The Audi F1 team’s Racing Director, Allan McNish, reflected on Gabriel Bortoleto’s crash in qualifying and his mindset following the Brazilian’s underwhelming sixteenth-place finish at the 2026 São Paulo GP on Sunday.
The 2025 São Paulo GP weekend hadn’t gone Bortoleto’s way. A crash on the final lap of the Sprint ruled him out of qualifying, and a first-lap collision ended his Grand Prix after just ten corners.
Unfortunately, fortune turned its back on Bortoleto yet again on his home turf this season. Despite looking quick in FP3, he locked up his front wheels, slid over the grass, and hit the barriers at Turn 12 in the first segment of qualifying. The rear wing damage was severe enough to end the 22-year-old’s session prematurely and leave him in last place.
The 2023 F3 Champion lined up in P19 the next day on account of the grid penalties received by Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Sergio Pérez.
While his pace was positive once he managed to get into free air and switched to intermediate tyres towards the end, the heavy deficit from starting near the back prevented the Audi driver from breaking into the points. He crossed the line in P16.
McNish downplays the seriousness of Bortoleto’s São Paulo GP qualifying crash
Speaking in a print media session after the rain-affected race, Allan McNish addressed Bortoleto’s crash in the first segment of qualifying for the 2026 São Paulo GP and argued that such incidents are extremely commonplace in a sport like F1.
Alongside referring to David Coulthard crashing out of the lead during the pit lane entry at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, McNish also argued that multiple drivers, including Bortoleto’s fellow countryman Rafael Câmara, had gone off the track at Junção in the rain-soaked qualifying session on Saturday.
Furthermore, the Brit mentioned how Turn 12, which launches drivers onto a massive, long uphill straight toward the start/finish line, offers a fantastic view but is quite difficult to navigate.
“I think there’s two things. The one is that these things happen. You know, we’ve all done them.
“I remember a countryman of mine being on pole position and crashing in the pit lane. People have crashed on the warming up lap. It happens. It’s not unusual.
“It’s just unfortunate that it was here, that’s all. And it was difficult conditions yesterday. There were six people went off at the same corner, five, six people. You know, your other Brazilian driver as well.
“It’s a horrible corner. It’s a great corner to watch, and the atmosphere there is brilliant, but it’s a difficult one.”
McNish appreciates Bortoleto’s mindset
Granted that Bortoleto failed to capitalise on the R26’s pace like his teammate did at Interlagos, Allan McNish was effusive about how the São Paulo native had managed to bounce back from his setback in qualifying overnight and approach Sunday’s race with a revitalised attitude.
Although he reckoned that Bortoleto might’ve found it frustrating to finish outside the top ten at the 2026 São Paulo GP, McNish asserted that the 2024 F2 Champion wouldn’t find it difficult to put his back-to-back disappointing home race weekends in the rearview mirror before coming to Interlagos next year.
The 3-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans also urged the media to not make a mountain out of a molehill and reiterated that he didn’t find the Audi sophomore’s qualifying crash headline-worthy.
“What I saw from Gabi [Bortoleto] was a character trait that I like. There’s a character trait I like, which is the fact that he went away last night. Yes, he was disappointed and understandably so.
“Two things. When he came in this morning, he knew that from a team point of view, we’re with him. The good, the bad, the ugly, everything, we’re with him.
“But the second thing, his mindset was back. Right, that’s history. I come back and do something today.
“And yes, he was maybe frustrated today that he wasn’t able to progress further. But I don’t see a problem going forward because next year, he’ll come back here, and it’s ancient history.
“I know that sometimes these things become stories. But it could be anywhere. And I think it’s also a little bit how you amplify the story, if I’m being very honest with you. But there, I don’t see a problem with that, honestly.”
