Gabriel Bortoleto explained that his team radio was edited and taken completely out of context after a crash involving the Sauber driver and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.

Made to look like he was threatening to put Antonelli “in the wall”, Bortoleto said that soundbite was taken from a longer conversation with his engineer about the fact that Antonelli was not penalised after a collision which left Bortoleto out of the race, with the F1 rookie pair holding talks afterwards.

Bortoleto not out for revenge on Antonelli at Spanish GP

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Bortoleto hit the wall at Portier on the opening lap of the Monaco Grand Prix, his race ending there and then, as Antonelli attempted a move down the inside, having been overtaken by Bortoleto at the hairpin.

And in the aftermath, an untelevised clip emerged which showed Bortoleto branding Antonelli’s overtake attempt as “desperate”, before seemingly threatening to “put him in the wall” the next time they came together on track.

Bortoleto confirmed that he and Antonelli had the chance to discuss the incident after the race.

Asked by the media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix whether he and Antonelli had cleared the air, Bortoleto replied: “Yeah, we did, we spoke.

“Obviously, it wasn’t the easiest race, Lap 1 that happening, and then through the race. But yeah, we spoke after the race. We have, I believe, respect from each other since go-kart times. It’s not the first time we touch. But now, in Formula 1, everything is broadcasted. But that was good.”

Bortoleto acknowledged that “this is racing” and incidents like his with Antonelli “happen”, stemming from a move which had the roles been reversed, he “would have tried to make the move as well.”

He added: “I got frustrated in the moment because there was no penalty.

“So I was feeling like I finished in the wall because of that and no one was penalised.”

And speaking of drivers in the wall, Bortoleto assured that he is not out to inflict this upon Antonelli in Barcelona.

F1 2025 head-to-head standings

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Bortoleto claimed that the clip in question was highly edited and completely out of context with what he really said.

Quizzed on the clip by Sky F1, Bortoleto responded: “Obviously, people take parts of something and they clip it and it’s not like this.

“My radio after, people clipped it, but I actually asked my engineer, ‘What happened? Did he get a penalty for that?’ And he said, ‘Look, no, no penalty for what happened there.’

“So I was like, ‘Okay, so basically, if I do the same, I put him in the wall, and then he doesn’t get a penalty for that?’ [sic]

“But he took it in a way that it looks like I’m going to smash the guy in the wall. But, we are not here to hurt anyone.

“Obviously, we race hard with each other, and it’s going to still be the same. I’m sure in the future we will have contacts, like with any other driver. But, hopefully with respect and race hard but fair.”

Read next: FIA introduce another test which could threaten F1 pecking order