The team announced recently that the Brazilian – who turned 19 last weekend – had joined the programme, which is overseen by five-time Le Mans winner and former F1 driver Emanuele Pirro.
While McLaren has been involved with many young drivers over the years, including Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, the current MDD initiative was officially launched in April.
Along with Bortoleto its roster includes IndyCar racer Pato O’Ward, recent reserve signing and Toyota protégé Ryo Hirakawa, and Italian F4 runner-up Ugo Ugochukwu.
Bortoleto won the F3 title in his rookie season with Trident, having scored two early season wins.
“We've been following Gabriel for some time,” said Stella when asked by Autosport about the team’s latest recruit.
“We are building this Driver Development programme, which is actually quite new. We started just a few months ago. So we are populating the programme with the most exciting talents, and definitely, we thought that Bortoleto was one of those.
“The guidance is given by Emanuele Pirro, as you know, and Emanuele prepares, fundamentally, the key development aspects that are relevant for us.
Source: Autosport