Bortoleto apologises to Stroll after five-place grid drop for causing lap one crash

The Las Vegas Grand Prix stewards handed Gabriel Bortoleto a five-place grid penalty for causing a multi-car crash at the start of the race.

The Sauber driver collided with Lance Stroll who started six places ahead of him on the grid. Bortoleto, who qualified 18th, braked deep into turn one on the inside and knocked the Aston Martin driver into Pierre Gasly, who started 10th.

Bortoleto and Stroll retired as a result of the contact. His penalty will therefore be applied at the Qatar Grand Prix.

The stewards ruled “the driver of car five [Bortoleto] braked extremely late and as a result collided with car 18 [Stroll].”

“Even though this was a lap one turn one incident, mitigating circumstances do not exist and hence the standard 10-second penalty would have applied,” they noted. “However as car five retired, the penalty is converted into a grid penalty for the next Race in which the driver participates, in accordance with our guidelines.”

The stewards also gave Bortoleto two penalty points, the first of his career, for the incident. The Sauber driver admitted afterwards he was to blame for the crash and said “sorry to Lance for that.”

“It was my fault,” he told the official Formula 1 channel. “I think I just misjudged a bit the grip I had and where I was on track.

“I had a very good launch and then I went for the move in the inside of the Williams and when I put the car on the left hand side of the wheel, and it was already time to brake. I braked like five metres too late and then just arrived a bit too long in the corner.

“I had no angle to do the corner because I was completely on the inside. I just misjudged it, it was my fault.”

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