Brazilian driver retires from 12th round of F1 World Championship due to wet conditions
This past weekend, from July 4 to 6, the Formula 1 World Championship arrived at the Silverstone Circuit in England for the 12th round of the season. In his rookie year in the competition, Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto came to the British track in high spirits after achieving his best result of the year in the previous round, held in Austria.
Confident in the aerodynamic updates of Stake F1 Team Kick | Sauber’s C45 model, the 20-year-old driver arrived at the Towcester circuit eager for another promising weekend. However, what unfolded was quite the opposite.
With the boldness and technique that earned him F3 and F2 titles, Gabriel approached practice sessions methodically, aiming to find the ideal setup for race conditions. In the first free practice session, the Brazilian completed 23 laps, providing the team with precise feedback on the car’s performance for the long Sunday race. Later that Friday, Bortoleto returned to the track for the second practice, finishing in 13th place with a time of 1:26.904.
On Saturday, car #5 went out for another practice session but suffered a suspension failure, placing Gabriel in 16th position. The team worked quickly to repair the car, but unfortunately, they no longer had the floor with the latest aerodynamic updates. As a result, during qualifying, Gabriel was unable to advance past Q1 and secured 17th on the starting grid for Sunday’s race.
Chaotic race defines Sunday
On Sunday, Silverstone displayed the classic and unpredictable British weather known worldwide—rain, drizzle, wet track, then dry conditions and high speed. The race was won by British driver Lando Norris, with Oscar Piastri in second and Gabriel’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg in third place.
The race began on a wet track, but it started drying within the first few laps. The team decided to call Bortoleto into the pits to switch from intermediate to medium tires. The stop was swift, and he rejoined the race, but the track was still too wet. On lap four, Gabriel lost control, went off the track, and hit the tire barrier. He managed to return to the track, but with a damaged car, he was forced to retire.
“Unfortunately, this weekend we were not able to perform at the same level as in Austria last week. We worked the entire weekend to make improvements, but the truth is we could not reach the performance level we were aiming for. In today’s race, we changed tires at the end of lap three, and honestly, I could not control the car and ended up hitting the tire barrier. I want to congratulate Nico and everyone on the team for our first podium of the year — hopefully the first of many,” said the driver sponsored by Banco BRB, KitKat, Porto, and Motorola by Snapdragon.
Formula 1 now takes a two-week break and resumes from July 25 to 27 with the Belgian Grand Prix at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps Circuit.
Pictures: Stake F1 Team | Kick Sauber
Press office of Gabriel Bortoleto
Responsible journalist: Flávio Quick