Bortolotti began his formula career in 2005 in the Italian Formula Renault Winter Series and Formula Gloria. He moved to Italian Formula Three in 2007, finishing fourth in the championship on his first attempt. In 2008, driving for Lucidi Motors, he won the Italian Formula Three Championship with nine wins and six pole positions from sixteen races. He subsequently received backing from Red Bull.
Red Bull placed Bortolotti in the relaunched FIA Formula Two Championship for 2009, where he drove car number 14 and finished fourth. During a mid-season break he returned to Formula Three to compete for Carlin Motorsport in the Formula 3 Euro Series finale at Hockenheim, taking a podium in the second race. In 2010 he competed in the newly formed GP3 Series with Addax Team alongside Felipe Guimarães and Pablo Sánchez López, finishing 11th overall with a podium in his final race.
Bortolotti returned to the FIA Formula Two Championship for 2011. He took the championship lead after round one, lost it to Christopher Zanella, then regained it at round three. At the fourth round at the Nürburgring he took pole position, victory, and fastest lap in both races. He led the rest of the season and won the championship by 100 points over Zanella.
In November 2008, following his Italian Formula Three title, Bortolotti, Edoardo Piscopo, and Salvatore Cicatelli were given a test of Ferrari's F2008 at the Fiorano Circuit. Bortolotti set a time of 59.111 seconds, quicker than the previous fastest lap set by the F2008 at that circuit. In 2009 he was linked to a potential seat at Ferrari as a replacement for the injured Felipe Massa following poor performances from Luca Badoer. In 2011 he participated in the Williams young drivers test in Abu Dhabi.
Bortolotti transitioned to GT racing and became a Lamborghini factory driver in 2015. He adapted his approach for GT competition, particularly in tyre management and race strategy. In 2017 he won the Endurance Cup of the Blancpain GT Series with GRT Grasser Racing Team and took the overall driver championship alongside teammate Christian Engelhart.
In 2020 Bortolotti moved to Audi, racing the R8 LMS GT3 EVO in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and ADAC GT Masters with WRT, sharing cars with Kelvin van der Linde and Rolf Ineichen. He returned to Lamborghini in 2021. In 2023 he joined Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper in Iron Lynx's Pro class entry in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. From 2024 he has competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Iron Lynx in the Lamborghini SC63 prototype.
In September 2021, Bortolotti made his DTM debut as a guest driver for T3 Motorsport at Assen, with GRT Grasser Racing Team fielding a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo. He finished second in race one and seventh in race two. In February 2022 he secured a full-time seat with GRT Grasser Racing Team for the 2022 DTM season, as the Austrian team entered four Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo cars with factory backing.
At the season opener at Portimão, Bortolotti qualified on pole for race one and led 19 laps, but suffered a sudden loss of power after a safety-car period and fell to sixth before recovering to fourth and then passing Mercedes driver Maro Engel on the final lap for third. He finished third in race two as well. At Imola, he recovered from 16th on the grid — following a ten-place penalty for an incorrect tyre set — to finish third. After his first retirement of the season at the Norisring in race one, he finished second in race two and moved to the top of the standings at the midpoint of the season. Bortolotti won the 2024 DTM championship with Lamborghini, the marque's first drivers' title in the series.
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