Formula One Vault

PRIXVIEW – Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Round twenty-one of the season brings F1 to Interlagos for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos. Officially called Autodromo José Carlos Pace, the circuit has always been referred to by its former name from when it was built in the late 1930s retaining the name Interlagos until 1985.

Interlagos translates into English roughly as ‘Between two lakes’, which were built in the early 20th century to supply the city with water and electric power, the circuit has been home to classic title deciders over the last two decades. The circuit is a technical circuit which requires more downforce and driveability. The circuit is one loved by drivers because of its technical nature and good driveability.

The shorter 2.667-mile circuit was introduced in 1990 running around a natural bowl in the hillside of the valley its one of few anti-clockwise circuits which place more stress on the driver’s body. The circuit features electronic corners the Senna S, Descida do Lago, and Juncao where some of the best overtaking opportunities.

Adding to the challenges are the inclines, grass run-off areas, bumpy track surface and unpredictable weather. Anything can happen, mixed conditions are also common being in a region of the world where weather can change in minutes from a warm sunny afternoon to torrential rain.

This is a technical circuit where you need a good car in the corners where a good exit is key because there are only two main ‘straights’/ flat out section, between Curva do Sol (Turn Three) and Decida do Lago (Four) and the climb up the hill from Jucao (Twelve) through thirteen, Subida dos Boxes (Fourteen) and Arcquibancadas (Fifteen) before breaking for the Senna S (One/Two).

This leads to one of the key overtaking spots as cars brake into the first corner after a largely flat-out final sector. The more technical sector from Ferradura (Horseshoe/Six) to Mergylho (Eleven) requires the opposite, good cornering and the ability to get the power down on the exit of Jucao for the flat-out final sector. The circuit can be also impacted by changeable conditions.

Its also another race like Mexico City which is at altitude which acts as a performance leveller and this generation of cars has created closer racing at a circuit where overtaking is possible. This however comes not without risk as this circuit is lined with grass and gravel which means that mistakes are more costly.

This year’s race marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first world championship Grand Prix at Interlagos was in 1974, this circuit has always favoured local men, with Emerson Fittipaldi winning the first race followed by Pace himself. While both Ayrton Senna and Felipe Massa two wins each, memorably 1991 and 2008 were two of the greatest races at Interlagos.

Pace was killed in a plane crash in 1977. Attached to its facilities there is a kart circuit named after Ayrton Senna, following his death at Imola. Sao Paulo-born drivers have always gone well in their home city, Pace the circuit of named after winning in 1974. When the race returned to Interlagos in the 1990s, Senna took his only home win in 1991 and 1993, Felipe Massa in 2006 and that dramatic 2008 title decider

977 was won by Reutemann, but the drivers began complaining about Interlagos very rough surface, and the event was then relocated for a year to the new Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro. It returned to Interlagos two years later with  Jacques Laffite to complete his and Ligier’s conquest of the opening South American rounds in Argentina and Brazil.

The following year and until 1989 the race moved to Rio, at the now demolished Jacarpagua, now the Barra Olympic Park after being demolished in 2007. The tropical conditions in Rio made the race one of the most physically demanding of the season with drivers often collapsing at the end of the race.

The races in Rio were dominated by Alian Prost with the Frenchman earning the title ‘King of Rio’, he took four wins at the circuit. Including beating teammate Ayrton Senna who started on pole in his first race for McLaren in 1988, and finishing second the Brazilian would be later disqualified for switching to his spare car after the parade lap had begun. The 1989 event was the last race at Jacarepagua.

Since 1990, the race has been held at the shortened version of Interlagos except in 2020 when it was cancelled due to Covid. The 2.6-mile circuit retains its reparation for chaos and dramatic races. But it was Prost who bet local rival and McLaren teammate Senna to victory a hugely unpopular winner given the crash with Senna at Suzuka the previous season.

Senna’s victory the following year is seen as one of the greatest drives in the sport’s history, throughout the race his gearbox failed in the closing stages making the car much more difficult and physically demanding to drive, but he still eventually won holding off Williams driver Riccardo Patrese. His exhaustion was so high that had to be extricated from his car.

For the last two decades, the race has been one of the or final races of the season, this has led to some incredible and dramatic title-deciding races. 2005 saw Fernando Alonso take his first title and become at the time the youngest world champion with third. He also took his second title the following year after Michael Schumacher, in what was expected to be his final race retiring with a puncher.

Alonso would lose his status as the youngest champion to Lewis Hamilton following a dramatic climax in 2008. Going into the final laps rain fell forcing a late change to inters, while Massa won the race and nearly the title Lewis Hamilton in one of the most dramatic climaxes to a season, got past Timo Glock into fifth at the final corner on the final lap to take the title by one point.

2009 saw a three-way fight on paper but was ultimately about Brawn and a fairytale ending to their debut season. Button played the long game while Vettel made a poor start, the Englishman but the end of lap one was just outside the points but his better pace saw him overtake several cars. At the second stop, Button and Hamilton both leapfrogged Vettel, but the Brawn was stuck behind Heikki Kovalainen.

Meanwhile, results of others were going Button’s way, Barrichello was forced into an extra stop after inadvertently damaging the Brazilian’s tyre, causing a puncture and forcing him to pit. He resumed in eighth, with Vettel’s fourth placing meaning that, barring a dramatic turn in events, Button would be the 2009 World Champion even if he retired.

Button’s fifth place from fourteenth on the grid was enough for him to secure the 2009 World Championship, becoming the tenth British champion and the first British champion to succeed another since 1969 when Jackie Stewart succeeded Graham Hill as World Champion.

2012 was another classic title decider as Vettel fought Alonso for a third world title, it looked as if Alonso was going to take it as the Red Bull driver made a poor start dropping him to last after spinning off at the Senna S on the opening lap, dropping him to last. But it was a hugely impressive drive by the German who managed to overtake several cars getting up to sixth though Alonso was second, Vettel still took the title by three points.

2014 saw the totally dominant Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Hamilton finish 1–2 in the race. 2015 saw Rosberg win again; he had spent most of that season demoralized and at the mercy of his teammate Hamilton, who won his third Drivers’ Championship. Hamilton won a chaotic and wet race in 2016 which was defined by multiple accidents, safety cars and red flags, making it the longest race ever at Interlagos lasting for just over three hours.

Vettel took victory again in 2017 after overtaking Valtteri Bottas at the start going on to control the remainder of the race with a nearly three-second win. While Hamilton recovered from a pit lane start following a crash in qualifying to finish fourth behind Kimi Raikkonen. The race saw numerous first-lap crashes, with Romain Grosjean losing the rear and clipping Esteban Ocon, while Stoffel Vandoorne and Kevin Magnussen also retired due to a collision on the first lap.

Hamilton and Bottas finishing one-two in 2018 saw Mercedes secure a fifth consecutive constructors, while Raikkonen took his final podium. Max Verstappen took victory in another chaotic race in 2019 after overtaking Hamilton twice during the race with his final pass with six laps remaining to win, while the Mercedes driver was given a late penalty following contact with Alex Albon.

Following a Covid hiatus in 2020, the race returned in 2021 being renamed the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and ever since been the only race to feature the sprint format. Hamilton was excluded from qualifying and started the sprint last recovering to fifth for the Grand Prix ahead of title rival Verstappen. In the race Hamilton once again came threw to take victory by ten seconds after undercutting the Red Bull at the second round of stops, to win.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast facts

• The city of São Paulo itself where Interlagos is located is known by the nickname “Land of the Drizzle”.
• Since their return to the sport in 2010, Mercedes never failed to see both of their cars not finish until Valtteri Bottas retired from the 2019 event. At least one of their cars has scored in all of the past ten Interlagos races.
• Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz recorded the first podium finishes of their careers at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. It was the first time that two drivers had taken their maiden podium finish in the same race since the 1994 German Grand Prix.
• Five Brazilian drivers have won the Brazilian Grand Prix, with Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Felipe Massa each winning twice, and Jose Carlos Pace winning once

Event timetable

What happened in 2023?

GP Qualifying saw Max Verstappen beat Charles Leclerc by almost three-tenths of a second to take pole with a 10.727.  On his first run in Q3 topping the time before the sky got darker and darker as the rain moved in and caused the session to be abandoned with five minutes to go. But until Q3 was abandoned it appeared to be an open fight for pole. Aston Martin timed their runs perfectly with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso going third and fourth, Stroll beating his teammate by four-hundredths of a second.

Sprint qualifying saw Lando Norris beat Verstappen by six hundredths to take pole, he was somewhat bemused after feeling that his lap was not particularly special. The Red Bull went quickest in S1 but fell away during the remainder of the lap. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez was third, seven hundredths behind, as he went ahead of both Mercedes, with George Russell eight hundredths faster than his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen took the lead following a lighting start before taking a four-second win ahead of Norris, who appeared to get bogged down at the start and lost the lead to the Red Bull. For much of the sprint, Russell maintained second as Verstappen drove steadily to his fourth sprint victory in 2023, but Norris wasn’t giving up and with the Mercedes looking to struggle for pace came back at Russell.

In the race, the Dutchman took a dominant eight-second victory ahead of Norris as he looked unstoppable and he took his fifty-second in of his career moving him ahead of Alain Prost to go fourth in the all-time Grand Prix winners’ list. He mastered both starts after the race was stopped early on following a multi-car collision through the Senna S.

Every time Norris tried to pass Verstappen he had an answer and closed the door which prevented the McLaren from overtaking. A slow second start for Fernando Alonso allowed Norris down the inside at the Senna S on the restart before the McLaren fended of Lewis Hamilton who got into third.

But Alonso would recover hanging on to third following a close battle with Sergio Perez, in the final stages of the race. The Aston Martin and Red Bull taking it to the final two laps, Perez had got passed Alonso sweeping around the outside through the Senna S taking third, but Alonso managed to stay with the Mexican

What to watch for?

We are in a period of unpredictability as we go into these final four races and there are only forty-seven points between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, and that’s not a big lead that could in theory see Norris lead the championship going into Abu Dhabi. It has in recent races appeared to me to that Red Bull has bigger problems having slipped since Barcelona.

There has also been friction between the two title rivals in the previous two races as they have been fighting behind both Ferrari’s for third as they both need the points to secure the championship. Ferrari has won the last two races with Charles Leclerc still mathematically in the championship race, but I think Red Bull needs to get their act together or they now are at a growing risk of losing both championships.

Mercedes has had two difficult races losing one car in Q1 or SQ1 at the last two races I don’t understand how the progress we saw in the middle of the year has gone. Yes they are likely now to be on the back foot in their fight with Ferrari for third in the constructors, with two big crashes which has seen them lose their latest upgrade specs. They have taken a few victories this season when they have taken advantage of situations and Interlagos variables could present another opportunity.

This weekend there is another caveat to the normal ones we see in Sao Paulo because the track has been resurfaced, we know conditions change very quickly given we have changeable conditions around Interlagos. Interlagos is a challenging circuit we can see weather bubble up and rain move in creating rivers across the circuit. It does, however, dry quickly which leads to rapid track evolution, we can see drivers being caught out by the standing water and that can lead to safety cars in the sprint and the race and red flags in qualifying.

It is very tight at the moment and the variables of Interlagos being at altitude once again like we saw last weekend in Mexico times will be very tight ad in weather as mentioned the qualifying sessions could be very tight once again. So being on track at the right time is going to be key here because this season we have seen rapid track evolution.

2022 vs 2023 Race Data

2023 Lap time comparison

Tyres