Welcome to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix
Verstappen set for grid penalty as Red Bull hints at engine change
Max Verstappen appears likely to face a grid drop at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix with Red Bull strongly considering introducing a penalty-incurring new engine for the championship leader. This would be his sixth power unit of the season meaning he would only face a five-place penalty unlike in Spa where he took a ten-place penalty.
Last weekend in Mexico City he had problems in Friday practice which forced him to switch to an older power unit, and Red Bull viewed four races to go as the best option to change the power unit. Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told ORF, “The engine we had in there was no longer intended for the race, and the older an engine gets, the more its performance diminishes.”
“The penalty would be five places. That wouldn’t be so severe in Brazil, for example, where you can overtake relatively easily. But we saw that we were missing three to eight kilometres per hour on the straights.”
Last weekend’s race was a difficult one for Verstappen, he was given two ten-second time penalties for twice forcing championship rival Lando Norris off the road, as well as lacking pace.
He was put on the back foot after missing a significant portion of Friday’s two practice sessions due to recurring power unit issues. While a fine qualifying lap saw Verstappen salvage second on the grid, the fact he missed on gaining long-run data made it harder for Red Bull to find the right car setup for the race.
Marko added: “More alarming is that we couldn’t make the tyres work – both medium and hard. We were nowhere near the two front teams, and I guess part of the problem is that Friday, we couldn’t drive because of the engine problems.”
“We have to do something, that’s clear. We also will have a change the engine because we had been so slow on the straight. This engine, which was in the car, was not supposed to be in the car, so most likely Brazil could happen.”
The Sao Paulo Grand Prix is a Sprint weekend with a shortened race taking place on Saturday, but Verstappen’s penalty would be applied to Sunday’s full-length contest.
Mercedes to focus on “testing and leaning” for 2025
Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff says the teams focus for the final four races is “testing and leaning” for 2025, as they are comfortably fourth in the constructors going into the final two sprints and four Grands Prix.
Since the summer break, Mercedes have struggled to recapture their form from earlier in the season. In July Mercedes had won three of the previous four races. But since Zandvoort, they’ve not finished on the podium with either car. Mercedes have fallen back amid Ferrari’s upturn in performance, while several crashes in recent races have meant they’ve reverted back to older parts.
Previewing this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Wolff said: “The past two races in Austin and Mexico City have not been our cleanest so we are aiming for a smoother weekend at Interlagos. Despite the challenges in the US and Mexico, we have furthered our learning with the W15.”
“Given our position in the championship, we have been able to test things out with little penalty. Whilst we are still focused on maximising our results each and every weekend, that testing and learning will be valuable in setting us up strongly for 2025. We will continue that approach this weekend in Brazil.”
Wolff described Interlagos as a “proper drivers circuit,” given its undulation and its mix of low, medium, and high-speed corners. Wolff added, “Given that it is the penultimate Sprint format of the year, we will have to execute effectively from the first session to get the car in a good window.”
Renault & Honda fined for budget cap breaches
Honda and Renault have been fined by the FIA for procedural breaches of the budget cap regulations last season. Honda will pay $600,000, while Alpine’s fine amounts to $400,000, after both manufacturers settled for a so-called Accepted Breach Agreement with the FIA.
In its report the FIA said Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) failed to file accurate reporting documentation because its cost calculations included incorrectly excluded or adjusted costs. Alpine was handed a smaller fine because it delayed sending its documents and the FIA deemed it had “omitted relevant information”.
Both cases are classed as an ‘minor breach’ and both acted in ‘good faith’ which allowed the governing body to settle the matter through the ABA without taking matters further. Both manufactures will also need to pay the cost of the governing body.
A statement said “The Cost Cap Administration recognised that both PUMs [power unit manufacturers] have acted cooperatively and in good faith throughout the review process and have sought to provide additional information and evidence when requested in a timely manner. There is no accusation or evidence that either Alpine or HRC has sought or obtained any undue advantage as a result of the breach.”
From 2023 F1’s engine manufacturers were forced to work under a cost cap for the first time. All manufacturers came out under the budget limit, but Alpine and Honda were both pinged in September for their procedural breaches. All 10 teams also fully complied with F1’s cost cap for the 2023 season.
Alpine owner Renault recently decided to end its long-running F1 power unit programme at its Viry-Chatillon plant in France ahead of 2026, halting development of its new engines. Instead, Alpine is expected to take Mercedes customer engines for F1’s new regulations era.
Talking Points Sao Paulo
Round twenty-one concludes the penultimate triple header at Interlagos in Sao Paulo, one of the highlights of any season. It’s a weekend where anything can happen, an old technical circuit lined by grass and gravel, mixed conditions and a circuit where overtaking never comes without risk. It’s also a sprint weekend as well.
Following Austin and Mexico City, there had only been one topic on the agenda the policing of rules of engagement and track limits. Though it has been discussed and drivers have been clear in last weekend’s drivers briefing of the desire to update the guidelines it is not going to be rushed, to avoid unintended consequences, and that hard but fair racing is encouraged. Suggested to me these won’t be introduced until we get the updated 2025 Sporting Regulations, ie Melbourne in March.
The other thing to watch is the championship race, fourty seven points in it between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris with thirty-four this weekend and in Qatar, with twenty-six in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. Norris needs to outscore Verstappen by twelve points on average at the remaining races.
Interlagos has been the scene for several dramatic championship developments and this year could well be the same, with 34 points on offer across the Sprint weekend. The 3.677-mile circuit always encourages exciting racing, it’s the perfect venue to have more competitive sessions, with all of the drivers having just one practice session on Friday to prepare as best as possible.
Ferrari’s pace creates the potential for bigger swings in the championship picture because it’s not just a straight fight between Verstappen and Norris for first and second. If one of them wins and the other is beaten by the two Ferraris to finish fourth, then it’s a 13-point difference. And that’s without factoring in teammates or Mercedes.
Pressure continues to on Sergio Perez following his disappointing home race last weekend, where he was knocked out in Q1. While he did make significant progress early on contact with Liam Lawson dropped him to seventeenth last of the classified finishers just under nine seconds behind the RB.
Like in Miami and Imola in May, this weekend more commemorations are set to take place to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994. At Interlagos, the opening corners are named after Senna, and there will be several tributes at his home race that will allow the incredible fans – themselves a sign of his legacy – to celebrate the Brazilian three-time world champion.
Talking tyres a new track surface could present surprises
Interlagos has a reputation for unpredictably and this weekend’s race according to Pirelli could be more unpredictable. While the circuit hasn’t been changed in terms of layout the whole circuit as well as a few minor changes for routine maintenance have been made since last year’s race.
Resurfaced circuits add a huge degree of uncertainty at Grand Prix, as teams are never sure about the impact it can have on grip levels. At some venues in the past, perhaps most famously Istanbul in 2020, if the track has not been treated properly then it can trigger a massive drop in grip and cause huge headaches for drivers and teams.
At the other end of the spectrum, a new surface that offers some decent grip but has not been rubbered in can result in cars sliding a bit more, which hurts tyre degradation. What Brazil will deliver is hard to be sure of right now, with the final answer only coming from the first practice session when drivers get to run out on track for the first time.
Pirelli says its early analysis suggests there are no major issues with Motorsport.com has learned that the micro-roughness of the Interlagos surface shows a 46% drop compared to last year, with macro roughness indicating a 30% drop.
That would point towards the track in theory offering less grip than last year, which could result in more sliding and therefore higher tyre temperatures and more degradation. But a deeper dive into the overall grip levels, based on the chemical adhesion interaction of the track/tyre, has shown that the situation is not actually too different to previous years.
Interlagos traditionally have been a circuit which doesn’t offer good grip, and the darker the surface the more heat the circuit will absorb, todays data track temperature in mid-afternoon was around sixty degrees. The higher temps could then force teams to shift towards the harder compounds for both the sprint and the grand prix, but this choice is slightly complicated by the selections on offer this weekend.
Pirelli has gone one step softer than 2023, with C2 being the hard, C3 mediums and C4 soft, and being a sprint weekend there are two sets of hards, four sets of mediums and six sets of softs available. The likelihood is that the 2024 soft is not going to be a suitable race tyre – so is only really good for qualifying.
That then means teams are going to have to manage very carefully how they distribute their tyres across the sprint and the main grand prix, knowing full well that they cannot compromise what they need for Sunday.
Sainz deserved one more “emotional;” Ferrari win
Carlos Sainz says he deserved one more win with Ferrari before leaving the team, after claiming a sensational and “emotional” victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The Spaniard was dropped in February in favour of Lewis Hamilton, with the only mistake last weekend being losing the lead to Max Verstappen at the start
The Spaniard then fended off a late charge from Lando Norris, with team-mate Charles Leclerc claiming third as Ferrari leapfrogged Red Bull, and gained on McLaren, in the Constructors’ Championship with four rounds left. Sainz told Sky Sports, “Everyone knew I wanted one more race win with Ferrari. I felt like I also deserved it.”
“I’ve been driving well all year, I’ve been pushing flat out, keeping my motivation high even in a difficult circumstance – and wanted to give everything for this team. One more I had to win, eventually it happened and it had to be in Mexico in front of my family which is great. it doesn’t mean I’m not trying to win more!”
He added, “Since I arrived to Mexico I had the feeling that the win was possible. I knew my family was coming to see me here this weekend, my mum was going to be present. I was like ‘there might be something cooking this weekend, and I need to make sure I do everything I can to win this race’.”
Sainz described it as extremely emotional and one of the best moments of his career.
Alonso’s arrival delayed because of medical treatment
Fernando Alonso’s arrival at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix will be delayed because of medical treatment for an intestinal infection. The Aston Martin driver flew back to Europe following Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix to see a specialist, after falling ill before the race weekend.
The extra day’s treatment he received in Europe has delayed his travel to Brazil, Aston Martin said, and the two-time champion will miss Thursday’s media day. The 43-year-old also missed media day in Mexico, where he celebrated his 400th grand prix, as a result of illness.
Aston Martin says Alonso’s decision to return to Europe to be seen by a doctor “ensures he will be ready for this weekend’s racing”.
Lawson insists attitude to racing won’t change
Liam Lawson insists his attitude to racing will not change and he does not believe the Red Bull hierarchy will call for him to alter his approach despite his incident with Sergio Perez at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The New Zealander did apologise to Perez for showing him his middle finger during their battle.
The two made contact at Turn Four on lap nineteen after being pushed wide as the Red Bull attempted an overtake, he kept his foot in and the pair then collided at the following right-hander. While the Mexican managed to stay ahead for the rest of the lap, he eventually lost out as the RB breezed past him on the main straight.
In his frustration at the situation, Lawson showed Perez the finger as he overtook – a moment that was captured on television. He may have apologised for the gesture, but Lawson is not about to change his aggressive nature when battling on the track.
Lawson told Motorsport.com, “My attitude towards racing and how I approach races in Formula 1 won’t change, that’s how I’ll always be. But at the same time there’s things in there, if I make mistakes I’ll always learn from them, and clearly, in Mexico I made a mistake, and I’ll learn from it.”
“Briefly we spoke after the race, but at the same time we left the track very early, immediately afterwards anyway. I think it was an on-track fight and I apologise obviously for what I did after the incident. But in terms of the fight we had on track, it was, I guess, deemed as a racing incident and something that was an in-the-moment battle.”
Following the incident, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said it was an “unnecessary collision” and that he saw “Lawson as being more to blame”. Lawson could still find himself at the senior Red Bull team next year should they opt to drop an underperforming Perez.
Asked if he had spoken to Marko and Horner since the scrap with Perez, Lawson replied: “I don’t think they want me to race differently. But obviously, the target is not to make contact with another Red Bull car, and as I said at the time it wasn’t my intention in the moment, and looking back maybe I could have avoided it and clearly that would have been the right thing to do at the time.”