Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix. The chaotic first race of the Formula 1 season has seen six drivers retire.
The Sauber F1 driver ran off at Turn 13 which sent the car into a spin and caused him to crash into the wall.
Despite the race being under safety car conditions, the wet conditions were causing issues for the drivers as Red Bull’s Liam Lawson also crashed in the first sector.
At the time of writing, six drivers have retired from the race. Isack Hadjar crashed on the formation lap. Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Williams’ Carlos Sainz both individually crashed on lap 1. Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso is also out of the race, and now, Bortoleto and Lawson join the retirees.
Ahead of the race weekend, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko called him a “B driver.”
“I don’t care. I’ve seen that and I love challenges,” the Brazilian answered.
“Hearing that from Helmut – he’s a guy who has put a lot of talent in Formula 1 and has put a lot of wrong talents in F1. So, you can see he got it right and wrong and hopefully I will prove him wrong.
“But nothing I say now in the media will change his mind – just my results on track. I’m sure I’ll prove him wrong at some point and hopefully he will admit this.
“For now, I’m just focusing on doing my job and improving and doing the best I can. I’m proud of what I did in the junior series and I won in F2 and F3 against the Red Bull drivers he has, so good for me.”
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