Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley was full of praise for the safety standards in Formula 1 after Gabriel Bortoleto walked away from a huge crash at the end of the Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Bortoleto was attempting to overtake Alex Albon into Turn 1 on the final lap when he lost control turning to the inside of the track, hitting the concrete wall before being launched into the barrier on the outside at high speed. The crash came on slick tires in greasy conditions and destroyed the majority of Bortoleto’s car, but the Brazilian has since been cleared by the medical center.
“I’ve spoken to the manager of the medical center and for the moment it sounds like he’s absolutely fine, no injuries at all,” Wheatley told F1TV. “I think I should say first of all, the incredible work the FIA have done in terms of safety, working with the teams, and you’ve just seen it today. A crash of that magnitude, for the driver to be fine and get out, go to the medical center and I’m sure he’ll be ready for qualifying – just not sure about his car.
Wheatley declined to speculate on the cause of the accident.
“A little bit soon [to understand the cause],” he said. “Obviously we saw it happen and then waited for a replay, but your first thought is to make sure the driver’s OK. That’s what I focused on after the session. I’m sure we’ll have a look at it – it looked like one of the biggest crashes I’ve seen for a while frankly, and I’m just pleased that he was OK, and like I say the safety standards in Formula 1 are so impressive.”
Wheatley says it’s unclear if Sauber can get a car ready for Bortoleto in time for qualifying, with just three hours between the Sprint ending and the next track session at Interlagos.
“I don’t even know, we haven’t established that yet,” he said. “Obviously we’re just going to build a new car, there’s no time to mess around with the one that we have at the moment. Just keep watching this space.
“I think for him it’s a priority to get back in the car and get out there.”
With Nico Hulkenberg also crashing earlier in the Sprint but able to rejoin the race after a red flag, Wheatley believes Sauber can still gain useful insights despite the incidents.
“Nico ended up having to start from the back of the grid – at least we got the car repaired and we got a bit more information,” he said. “He did some running, dropped back a little bit at one point, charged the battery, went for a lap – that gives him a bit more knowledge ahead of qualifying.”