Brazilian Grand Prix - São Paulo, 11/24/2013

Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, São Paulo

The Brazilian Grand Prix has been part of the Formula One Championship since 1973. Since 1990 it has been hosted on the circuit of Interlagos named Carlos Pace, after the Brazilian Formula 1 driver, who had lost his life in a plane crash and who won his only race here in 1975. The tack can be found in a natural hollow between two artificial lakes. The 4,309 metres are driven anti-clockwise and the track is one of the shortest on the entire race calendar. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not a challenging track: fast corners, bends and changing slopes – all on a rough surface – create a circuit, which is very fast in the first and last sectors, with a very technical mid-section. The right set up is a compromise between high aerodynamic load and low drag. With its 875 metres above sea level it’s the “highest” of the tracks in the Championship. That’s why the engine’s performance suffers and produces about 7% less. The changing weather is a further unknown factor at the last race of the season.

Keep an eye on
After the 320 km/h on the home straight the drivers arrive at the first left-hand S-bend the “Senna-S” on a slope with just over 100 km/h: a difficult point where many spectacular overtaking manoeuvres have taken place.
The “Junçao”, bend no. 12, is fundamental for a good lap time: a good exit speed allows the cars to “drive up” the slope to arrive at the finishing line as fast as possible.

Did you know that
So far the Scuderia Ferrari has won 10 times at the Brazilian GP: the first time with Niki Lauda in 1976, followed by two consecutive wins in the following years by Carlos Reutemann. A legendary success came in 1989: at his first race with the Scuderia Nigel Mansell gained victory with the F1-89 at its debut. It was the first single-seater in Formula 1 with shit paddles at the steering wheel. After Alain Prost’s victory in 1990 it took ten long years to see another Ferrarista on the highest step of the podium in Brazil. In 2000 Michael Schumacher won the race and again in 2002. From 2006 to 2008 the Brazilian GP was always won by Ferrari.
In 2007 Kimi Raikkonen won the race and the World Title, while in the years 2006 and 2008 victory was signed by Felipe Massa. The win in 2008 had a bitter aftertaste: despite his success in the season’s final race, the Brazilian lost the Championship by one point to Lewis Hamilton. A similar result in 2012 when Fernando Alonso gained second place, which wasn’t enough to hold Sebastian Vettel back from winning the third World Title of his career.

See what happened last year ->

• Victories

  1. 1976 Lauda312 T
  2. 1977 Reutemann312 T2
  3. 1978 Reutemann312 T2
  4. 1989 MansellF1-89
  5. 1990 ProstF1-90
  6. 2000 SchumacherF1-2000
  7. 2002 SchumacherF-2002
  8. 2006 Massa248 F1
  9. 2007 RaikkonenF 2007
  10. 2008 MassaF 2008

• Pole Positions

  1. 1985 Alboreto156-85
  2. 2001 SchumacherF2001
  3. 2003 BarrichelloF2002
  4. 2004 BarrichelloF2004
  5. 2006 Massa248 F1
  6. 2007 MassaF2007
  7. 2008 MassaF2008

• Race best laps

  1. 1974 Regazzoni312 B3-74
  2. 1978 Reutemann312 T2
  3. 1988 BergerF1-87/88
  4. 2000 SchumacherF1-2000
  5. 2003 BarrichelloF2002
  6. 2006 Schumacher248 F1
  7. 2007 RaikkonenF2007
  8. 2008 MassaF2008

• Podiums

  1. First place:10 times
  2. Second place:7 times
  3. Third place:9 times

• Hall of Honours

  1. 1973 E. FittipaldiLOTUS-FORD
  2. 1974 E. FittipaldiLOTUS-FORD
  3. 1975 C. PaceBRABHAM-FORD
  4. 1976 N. LaudaFERRARI
  5. 1977 C. ReutemannFERRARI
  6. 1978 C. ReutemannFERRARI
  7. 1979 J. LafitteLIGIER-FORD
  8. 1980 R. ArnouxRENAULT
  9. 1981 C. ReutemannWILLIAMS-FORD
  10. 1982 A. ProstRENAULT
  11. 1983 N. PiquetWILLIAMS-HONDA
  12. 1984 A. ProstMCLAREN-PORSCHE
  13. 1985 A. ProstMCLAREN-PORSCHE
  14. 1986 N. PiquetWILLIAMS-HONDA
  15. 1987 A. ProstMCLAREN-PORSCHE
  16. 1988 A. ProstMCLAREN-HONDA
  17. 1989 N. MansellFERRARI
  18. 1990 A. ProstFERRARI
  19. 1991 A. SennaMCLAREN-HONDA
  20. 1992 N. MansellWILLIAMS-RENAULT
  21. 1993 A. SennaMCLAREN-FORD
  22. 1994 M. SchumacherBENETTON-FORD
  23. 1995 M. SchumacherBENETTON-RENAULT
  24. 1996 D. HillWILLIAMS-RENAULT
  25. 1997 J. VilleneuveWILLIAMS-RENAULT
  26. 1998 M. HakkinenMCLAREN-MERCEDES
  27. 1999 M. HakkinenMCLAREN-MERCEDES
  28. 2000 M. SchumacherFERRARI
  29. 2001 D. CoulthardMCLAREN-MERCEDES
  30. 2002 M. SchumacherFERRARI
  31. 2003 G. FisichellaJORDAN-FORD
  32. 2004 J. P. MontoyaWILLIAMS-BMW
  33. 2005 J. P. MontoyaMCLAREN-MERCEDES
  34. 2006 F. MassaFERRARI
  35. 2007 K. RaikkonenFERRARI
  36. 2008 F. MassaFERRARI
  37. 2009 M. WebberRED BULL-RENAULT
  38. 2010 S. VettelRED BULL-RENAULT
  39. 2011 M. WebberRED BULL-RENAULT
  40. 2012 J.ButtonMCLAREN-MERCEDES

Updated at the end of season 2012

• Practice 1
• Practice 2
• Practice 3
• Qualifying
• Race