Gabriel Bortoleto explains how bruising Brazil GP was also "the most amazing experience"

Gabriel Bortoleto has shared his mixed feelings about his first home grand prix during his rookie season. While he suffered multiple crashes during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, he also felt the love and support of his home fans.

The Brazilian driver suffered a high-speed crash during the sprint race at Interlagos. Thankfully, he was able to walk away from the 57G crash and was cleared to continue racing throughout the weekend, although he missed qualifying while the team worked to repair the car.

He went on to start in 18th on the grid for the grand prix, but crashed on the opening lap of the race after dipping onto the grass, losing traction and colliding with the wall.

"I love the love of the fans," Bortoleto told F1.com about his home race.

"They are very supportive. The Brazilian Grand Prix was not an easy one for me. But at the same time, it was probably the most amazing experience I ever had in my life.

"To hear that crowd cheering my name and one day I was the kid there cheering for someone. It's just a dream coming true and to have all these Brazilian people supporting me. We are so many. It's just incredible."

While he would rather not dwell on his crashes in Brazil, Bortoleto was pleased with his rookie season with Sauber.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Clive Rose / Getty Images

"I think I've achieved a lot this year," he said. "It's a car that at the beginning of the year was completely out of the window and for sure not a point-scoring car.

"In the first race of the year, a lot of people were crashing and I was a rookie, so I probably didn't use all of the opportunities I had in that race. But we know our true pace was not to score points until really Barcelona.

"Then, obviously, we had a very strong run in the summer season where we got very good points for the team. And I felt like I was delivering amazing performances.

"Then we stopped developing the car to focus on next year. Some other teams kept going, so maybe we stepped back a little bit. But we are still in the fight for points every weekend."