Formula 1, the return of South America: Bortoleto and Colapinto rekindle fans' passion

Few will remember that Brazil was also represented in Formula One by a racing team between 1975 and 1982. Founded by Wilson Fittipaldi, who was also a driver in its debut season, the team debuted under the name Fittipaldi, associated with sponsors Copersucar (1975-79) and Skol (1980), before taking on the name Fittipaldi Automotive in 1981. From 1976 to 1980, representing the team on the track was Emerson Fittipaldi, former world champion and Wilson's brother, who had the opportunity to race in a single-seater entirely designed and built in his country. The Fittipaldi-Fittipaldi pair achieved a second place in the 1978 Grand Prix of Jacarepaguá in Brazil as their best result.

It was precisely the Fittipaldi family that saw the last Brazilian racing driver before Gabriel Bortoleto joined Sauber. Pietro Fittipaldi, since 2026 test driver for Cadillac, however only participated in two GPs to replace Romain Grosjean in 2020: the last official Brazilian driver for a team was Felipe Massa in 2017 with Williams.

With the return of an official Brazilian driver to Formula 1 after seven seasons, the promising rookie Gabriel Bortoleto has rekindled the enthusiasm and interest of the green-green public in the Circus. His path is marked by steady growth through the main propaedeutic categories. Born in 2004 in the State of São Paulo, he moved to Italy when he was only eleven years old to race in karts and, since 2018, has taken part in international championships. In 2020, he made his debut in the Italian Formula 4 with Prema, taking one win and five podiums.

In 2021 and for the second half of 2022, he competed in the European Formula 3 regional, while in the first part of 2022 he participated in the Formula Regional Asia. In 2023, he made his Formula 3 debut with the Trident team, winning the drivers' championship in his first season with two wins, six podiums and 164 total points. In 2024 he moved up to Formula 2 with Invicta Racing, where he confirmed his talent, again winning the title in his first year with eight podiums, two poles, two wins and a total of 214 points.

While part of McLaren's Academy programme, his move to Formula 1 with Sauber, alongside veteran Nico Hülkenberg, was made official on 6 November 2024. So far the Brazilian rookie has collected 19 points in the season, a remarkable haul considering the technical level of the team. With five GPs finished in the points zone in the last ten, he boasts a sixth place in Hungary as his best result.

Surprisingly, Gabriel Bortoleto's manager is two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who in addition to racing in Formula 1 with Aston Martin runs A14 Management, a company dedicated to managing the careers of young drivers, including the Brazilian. Alonso, 44, closely follows the path of the young talent, who is 21 years old. A special professional bond: the Spanish champion as a mentor and reference off the track, but also as a direct opponent on the grid. Now the Sauber driver, fresh from a points finish in Mexico as well, is preparing to compete in his home Grand Prix for the first time, experiencing a unique emotion and sharing the enthusiasm of the Brazilian public. Perhaps following the advice of Fernando, nine times on the podium at Interlagos.

Another young South American trying to emerge in Formula 1 is Franco Colapinto. After a positive debut last year, the Argentinean is now facing a more complex season, thanks to the difficult moment for Alpine, which has not won any points for seven Grands Prix and is stuck at 20 in the constructors' championship, all obtained by Pierre Gasly.

Compared to Bortoleto, Colapinto participated in two seasons in both Formula 3 (4 wins and 10 podiums) and Formula 2 (1 win and three podiums). Results that were inferior to those of his Brazilian colleague, but nevertheless positive and enough to arouse strong interest in his homeland: his debut in Formula 1 with Williams in the 2024 finale in fact made him very popular. At least on social media, Colapinto clearly outperforms Bortoleto, with 5 million followers on Instagram against the Brazilian's 1.8 million.

The next GP will be very important for Colapinto, as his confirmation in Alpine for next season is not yet certain. Despite his modest results, his growing popularity in South America makes him a strategic figure for the team's image and the sponsors he manages to attract. As we shall see, Argentinean passion for Formula 1 has been strongly rekindled, and South America is now one of the markets where Liberty Media has the greatest growth margins.

The media power of Formula 1 has grown significantly in recent years, as shown by this chart based on data from Google Trends. Based on searches made on Google and YouTube, the platform monitors users' interest in a certain topic in different regions of the world. If on a global level the increase in interest in Formula 1 is evident - with values that have more than doubled in the last ten years - the analysis by country shows how decisive the presence of a compatriot driver on the track is in order to ignite the public's attention. Better still, if that driver wins.

Analysing the change in interest between 2019 and 2025 in ten countries represented by drivers from the current line-up, it emerges that the Netherlands registers the highest level, driven by the successes of Max Verstappen. Australia, with Oscar Piastri, also saw a sharp increase in Formula 1-related searches.

Particularly significant is the growth of interest in South America. In Brazil, the index rises from 13 in 2019 to 27 in 2025 thanks to Bortoleto, while in Argentina the increase is even more pronounced: from 14 to 71, the highest of all the countries analysed. This result is linked to the enthusiasm generated by Argentinean driver Franco Colapinto, who has rekindled the national passion for Formula 1.

The fourth last round of the season will follow the sprint format, with a packed programme of decisive sessions: Friday 7 November will see free practice at 3.30pm, followed by sprint qualifying at 7.30pm. Saturday 8 November will be the turn of the Sprint Race at 15.00, while traditional qualifying will start at 19.00. The race on Sunday 9 November, scheduled at 6pm, will close the Paulist weekend, leaving the three contenders only three stages to decide the world championship: Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.