Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto endured a brutal home weekend in Sao Paulo, recording DNFs in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix and calling the experience “one of the toughest weekends of my whole career.”
In the Sprint he clipped high speed while trying to escape Alex Albon’s slipstream into Turn 1, slammed the inside wall and was launched back across the track into the barriers. The 57g impact left him physically unhurt, but the car was too badly damaged for the team to repair in time for Qualifying, forcing him to take the Grand Prix from the back of the grid.
At the race start Bortoleto made a strong launch and was already picking up places when contact from Lance Stroll on the opening lap put him into the barriers, ending his home race almost immediately. Over the radio he complained that Stroll had “turned into the corner like I wasn’t there,” and a Safety Car was deployed to recover his car.
The 21-year-old said he was very upset — it was his first home race, with supporters, family and his team in attendance. He described the Sprint crash as possibly the biggest of his career and called the sequence of events, which left him without a single completed race lap after a promising start, deeply disappointing. Bortoleto also noted that first-lap incidents can be unavoidable and did not want to assign blame.
He acknowledged how hard the weekend was for his fans and family, who were seen visibly upset on the broadcast, and thanked them for sticking by him: “Thank you. Even throughout the difficult moments of this weekend, they have been there supporting, cheering, screaming my name… I cannot thank them enough. I hope I make them proud soon.”