Gabriel Bortoleto explained his accident in Brazil

In Las Vegas, the Brazilian acknowledged that he had pain in his leg after the very strong blow in San Pablo and that the reason was that the DRS was not completely closed.

The very hard accident that Gabriel Bortoleto was involved in on the final lap of the sprint of the San Pablo GP will be one of the images of the year-end compilation of the 76th season of Formula 1. The Brazilian hit the inside wall of the main straight and was thrown towards the retaining barrier of the first turn. The blow reached 57 G of force (the first was 34). The Sauber driver, in his first home race in the top category, got off under his own power and walked to the Swiss team’s hospitality area. In the afternoon he was unable to compete in qualifying, but the next day he was on the grid ready to start the 21st race of the year. The crash against the wall in the first lap, after being squeezed by Lance Stroll, ended the enthusiasm of the local public.

Two weeks later, already installed in Las Vegas for the 22nd date, the São Paulo native was consulted about the tremendous accident. “I was very lucky. I felt a little pain in my left leg, but it went away a day or two after the accident, so it was great,” said the former F3 and F2 champion in consecutive years.

Regarding the reason for the mistake, the Brazilian explained that the DRS system was not closed correctly in the middle of the straight, when he was attacking Isack Hadjar’s position on the track. “When I braked, the DRS was still in the process of closing. It was not completely closed, and that’s why I had a big lockup at the rear. When braking, I hit a pothole on the track and spun towards the inside wall. I learned a lot and I know what to do if I need to overtake on the inside in the first corner in Sao Paulo next year,” he said. And, furthermore, he decided to forget the incident: “It was a shame that the accident occurred there. My family was there, my friends… But that’s it, now the focus is on Las Vegas and the two more races left to try to get the best results and finish the year well.”