Bortoleto hit with five-place grid drop for Qatar after Lap 1 Las Vegas collision
- Kavi Khandelwal
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Written by Kavi Khandelwal
Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto has been handed a significant penalty by the Stewards of the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, receiving a five-place grid drop for the next Formula One race he participates in.
This decision follows a highly scrutinised collision on the very first lap of the Race on November 22, 2025.
The Stewards, having received a report from the Race Director, investigated the incident which occurred at Turn 1 of the street circuit at 20:04. Their determination found that Car 5, driven by Bortoleto, collided with Car 18 of Lance Stroll. This action was deemed a breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 d) of the FIA International Sporting Code.
Upon reviewing both the video evidence and positioning/marshalling system data, the Stewards concluded that the driver of Car 5 "braked extremely late" and this was the cause of the resulting collision with Car 18. Despite it being a chaotic Lap 1, Turn 1 incident, the Stewards explicitly stated that "mitigating circumstances do not exist".
The standard penalty for an incident of this nature would typically be a 10-second time penalty. However, because the driver of Car 5, Gabriel Bortoleto, ultimately retired from the race, the Stewards were forced to convert the sanction into a grid penalty for his subsequent F1 start, in accordance with their established guidelines.
The final ruling subjects Bortoleto to a five-place drop on the starting grid for the next race in which he competes. Furthermore, the Stewards have also issued the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber driver with two penalty points on his license, bringing his current total to two for the twelve-month period.
The next scheduled race on the 2025 Formula 1 calendar is the Qatar Grand Prix, set to take place from November 28-30. This is expected to be where Bortoleto will serve his grid penalty.
