Bortoleto evaluates ‘one of the toughest weekends’ after double crash in first home event

Gabriel Bortoleto’s high expectations for his first Formula 1 home event were crushed as he suffered a DNF in both the Sprint and Sao Paulo Grand Prix, leading to him labelling it “one of the toughest weekends of my whole career”.

The Kick Sauber rookie was hoping to bounce back after he experienced an enormous crash in the Sprint – while trying to escape Alex Albon’s slipstream, he found the inside wall of Turn 1 and was thrown back across the track into the barriers.

The 57g impact thankfully left him without any injuries, but the team narrowly missed out on repairing the significantly damaged car in time for Qualifying, leaving him to start the race from last place on the grid.

At lights out, Bortoleto reacted well and recovered some positions before Lance Stroll tapped his car and sent him into the barriers once again, marking a very early and heartbreaking end to the 21-year-old’s home race.

“I’m just very upset because it’s my first home race so you always expect to do a good job, or at least race a little bit,” he said. “I think it has been one of the toughest weekends of my whole career because I see that my fans are here, my family, my team.

“For them, it’s also very important and it was one of the biggest accidents I’ve had in my career – probably the biggest one. I think it’s a combination of things, and then not doing a single lap in the race after having a good start… until that moment, I think I was up two positions already.

“I was going for the third move and just had contact with Lance. I don’t want to point fingers here or there. I just think it was a racing incident. On the first lap, everything can happen.

“I think obviously I was on the outside and didn’t get any space from him, but it was also difficult for him to judge that I’m there. I just want to move on and go for the next race.”

As Bortoleto complained over the radio that the Aston Martin driver “turned into the corner like I wasn’t there”, a Safety Car was called to recover his car. His family were also shown with disappointed looks on the broadcast, demonstrating the emotions felt by hordes of his fans.

Supporters held up signs and 'tifos' of Bortoleto around the circuit throughout the weekend and were vocal in their admiration for him despite the unfortunate results.

Asked whether he had a message for his fans, he replied: “Thank you. Even throughout the difficult moments of this weekend, they have been there supporting, cheering, screaming my name and being there. I cannot thank them enough.

“It’s just incredible to see my country so happy to have someone. I hope I make them proud soon because on weekends like this, no one is happy. Thank you everyone – every single Brazilian there, and everyone in the world watching and supporting me this weekend.”