F1 star ruled OUT at Saudi Grand Prix as 'investigation' launched

gabriel bortoleto, fernando alonso, aston martin, sauber, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Saudi Grand Prix

F1 star ruled OUT at Saudi Grand Prix as 'investigation' launched

Gabriel Bortoleto was ruled out of the session on Friday

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 18 April 2025 19:16 Updated: 20:22

Sauber Formula 1 star Gabriel Bortoleto was ruled out of FP2 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Friday.

The rookie driver is taking part in his first F1 race weekend at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, so would have been desperate to get in as many laps as possible during the second practice session of the weekend.

However, the Brazilian's car suffered a fuel leak, meaning he could not take to the track in FP2, with Sky Sports F1's Bernie Collins confirming an investigation from the team, saying: "The update is that there’s a fuel leak on Gabriel’s car that they discovered after FP1, it can’t be fixed in time and they’re investigating that leak so he will not take part."

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Bortoleto has struggled in his first few career F1 races, yet to score a point for the team since joining the grid full-time at the start of 2025.

Bortoleto out of Saudi session

The fuel leak should be fixed by the team in time for qualifying on Saturday, but the time it took to find the cause of the leak meant that FP2 was a no-go for the Brazilian racer.

Bortoleto won the F2 championship in 2024, and arguably therefore had the highest pedigree out of all the rookies joining the grid in 2025.

However, the likes of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar have outshone Bortoleto so far in 2025, and limited running ahead of a race on such a difficult track is likely to hamper the 20-year-old further.

Collins told Sky F1 before Bortoleto's admission from the session was confirmed: "We spoke so much in P1 about how important getting laps on the board are, especially for the rookies, every lap of learning is vital.

"Bortoleto’s car is not going anywhere anytime soon, there’s a bare chassis that’s actually being stripped rather than put together, behind that under the red blanket there’s an engine that’s been taken off the back of the car...but it looks like they’re doing a chassis change."

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Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Sky Sports F1 Gabriel Bortoleto Bernie Collins Jeddah Corniche Circuit