Suzuka is not a track for the faint of heart and Formula 1 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto very nearly learned that the hard way with a terrifying close shave at the Japanese Grand Prix
Formula 1 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto had a terrifying moment at the Japanese Grand Prix as he almost crashed while driving flat out. It happened during final practice ahead of the Suzuka race when the Brazilian youngster was on a hot lap.
TV replays showed the Sauber driver driving flat out as he approached the fearsome 130R corner at Suzuka. But he went too wide on his approach and dipped his front-right tyre into the grass, causing him to lose traction and to almost spin out at high speed.
At first, it was clear that he wasn’t aware of the fact he had gone partially off track. Over the radio, he was in the middle of reporting that he felt he had a problem with his car when he let out a shriek of terror when the rear end of his car almost stepped out on him.
Bortoleto reacted swiftly to correct and make sure he didn’t spin off the track while tearing along at high speed. But as he did so he yelled over the radio to his race engineer: “Mate, something… ARGH!”
The Sauber engineer replied: “You okay, mate? Are you okay?” And then Bortoleto responded: “I saved it, something broke in the tyre. Oh my f***ing god. F*** me, it broke in 130R, my god.”
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By avoiding the crash he made sure there was no repair job for his team to do in the short time before qualifying began. But he couldn’t make the most of it and failed to get out of Q1 along with his more experienced team-mate.
Bortoleto was only 17th fastest, one place behind Nico Hulkenberg in the other Sauber. Both were quicker, though, than Esteban Ocon, Jack Doohan and Lance Stroll below them while Liam Lawson only went marginally faster than Hulkenberg to knock the German out of qualifying.
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Despite an earlier exit than he would have liked, Bortoleto sounded upbeat as he reflected on the session. The Formula 2 champion said: “I missed Q2 by just one tenth today, and all my laps felt good, without any mistakes.
“I ended up quite close to my team-mate, which is encouraging considering how fast and experienced he is. Now, we can compare the data and understand where we can improve as a team. We could have possibly done a small step further to improve the car for the last set of tyres, but we decided to stay safe and not do any major changes.
“In all fairness, I am happy with my laps, and fine with what we brought home today – I think that’s the position we could aim for. Overall, I am happy with the work the team has done all weekend so far, and I’m ready for the race tomorrow.”
New team principal Jonathan Wheatley, who started that role in Japan this weekend, said: “I want to thank the team, who worked tirelessly to fit the upgrades we brought to Suzuka. In my first qualifying session with the team, I can already feel the positive energy and momentum building.”
