Grand Prix of Sao Paulo: Track and statistics

FORMULA 1 LENOVO GRANDE PREMIO DE SAO PAULO 2024
Date Route Circle length Kroogov Distance
01-03/11/2024 Interlagos 4309 m 71 305,909 km
official website

The Autodromo José Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, southeastern Brazil, is traditionally praised before the race and criticized after. The track allows overtaking, there are several interesting sections, but after the finish they remember the bumpy asphalt, the unusual counterclockwise movement and the rampant crime.

In 2010, an armed attack was carried out on Jenson Button. Since then, teams have not recommended that staff appear unescorted away from public places. Many European journalists and photographers simply do not go to this stage, fearing for their safety.

The autodrome was built with private money and opened for racing in 1940. It became municipal property – for a small fee the committee for the celebration of the city’s centenary bought it from the previous owners. In 1972, Interlagos hosted the first Formula 1 race and in 1990 the Brazilian Grand Prix found a permanent home in Sao Paulo.

The circuit is often called Interlagos, although officially the circuit is named after Jose Carlos Pace, who died in a plane crash in 1977. Not far from the main entrance is a bronze monument to the racer. Interlagos is a geographical term; the circuit is located between two reservoirs that supply Sao Paulo with water and electricity.

New asphalt was laid for the 2014 race, the paddock was expanded and a large office complex built for the 2015 round, and in 2017 the modernization program, worth approximately $60 million, was completed.

The contract for the Brazilian Grand Prix expired in 2020. There was talk of moving the stage from Interlagos to a new circuit in Rio de Janeiro, which had yet to be built, but the regional authorities shut down this project. Formally due to protests from environmental activists, but in fact due to the lack of guarantees from Formula 1 under which investments could be attracted.

In 2020 the stage was canceled due to the pandemic, but in November they announced the signing of a new five-year contract to organize the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The stage changed its national status to a geographical one and acquired a new promoter – the organization is carried out by the Brasil Motorsport company, owned by investors of the Mubadala fund from Abu Dhabi. Alan Adler, a specialist with extensive experience in sports and entertainment, is now responsible for hosting the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Characteristics of the trajectory

The technical Brazilian circuit is the fourth longest circuit on the 2024 Formula 1 calendar (4.309 km in total), after Monaco, Zandvoort and Mexico. It is located at an altitude of 800 meters, but after Mexico City (2,300 m above sea level) this will not be a problem.

Interlagos is a route of two extremes. The first and third sectors require low drag on long straights, but the middle sector is twisty and requires high downforce.

With the arrival of the second DRS zone, engineers started to focus on downforce to achieve the best lap times, but it is also important to maintain maximum speed on the straights during the race.

The largest height difference (40 meters) is straight ahead from the start/finish to the 4th bend.

The long straight before the start of the lap requires an intelligent distribution of ERS energy to achieve maximum efficiency during the acceleration lap before the start of the fast lap.

Thanks to the long straights and the second DRS zone, Interlagos is one of the best circuits for overtaking. It is difficult for the defender to control the battery charge, because there are not many large braking zones on the track to recover energy.

Interlagos is a very fluid circuit with many combination corners (where you corner and brake at the same time), so stability is very important.

The weather in Sao Paulo is unpredictable and changeable and often becomes a key factor on weekends.

Interlagos

Nick Chesterengineer: “It is difficult to find optimal settings in Interlagos. The middle section is very twisty, with many slow bends, followed by a long, uphill bend that ends in a long straight where you rely on the power and dynamics of the bike.

In the middle sector it is important for the driver that the car handles the corners well and the tendency to understeer is not so evident, and at the exit it is necessary that the drive wheels hold the line well during acceleration.

It is quite difficult to find a compromise when choosing the level of downforce. You want it to be less in the last sector, and more in other areas. To find this trade-off, we rely on computer simulation data. Normally in Brazil we reduce the downforce level slightly compared to the calculated downforce, but we will probably do the same now.”

Best session results for the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix
Event Weather Racer Team Time
First workout Cloudy. Dry K. Sainz Ferrari 1:11,732
Qualification Cloudy. Dry M. Verstappen Red Bull 1:10,727
Sprint qualification Sunny. Dry L.Norris McLaren 1:10,622
Best sprint lap Sunny. Dry D. Russell Mercedes 1:14,422
Best lap of the race Sunny. Dry L.Norris McLaren 1:12,486

Grand Prix of Brazil

Weekend schedule

The Brazilian weekend will again be held in the sprint format on Saturday. You can follow the progress of all Formula 1 sessions on our live broadcast page.

Schedule of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Moscow time
Day Event Time
01/11 Formula 1. First training 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
01/11 Formula 1 sprint qualification 21:30 – 22:14
02/11 Formula 1.Sprint 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
02/11 Formula 1. Qualifying 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
03/11 Formula 1. Parade of pilots 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM
03/11 Formula 1. Grand Prix of Sao Paulo (71 laps or 120 minutes) 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Tire kits issued to teams for the weekend

This year Pirelli will bring a trio of ‘soft’ compounds to the Brazilian stage – C3, C4 and C5 named Hard, Medium and Soft.

Podium for the Brazilian Grand Prix

Performance of active pilots in Brazil

Performance of the current drivers at the Interlagos circuit
Racer GP Glasses Circles Best pool 1st row quickly
circle
stage victory
All leader start finish
F. Alonso 20 139 1282 18 1 2 1 1 9
L. Hamilton 16 185 1090 184 1 1 3 7 4 7 3
S. Perez 12 66 775 4 4 1
V. Bottas 11 56 630 3 1 2 2 2 2 2
N. Hulkenberg 11 37 567 35 1 5 1 1
M. Verstappen 8 134 567 176 1 1 2 3 1 5 2
K. Sainz 8 62 495 3 3 2
K. Magnussen 8 5 284 7 9 1
P. Gasly 6 30 423 6 2 1
E. Okon 6 9 352 8 8
L. Walk 6 11 392 3 5
S. Leclerc 5 35 278 2 4 1
D. Russell 4 39 269 66 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
L.Norris 4 33 262 3 5 2 1
Yu.Tsunoda 3 5 211 15 9
A. Elbon 3 142 5 14
G.Zhou 2 93 13 12
O. Piastri 1 69 10 14
Lawson and Colapinto did not participate in the Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit

Max Verstappen: “I like the Brazilian circuit, it has an interesting configuration with a characteristic height difference, and the counterclockwise movement makes the task even more interesting.

The track is quite technical, especially the winding second sector – everything has to be done correctly there to set a good time. Like many of the circuits we compete in, Interlagos has a rich history and has hosted many exciting events over the years, making this race a special place on the calendar.”

Brazilian Grand Prix: all stages
Date Route Pool Winner
05/11/23 Interlagos M. Verstappen Red Bull M. Verstappen Red Bull
13/11/22 Interlagos K. Magnussen Hare D. Russell Mercedes
14/11/21 Interlagos M. Verstappen Red Bull L. Hamilton Mercedes
17-11-19 Interlagos M. Verstappen Red Bull M. Verstappen Red Bull
11/11/18 Interlagos L. Hamilton Mercedes L. Hamilton Mercedes
12/11/17 Interlagos V. Bottas Mercedes S. Vettel Ferrari
13/11/16 Interlagos L. Hamilton Mercedes L. Hamilton Mercedes
15/11/15 Interlagos N. Rosberg Mercedes N. Rosberg Mercedes
09/11/14 Interlagos N. Rosberg Mercedes N. Rosberg Mercedes
24/11/13 Interlagos S. Vettel Red Bull S. Vettel Red Bull
25/11/12 Interlagos L. Hamilton McLaren D. Button McLaren
27/11/11 Interlagos S. Vettel Red Bull M. Webber Red Bull
07/11/10 Interlagos N. Hulkenberg Williams S. Vettel Red Bull
18-10-09 Interlagos R. Barrichello Brawn GP M. Webber Red Bull
02/11/08 Interlagos F. Mass Ferrari F. Mass Ferrari
21/10/07 Interlagos F. Mass Ferrari K. Raikkonen Ferrari
22/10/06 Interlagos F. Mass Ferrari F. Mass Ferrari
25/09/05 Interlagos F. Alonso Renault H. Montoya McLaren
24/10/04 Interlagos R. Barrichello Ferrari H. Montoya Williams
06/04/03 Interlagos R. Barrichello Ferrari D. Fisichella Jordan
31/03/02 Interlagos H. Montoya Williams M. Schumacher Ferrari
01/04/01 Interlagos M. Schumacher Ferrari D. Coulthard McLaren
26/03/00 Interlagos M. Hakkinen McLaren M. Schumacher Ferrari
11/04/99 Interlagos M. Hakkinen McLaren M. Hakkinen McLaren
29/03/98 Interlagos M. Hakkinen McLaren M. Hakkinen McLaren
03/30/97 Interlagos J. Villeneuve Williams J. Villeneuve Williams
31/03/96 Interlagos D. Hill Williams D. Hill Williams
26/03/95 Interlagos D. Hill Williams M. Schumacher Benetton
27/03/94 Interlagos A. Senna Williams M. Schumacher Benetton
28/03/93 Interlagos A. Prost Williams A. Senna McLaren
05/04/92 Interlagos N. Mansell Williams N. Mansell Williams
24/03/91 Interlagos A. Senna McLaren A. Senna McLaren
25/03/90 Interlagos A. Senna McLaren A. Prost Ferrari
26/03/89 Jacarepagua A. Senna McLaren N. Mansell Ferrari
03/04/88 Jacarepagua A. Senna McLaren A. Prost McLaren
04/12/87 Jacarepagua N. Mansell Williams A. Prost McLaren
23/03/86 Jacarepagua A. Senna Lotus N. Pique Williams
04/07/85 Jacarepagua M.Alboreto Ferrari A. Prost McLaren
25/03/84 Jacarepagua E. de Angelis Lotus A. Prost McLaren
03/13/83 Jacarepagua K. Rosberg Williams N. Pique Brabham
21/03/82 Jacarepagua A. Prost Renault A. Prost Renault
29/03/81 Jacarepagua N. Pique Brabham K. Reutemann Williams
01-27-80 Interlagos J.Jabouille Renault R. Arnoux Renault
04/02/79 Interlagos J. Laffite Ligier J. Laffite Ligier
29/01/78 Jacarepagua R.Peterson Lotus K. Reutemann Ferrari
23/01/77 Interlagos D. Hunting McLaren K. Reutemann Ferrari
25/01/76 Interlagos D. Hunting McLaren N. Lauda Ferrari
26/01/75 Interlagos J. Jarier Shadow K.Pas Brabham
27/01/74 Interlagos E. Fittipaldi McLaren E. Fittipaldi McLaren
11/02/73 Interlagos R.Peterson Lotus E. Fittipaldi Lotus

Source: F1 News

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