A FORMULA ONE broadcaster has issued a grovelling public apology to rookie Gabriel Bortoleto after claiming his mum “looked so stupid” when she reacted to his terrifying 91G crash.
The Sauber driver suffered a nightmare weekend at his home race in Brazil as he crashed out of both the sprint and feature race over the Grand Prix weekend.
His sprint crash was particularly harrowing as he spun down the start-finish straight at 339kmph, hit two walls – first with a force of 34G followed by a 57G smash – while going airborne to see his Saturday come to an abrupt end.
F1 safety innovation means such force is often no longer fatal for drivers, although Bortoleto himself said he was “lucky” to escape without serious injuries.
Bortoleto then crashed out again the following day, this time on the opening lap in a fortunately far less violent manner despite contact with Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll.
The 20 stars in F1 and the many drivers and riders in motorsport series around the world accept this risk as an occupational hazard.
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But that is no easier to accept for their loved ones.
Bortoleto was being watched in Sao Paulo by his mum, Andrea, and girlfriend, Isabella Bernardini, in the Sauber garage.
However, when cameras panned to show them after he crashed out on Sunday they appeared distraught.
Austrian broadcaster ORF showed pictures of his family.
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But co-commentator Franz Tost, the former team principal of the Toro Rosso – now Racing Bulls – F1 team inexplicably labelled Bortoleto’s mum as “stupid” for her emotional reaction to her son’s horror weekend.
Tost said: “He’s in the learning phase.
“The mothers don’t need to look so stupid.
“It’s perfectly normal, it’s a crash period.”
Following huge backlash over the stunning comments, ORF issued an apology over the “unacceptable” statement.
A statement regarding it said: “During the co-commentary of the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, in the hectic start phase, when Gabriel Bortoleto’s mother and family were visible in the live broadcast after his crash, an unacceptable statement was unfortunately made, for which we sincerely apologize.
“The expression and choice of words were completely inappropriate, and ORF Sport will take appropriate precautions to ensure that such an incident does not happen again.”
Following the premature end of his home race, a video of Bortoleto embracing his family in the aftermath went viral.
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Reflecting on his Interlagos weekend, he said: “I’m just very upset because it’s my first home race so you always expect to do a good job, or at least race a little bit.
“I think it has been one of the toughest weekends of my whole career because I see that my fans are here, my family, my team.
“For them, it’s also very important and it was one of the biggest accidents I’ve had in my career, probably the biggest one.
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“I think it’s a combination of things, and then not doing a single lap in the race after having a good start… until that moment, I think I was up two positions already.”
The race was won by Lando Norris, with Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen completing the podium.
