After a disappointing home race in São Paulo, Gabriel Bortoleto finds consolation with Nico Hülkenberg—and is harshly self-critical.
Gabriel Bortoleto experiences a home race full of setbacks in São Paulo. The Sauber driver loses control in the sprint, crashes into the pit wall and misses qualifying. In the Grand Prix itself, his race ends after less than a lap – after a collision with Lance Stroll.
“A weekend to forget and move on from,” says Bortoleto. “I’ll take away the positive that my whole country was behind me. I’m just sad because I couldn’t show what pace we had.” The Brazilian emphasizes that he takes responsibility himself: “That’s on me, my mistake in the sprint. I’ll be the first to be hard on myself.”
Incident with Stroll “a racing accident”
Bortoleto describes the scene with Stroll as an unfortunate incident: “I had a good start, overtook two cars, was on the outside next to Lance, and then there was just no room left. He touched my front wheel and I ended up in the wall.”
The rookie doesn’t want to assign blame: “I think it was a racing accident. He didn’t do it on purpose. Every time I battle with him, he’s fair.” Not everyone sees it that way: When asked about the scene, Franco Colapinto of Alpine said, “Stroll never looks in his mirrors, doesn’t leave any room—he just put Gabi into the wall.”
Encouragement from teammate Hülkenberg
Bortoleto takes a clear lesson from the weekend: “I need to improve my risk management. I was more aggressive than usual, tried new things – but in the sprint, that might not be the right moment. If you destroy your car, you don’t get to drive in qualifying, like I did.”
Despite the setback, the 21-year-old remains optimistic: “I have to analyze, learn, and move on. It was painful because it was my home race—but it’s just another weekend.”
Bortoleto is particularly impressed by the support of his experienced teammate Nico Hülkenberg. “He said, ‘One in twenty, twenty years in Formula 1—you’re going to have a lot of good and bad moments. That will make you stronger.’ He’s proud of what I’ve achieved this year,” Bortoleto said. “I’m going to keep going strong, and the good moments will come.”
