Bortoleto secure Audi deal

Bernie Ecclestone and his wife revealed they provided "help" to get Gabriel Bortoleto onto the Formula 1 grid for 2025 and beyond.

The Audi-owned Sauber team last week finally announced that Valtteri Bottas will be ousted at the end of the season and replaced by Bortoleto, a 20-year-old Brazilian.

Ecclestone, the famous former F1 supremo, now spends his retirement on a Brazilian coffee plantation, and is married to Fabiana Flosi, who is now one of the FIA’s vice presidents for sport.

"Bortoleto’s father thanked us for our help in getting his son Gabriel to Audi-Sauber," Fabiana told the Swiss newspaper Blick. "We opened a few doors there."

Bernie added: "The important thing for him now is that he looks for an apartment near the (Sauber) factory."

It is also emerging that Audi is selling a minority stake of the Swiss-based F1 team to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.

Ultimately, it may also result in a title sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways.

A Sauber spokesman told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: "We do not participate in speculation. The team is not for sale."

As for Bortoleto, his arrival in F1 next year sets up the unique scenario of him going head-to-head on track with Fernando Alonso, who owns the company that heads the youngster’s management, A14.

"He (Alonso) had very little influence on the decision, if any," Audi F1 boss Mattia Binotto insists. "I know Fernando very well. We used to meet in the paddock a lot. But he never tried to convince me personally.

"Gabriel convinced me all by himself."

Binotto admits it was a difficult decision to ultimately even reject the idea of keeping the highly experienced Bottas, 34, on board for at least one more season.

"Valtteri knows the team," said the Italian. "We know that he is still very fast and very fit. He is very highly regarded here.

"It was not easy, but at some point we had to make a decision. It was always clear that we had to rely on a young driver for the long journey with Audi. And of the young drivers, Gabriel was our first choice.

"But we had to answer the question of whether we wanted to give Gabriel until 2026 to develop for another year or whether we should put him in the car straight away.

"The fact that the other young drivers are currently performing so well has given us the confidence that Gabriel will also be fast from the start."

Meanwhile, 94-year-old Ecclestone admitted he is surprised that Sauber, the only team in F1 not based in either the UK or Italy, still exists.

"I once told (founder) Peter (Sauber) that Switzerland is an island for Formula 1 and I admire his perseverance," he said. "Now Audi is coming, but in the current situation the Germans are perhaps not even unhappy that some people from Qatar are showing interest in the new project and want to get involved."