Heartbreak for Bortoleto as Brazilian’s Home Race Ends in Disaster
Gabriel Bortoleto’s dream of shining in front of his home fans turned into a nightmare this weekend as the young Brazilian’s race lasted just seconds.
“I’m just sad because I have not been able to race today and show a bit of the pace that I believe we had,” Bortoleto said after his devastating early exit.
The promising rookie never even completed a single lap of Sunday’s Grand Prix. After being squeezed by Lance Stroll, Bortoleto was forced onto the grass before hitting the barriers—his second crash of the weekend.
This latest incident wasn’t nearly as violent as his spectacular crash during Saturday’s sprint race, but it crushed his hopes of redemption in front of thousands of passionate Brazilian supporters.
That earlier sprint race accident had already derailed his weekend completely. The damage to his car was so extensive that repairs couldn’t be completed in time for qualifying.
“Tough weekend. A weekend to forget and move on,” Bortoleto told reporters, visibly disappointed but trying to stay positive. “I just take the positives that my whole country was here supporting me, the Brazilians.”
To his credit, the rookie didn’t shy away from taking responsibility.
“It comes from me, from my incident in the sprint race that caused me to not do quali. So I’m going to be be the first one harsh on myself here.”
Despite the emotional blow of failing in front of his home crowd, Bortoleto tried to keep perspective.
“Obviously it’s more painful because it’s my home race, but it’s just another weekend. We had so many good ones, we had bad ones as well.”
“There’s nothing I can do about it. I just need to move on, analyse things and learn from my mistakes and go for the next one.”
## Sauber falls behind in battle for sixth in constructors’ championship
The disappointing weekend had consequences beyond Bortoleto’s personal disappointment.
While Nico Hülkenberg managed to score points with a top-10 finish, Sauber took a hit in the constructors’ standings. Racing Bull capitalized with both drivers finishing in the points—seventh and eighth place—allowing them to extend their advantage.
RB now sits on 82 points in the tight midfield battle, while Aston Martin holds 72.
Haas jumped to 70 points thanks to Oliver Bearman’s impressive sixth-place finish.
Sauber has now slipped to fourth in this intense midfield battle with 62 points as the season enters its final stretch.
