Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, Interlagos, 2025

Gabriel Bortoleto said his first home event in Formula 1 was one of the toughest of his career after two crashes in as many days.

The Sauber driver suffered a huge shunt at the end of the sprint race on Saturday which prevented him from taking part in qualifying. He then crashed out on the first lap of the grand prix.

“It was a tough weekend,” Bortoleto admitted afterwards. “I’m just very upset because it’s my first home race, you always expect to do a good job, or at least race a little bit.”

Many of the 21-year-old’s family members came to watch his first grand prix at Interlagos. “I think it’s been one of the toughest weekends of my whole career because I see that my fans are here, my family, and my team, for them it’s also very important,” he said.

Bortoleto survived a powerful crash at Interlagos
Video: Four fans’ videos of Bortoleto’s huge sprint race crash at Interlagos

Bortoleto suffered a high-speed crash at the Senna S on Saturday as he tried to overtake Alexander Albon. “I had one of biggest accidents of my career,” he said, “probably the biggest one.”

He crashed out at much lower speed halfway around the first lap of the grand prix when he tagged the rear of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. “Until that moment I think I was up two positions already,” he said. “I was going for the third move and just had a contact with Lance.”

Although Bortoleto initially blamed Stroll on his radio, he said afterwards: “I don’t want to point fingers here or there, I just think it was a racing incident.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

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

Bortoleto said he was grateful for the support he had from his fans in Brazil during the weekend. “Even through all the difficult moments of this weekend, they have been there supporting, cheering, screaming my name and being there. So I cannot thank them enough.

“It’s just incredible to see my country so happy to have someone and I hope I make them proud soon because weekends like this for sure no one is happy, not myself.”

Miss nothing from RaceFans

Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:

2025 Brazilian Grand Prix

Browse all 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix articles