Gabriel Bortoleto reveals cause of Sao Paulo Sprint crash as he targets strong Las Vegas result

Gabriel Bortoleto has revealed the cause of his heavy crash during the Sprint in Sao Paulo, with the Kick Sauber driver looking to bounce back this weekend in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The Brazilian endured a torrid weekend in front of his home fans at the previous round, having suffered a massive accident in Saturday's Sprint, which in turn meant he failed to take part in Qualifying before he retired on the opening lap of the Grand Prix because of another accident.

His crash at Turn 1 during the Sprint was one of the biggest accidents of the season, registering 57g but which he was able to walk away from uninjured.

Ahead of this weekend's race in Las Vegas, the Formula 1 rookie admitted that a combination of factors led to the accident as he went for an overtake on Alex Albon's Williams ahead.

“I think it was a mixture of things. Basically, when I hit the brakes, the DRS was still in the closing procedure, so it was not fully closed," he said.

"I had big rear locking because of that. It was obviously very bumpy at the end of the straight in Sao Paulo, so when I hit the brakes, I also hit a bump in that specific moment, so my rear locked completely, and the DRS was still closing, so I literally spun to the inside wall.

"So I think it was a mixture of things, and lots of learning of what to do if I need to divebomb to the inside again next year, and we move on.”

Bortoleto has claimed five points finishes in his maiden season of F1 so far, with his most recent coming in Mexico City as Sauber remain in a tight battle in the Constructors' Championship, just 20 points behind Racing Bulls three places ahead in the standings.

Las Vegas poses a unique challenge on the F1 calendar with its track layout and cold conditions, the latter of which Bortoleto believes is the most critical element this weekend.

“Conditions – it’s very cold here, so to put the tyres up into the temperature, we saw last year a lot of people doing preparation laps before starting the push laps, even in quali," he said.

"I think it’s a bit of a special track for this sense. It’s very high speed as well, very low downforce, so it’s not something that helps to bring the tyres up to temperature.

"It’s my first time here, so I have a lot to experience as well and understand what to do, but from my learning looking at the past years, that is the main thing.”