Bortoleto’s Father Reassures Fans After Crash at Interlagos

Gabriel Bortoleto had a frightening crash during the sprint race at the Sao Paulo GP. The Brazilian was approaching the last lap when his car went straight on the first leg of the S turn, hitting the protective wall. The Formula 1 driver is okay, was taken to the medical center, and soon returned to Sauber’s hospitality.
Hinwil’s team did not allow Bortoleto to speak to the media, but Motorsport.com managed to talk to Lincoln Oliveira, Gabriel’s father, who is present at the race in Interlagos and is by his son’s side.
The crash occurred on the last lap, with Bortoleto close to finishing in 10th place as he was battling with Alexander Albon for the position. Lincoln admitted that watching everything live was quite scary, as the driver was at high speed, but it was a relief to see his son was fine.
“It was [scary], it was quite nerve-wracking because he was at high speed, and then the car there, he lost control and ended up crashing, right? But everything is okay. Now it’s about recovering the car, him, and trying to see if there’s time to fix it for qualifying.”
In crashes like this, it’s clear that a father’s heart always speaks louder than that of a businessman, but, used to incidents and hits since his son was very young, Lincoln confessed that he feels calmer knowing that an F1 car is much safer than, for example, a kart.
“It’s been like this since karting, right? I even think that sometimes karting is even more tense than F1 car, because the F1 car is extremely safe. The kart is not. When one car hits another in karting, it’s the body that’s there to absorb the impact.”