Bortoleto unable to take part in São Paulo qualifying after high-speed crash in sprint
- Caitlyn Gordon
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Gabriel Bortoleto suffered a 57g crash during the São Paulo sprint race, the damage meant he was unable to participate in qualifying.
Gabriel Bortoleto was just one of the several drivers to find the barriers during the sprint race in Brazil.
After being unable to participate in qualifying following the crash, the team stated: "The crew did a formidable job trying to get Gabriel [Bortoleto's] car ready for qualifying.
"Unfortunately, it was not possible to get him out in time for him to set a lap; but this should
not detract from the effort every single team member in the garage put in."
After a downpour last night left the track damp for the start of the Sprint race, which caused several drivers to have incidents. A race-ending crash occurred on Lap 7 with both Oscar Piastri and Franco Colapinto hitting the barriers at Turn 3.
The incident happened after the pair went off the racing line and ran into a puddle, which caused their cars to lose grip, spinning them both out of the race. Nico Hülkenberg also went off at the corner; however, he was able to limp his car back to the pits to get it repaired during the red flag.
After a period under the red flag, the track went into green flag conditions, with no other incidents occurring until the final lap.
In an effort to overtake Alex Albon, Bortoleto lost control of his car when turning onto the inside of the track.
The hometown hero slammed into the concrete wall before going airborne and hitting the barriers on the opposite side.
The high-speed crash left the Sauber in pieces; however, Bortoleto quickly announced on the radio that he was alright. After the incident, the Brazilian went to the medical centre where it was announced he was uninjured:
“Following precautionary checks at the circuit’s Medical Centre, we are pleased to report that Gabriel Bortoleto is ok and uninjured,” an announcement from Sauber stated.
“The team would like to thank the circuit marshals, F1 and the FIA and the Medical Centre staff for their superb care.
“The team will now focus on preparing the cars for this afternoon’s qualifying session.”
Team principal, Jonathan Wheatley went onto reaffirm Bortoleto’s condition, once again praising the medical staff:
I've spoken to the manager of the medical center and for the moment it sounds like he’s absolutely fine, no injuries at all,” Wheatley told media.
“I think I should say first of all, the incredible work the FIA have done in terms of safety, working with the teams, and you’ve just seen it today. A crash of that magnitude, for the driver to be fine and get out, go to the medical center and I’m sure he’ll be ready for qualifying – just not sure about his car.”
“Obviously we’re just going to build a new car. There’s no time to mess around with the one that we have at the moment.”
“I think for him it’s a priority to get back in the car and get out there.”
Wheatley was quizzed about what he thought the cause of the incident was, which he declined to comment about:
“A little bit soon [to understand the cause]."
"Obviously we saw it happen and then waited for a replay, but your first thought is to make sure the driver’s OK. That’s what I focused on after the session. I’m sure we’ll have a look at it – it looked like one of the biggest crashes I’ve seen for a while frankly, and I’m just pleased that he was OK, and like I say the safety standards in F1 are so impressive.”
Thankfully, Bortoleto left the scene uninjured; however, the next big task is fixing the car before the main event tomorrow, where the home hero is likely to start from the pit lane after being unable to participate in qualifying despite his crew's valiant efforts.
