A Brazilian Grand Prix was first held in 1972 at Interlagos, although it was not part of the Formula One World Championship. Typical of European motorsports at the time, this race was done as a test to convince the FIA if the Interlagos circuit and its organizers could capably hold a Grand Prix.
The following year, however, the race was first included in the official calendar, and it was won by defending world champion and São Paulo native Emerson Fittipaldi.
In 1978 the Brazilian Grand Prix moved to Jacarepaguá in Rio de Janeiro.
After the emergence in 1980 of Rio de Janeiro racer Nelson Piquet and the retirement of Fittipaldi, Brazilian fans lobbied to host the Brazilian GP in Piquet’s home town.
The flat Jacarepaguá circuit, like Interlagos before it, proved to be extremely demanding.
São Paulo native Ayrton Senna’s success thus far in Formula One had city officials working hard to revamp the Interlagos circuit in a $15 million investment to shorten and smooth over the circuit.
In 1990 the Grand Prix returned to a shortened Interlagos, where it has stayed since. The Interlagos circuit has created some of the most exciting and memorable races in recent Formula One history, and is regarded as one of the most challenging and exciting circuits on the F1 calendar.
Brazilian Prix, Round 19 of the 2017 Formula 1 season
Circuit Name: Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Race Laps: 71
Circuit Length: 4.309 km (2.677 mi)
Race Length: 305.909 km (190.067 mi)
Number of corners: 15 (10 Left, 5 Right)
Circuit Direction: Anti Clockwise
Pole Position 2016: Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes 1:10.736
Distance from pole to T1 apex: 334.5 m
Pole position side: Right
Pit lane length under speed limit control: 387.1 m
Drive-through time at 80 km/h: 17.419 s
Lap time at full throttle: 55%
Lap distance at full throttle: 68%
Gear changes per lap: 44
Braking events (>2G): 6
Heavy braking events (<0.4s @ >4G): 2
Fuel consumption: Low
Maximum lateral G-force: 3.9 G (T6)
Maximum speed: 341.0 km/h
Track evolution (P1 – Qualifying): Low
DRS zone: T3-4 / T15-1
Key overtaking opportunities: T1, T4
Race lap record: 1:11.473 (MON, 2004)
Absolute lap record: 1:09.822 (BAR, 1st Quali, 2004)
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Pirelli used compounds
Tyres that must be available (one of them to be used) at some point in the race:
One set of P Zero White Medium
One set of P Zero Yellow soft
Tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying:
One set of P Zero Red Super-Soft
Teams/Drivers compounds choice
|
Driver |
Medium |
Soft |
Super-Soft |
|
Lewis Hamilton |
1 |
4 |
8 |
|
Valtteri Bottas |
1 |
4 |
8 |
|
Daniel Ricciardo |
1 |
4 |
8 |
|
Max Verstappen |
1 |
3 |
9 |
|
Sebastian Vettel |
1 |
3 |
9 |
|
Kimi Raikkonen |
1 |
3 |
9 |
|
Sergio Perez |
1 |
4 |
8 |
|
Esteban Ocon |
1 |
4 |
8 |
|
Lance Stroll |
1 |
2 |
10 |
|
Felipe Massa |
1 |
2 |
10 |
|
Stoffel Vandoorne |
1 |
3 |
9 |
|
Fernando Alonso |
1 |
3 |
9 |
|
Pierre Gasly |
1 |
4 |
8 |
|
Brendon Hartley |
1 |
4 |
8 |
|
Romain Grosjean |
1 |
4 |
8 |
|
Kevin Magnussen |
1 |
4 |
8 |
|
Nico Hulkenberg |
1 |
2 |
10 |
|
Carlos Sainz |
1 |
2 |
10 |
|
Marcus Ericsson |
1 |
3 |
9 |
|
Pascal Wehrlein |
1 |
3 |
9 |
THE CIRCUIT FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW:
The track was resurfaced relatively recently, which ironed out some of the famous Interlagos bumps.
The second-shortest lap of the season (after Monaco) means cars are not only nearly always turning, but also going off-line to overtake.
The track runs anti-clockwise, with the right-rear tyre doing the most work in Brazil.
The rapid series of corners and high-energy loads put quite high demands on tyres.
Tyres are also frequently subjected to combined lateral and longitudinal forces.
Unusually, Lewis Hamilton won last year in rainy conditions without making a racing pit stop, although he did take a fresh set of wets under a red flag.
In 2015, the top three stopped three times
MARIO ISOLA – HEAD OF CAR RACING
“As we saw at the last round in Mexico as well, for Brazil we are again bringing a softer tyre nomination than last year – when the hard was selected – so this is likely to lead to some of the fastest-ever laps of Interlagos this weekend. With a short lap, plus plenty of pit stops and overtaking, as well as a passionate Brazilian crowd and the potential for
extremes of weather, this is normally a frenetic race where the strategic timing of stops is very important to try and minimise the effects of traffic. While we’ve gone a step softer this year, no driver has selected more than one set of the mediums, which means that the weekend will be centred around the soft and supersoft compounds.”
INTERLAGOS MINIMUM STARTING PRESSURES (SLICKS)
22.5 psi (front) | 20.0 psi (rear)
EOS CAMBER LIMIT
-3.25° (front) | -2.00° (rear)
Brazilian Grand Prix Winners 1973 – 2016
|
Year |
Driver |
Constructor |
Location |
|
2016 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
Interlagos |
|
2015 |
Nico Rosberg |
Mercedes |
|
|
2014 |
Nico Rosberg |
Mercedes |
|
|
2013 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Red Bull-Renault |
|
|
2012 |
Jenson Button |
McLaren-Mercedes |
|
|
2011 |
Mark Webber |
Red Bull-Renault |
|
|
2010 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Red Bull-Renault |
|
|
2009 |
Mark Webber |
Red Bull-Renault |
|
|
2008 |
Felipe Massa |
Ferrari |
|
|
2007 |
Kimi Räikkönen |
Ferrari |
|
|
2006 |
Felipe Massa |
Ferrari |
|
|
2005 |
Juan Pablo Montoya |
McLaren-Mercedes |
|
|
2004 |
Juan Pablo Montoya |
Williams-BMW |
|
|
2003 |
Giancarlo Fisichella |
Jordan-Ford |
|
|
2002 |
Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari |
|
|
2001 |
David Coulthard |
McLaren-Mercedes |
|
|
2000 |
Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari |
|
|
1999 |
Mika Häkkinen |
McLaren-Mercedes |
|
|
1998 |
Mika Häkkinen |
McLaren-Mercedes |
|
|
1997 |
Jacques Villeneuve |
Williams-Renault |
|
|
1996 |
Damon Hill |
Williams-Renault |
|
|
1995 |
Michael Schumacher |
Benetton-Renault |
|
|
1994 |
Michael Schumacher |
Benetton-Ford |
|
|
1993 |
Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Ford |
|
|
1992 |
Nigel Mansell |
Williams-Renault |
|
|
1991 |
Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda |
|
|
1990 |
Alain Prost |
Ferrari |
|
|
1989 |
Nigel Mansell |
Ferrari |
Jacarepaguá |
|
1988 |
Alain Prost |
McLaren-Honda |
|
|
1987 |
Alain Prost |
McLaren-TAG |
|
|
1986 |
Nelson Piquet |
Williams-Honda |
|
|
1985 |
Alain Prost |
McLaren-TAG |
|
|
1984 |
Alain Prost |
McLaren-TAG |
|
|
1983 |
Nelson Piquet |
Brabham-BMW |
|
|
1982 |
Alain Prost |
Renault |
|
|
1981 |
Carlos Reutemann |
Williams-Ford |
|
|
1980 |
René Arnoux |
Renault |
Interlagos |
|
1979 |
Jacques Laffite |
Ligier-Ford |
|
|
1978 |
Carlos Reutemann |
Ferrari |
Jacarepaguá |
|
1977 |
Carlos Reutemann |
Ferrari |
Interlagos |
|
1976 |
Niki Lauda |
Ferrari |
|
|
1975 |
Carlos Pace |
Brabham-Ford |
|
|
1974 |
Emerson Fittipaldi |
McLaren-Ford |
|
|
1973 |
Emerson Fittipaldi |
Lotus-Ford |
Multiple Winners (Drivers)
|
# Wins |
Driver |
Years Won |
|
6 |
Alain Prost |
1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 |
|
4 |
Michael Schumacher |
1994, 1995, 2000, 2002 |
|
3 |
Carlos Reutemann |
1977, 1978, 1981 |
|
2 |
Emerson Fittipaldi |
1973, 1974 |
|
Nelson Piquet |
1983, 1986 |
|
|
Nigel Mansell |
1989, 1992 |
|
|
Ayrton Senna |
1991, 1993 |
|
|
Mika Häkkinen |
1998, 1999 |
|
|
Juan Pablo Montoya |
2004, 2005 |
|
|
Felipe Massa |
2006, 2008 |
|
|
Mark Webber |
2009, 2011 |
|
|
Sebastian Vettel |
2010, 2013 |
|
|
Nico Rosberg |
2014, 2015 |
Multiple Winners (Constructors)
|
# of wins |
Constructor |
Years Won |
|
12 |
McLaren |
1974, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2012 |
|
10 |
Ferrari |
1976, 1977, 1978, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008 |
|
6 |
Williams |
1981, 1986, 1992, 1996, 1997, 2004 |
|
4 |
Red Bull |
2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 |
|
3 |
Mercedes |
2014, 2015, 2016 |
|
2 |
Brabham |
1975, 1983 |
|
Benetton |
1994, 1995 |
|
|
Renault |
1980, 1982 |
Numbers and Facts
Most wins (driver) 6, Alain Prost 1982 – 84 – 85 – 87 – 88 – 90 (Here most wins is 4 by Michael Schumacher)
Most wins (constructor) 12, McLaren 1974 – 84 – 85 – 87 – 88 – 91 – 93 – 98 – 99 – 2001 – 05 – 12 (Here McLaren and Ferrari with 8 wins)
Wins from pole position 14, 1974 – 79 – 82 – 91 – 92 – 97 – 98 – 99 – 2006 – 08 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 16
Lowest grid for past winner 8, 2003 – Giancarlo Fisichella for Jordan
Most recent 1-2 finish 2016 Mercedes Lewis Hamilton – Nico Rosberg
Most emphatic win (here) 1 lap, 1994 – Michael Schumacher-Damon Hill
Closest winning margin 0.588s, 2002 – Michael Schumacher-Ralf Schumacher
Rain-affected races 10, 1974 – 81 – 91 – 93 – 96 – 2001 – 03 – 08 – 12 – 16
Safety Car-affected races 10, 1993 – 2001 – 03 – 05 – 06 – 08 – 09 – 10 – 12 – 16
Red Flag (and result declared) races 2, 1974 – 2003
2-hour rule shortened races 1, 1981
Most podiums (driver) 10m Michael Schumacher 1992 – 1993 – 1994 – 1995 – 1996 – 1998 – 1999 – 2000 – 2001 – 2002
Most podiums (constructor) 31, McLaren (Recent 2012)
Most pole positions (driver) 6, Ayrton Senna 1986 – 88 – 89 – 90 – 91 – 94 (Here 3 – Senna, Hakkinen, Barrichello and Massa)
Most pole positions (constructor) 11, McLaren (Here 9 McLaren)
What Happened last race here?
Lewis Hamilton produced a masterful performance to win a wet, chaotic, crash-strewn Brazilian Grand Prix and take the title fight to the final race.
The victory cut the lead of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who finished second, to 12 points.
After each restart, Hamilton cruised easily away from Rosberg – building at one stage an 18-second lead in 14 laps before another safety car cut his lead to nothing.
Had Red Bull not gambled on fitting intermediate tyres to Verstappen’s car on lap 43, the Dutchman would almost certainly have split the Mercedes drivers.
However, Verstappen’s decision backfired. As the rain intensified, it became clear during a subsequent safety car period caused when Felipe Massa crashed on the pit straight on lap 48 that he needed to switch back to the full wets.
That left Verstappen down in 13th place but he set about recovering lost ground with incredible skill and gusto and fought up to pass Force India’s Sergio Perez to take third into the fast Mergulho corner with two laps to go.
And it also included an almost unbelievable moment when Verstappen had a half-spin on the straight but recovered the car and got going again without losing second place to Rosberg.
The race started under the safety car, and when it released the field after eight laps, than a crash by Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson on the pit straight brought the safety car back out.
Six laps later there was a restart, only for Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari to suffer a frightening-looking crash on the straight just after the start line, prompting race director Charlie Whiting to stop the race for the first time.
Thirty-five minutes later, the race started again under the safety car, only to be stopped again seven laps later when conditions were deemed too dangerous.
After another 25-minute delay, it was restarted, the safety car pulling in after three laps and there were 16 laps of racing before Massa’s crash.
That led to another safety car period, this time for seven laps, before the race was restarted and ran to the end.
Perez held on for fourth, less than a second ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who survived a spin earlier in the race out of the last corner.
2016 Race Classification
|
Pos |
Driver |
Constructor |
Time/Retired |
Grid |
|
1 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
3:01:01.335 |
1 |
|
2 |
Nico Rosberg |
Mercedes |
+11.455 |
2 |
|
3 |
Max Verstappen |
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer |
+21.481 |
4 |
|
4 |
Sergio Pérez |
Force India-Mercedes |
+25.346 |
9 |
|
5 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Ferrari |
+26.334 |
5 |
|
6 |
Carlos Sainz Jr. |
Toro Rosso-Ferrari |
+29.16 |
15 |
|
7 |
Nico Hülkenberg |
Force India-Mercedes |
+29.827 |
8 |
|
8 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer |
+30.4861 |
6 |
|
9 |
Felipe Nasr |
Sauber-Ferrari |
+42.62 |
21 |
|
10 |
Fernando Alonso |
McLaren-Honda |
+44.432 |
10 |
|
11 |
Valtteri Bottas |
Williams-Mercedes |
+45.292 |
11 |
|
12 |
Esteban Ocon |
MRT-Mercedes |
+45.809 |
22 |
|
13 |
Daniil Kvyat |
Toro Rosso-Ferrari |
+51.192 |
14 |
|
14 |
Kevin Magnussen |
Renault |
+51.555 |
18 |
|
15 |
Pascal Wehrlein |
MRT-Mercedes |
+1:00.498 |
19 |
|
16 |
Jenson Button |
McLaren-Honda |
+1:21.994 |
17 |
|
Ret |
Esteban Gutiérrez |
Haas-Ferrari |
Electrical |
12 |
|
Ret |
Felipe Massa |
Williams-Mercedes |
Accident |
13 |
|
Ret |
Jolyon Palmer |
Renault |
Collision damage |
16 |
|
Ret |
Kimi Räikkönen |
Ferrari |
Accident |
3 |
|
Ret |
Marcus Ericsson |
Sauber-Ferrari |
Accident |
20 |
|
DNS |
Romain Grosjean |
Haas-Ferrari |
Accident |
– |
Did you know?
DRIVERS
✪ Since Lewis Hamilton has been at Mercedes he has taken pole 46 times already, almost 50% of all races he’s started for the team (46/ 93 = 49%)
✪ Hamilton’s win to starts percentage is better than that of Michael Schumacher’s (30.1% compared to 29.7%)
✪ Hamilton has won 30.1% of all GP he’s started (62 wins from 206 starts) and is in the top 10 drivers races to win ratio of all-time. Here’s how he compares:-
- Fangio 47.0%, 2. Ascari 40.6%, 3. Clark 34.7%, 4. Hamilton 30.1%, 5. M. Schumacher 29.7%, 6. Ja. Stewart 27.2%, 7. Prost 25.6%, 8. A. Senna 25.5%, 9. Moss 24.2% 10. Vettel 23.4% (46/196)
✪ Hamilton is the only driver to have finished in the points in all races so far this season. Hamilton and Esteban Ocon are the only drivers to have finished all races in 2017
✪ Hamilton has now been classified as a finisher in all Grand Prix for over a season. His last DNF came in Japan last year
✪ Sebastian Vettel has not won back-to-back Grand Prix since he won the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix. That race ended a 9-race run of victories that started in Belgium,
(BEL, ITA, SIN, KOR, JAP, IND, ABU, USA, BRA)
✪ Vettel in Mexico took his 50th pole position in F1
✪ Vettel has started 13 races so far In 2017 from the front row, the most by any driver and 1 more time than Hamilton
✪ Vettel needs to lead ‘only’ 54 more race laps to equal Ayrton Senna’s career total of 2,987. The all-time most F1 race laps led is 5,111 by Michael Schumacher
✪ Daniel Ricciardo has led just 1 more race lap in his 127 F1 career than has 58 GP ‘veteran’ Max Verstappen (176 – 175)
✪ Verstappen scored his first GP win from a P4 start, his second from P3 and his 3rd from P2. You might be forgiven for waging money when he finally manages to take pole!
✪ Verstappen has competed the least number of race laps by any driver who has competed in all 18 races so far this season (693). The most is Hamilton on 1,069 race laps (out of 1,070)
✪ Kimi Raikkonen’s next win if ever it comes will be the 21st of his F1 career and will also be the most by a Finnish driver in F1. Currently he shares the record of 20 wins by a Finn with Mika Hakkinen. Another career stat he shares is 37 F1 front row appearances with Fernando Alonso
✪ Raikkonen’s next front row will be the 40th of his F1 career and will beat Mika Hakkinen’s record for the most front row grid positions by a Finnish driver in F1
✪ Sergio Perez needs just 1 more podium to become the top Mexican in terms of F1 podiums. He currently shares the record (7) with Pedro Rodriguez
✪ Brendon Hartley will celebrate his 28th birthday on Free Practice day, Friday 10th November
CONSTRUCTORS
✪ Mercedes in Brazil will be aiming to lockout the front row for the 50th time. The all-time record is 62 and is jointly held by McLaren and Williams.
✪ Mercedes has finished 1-2 here from Pole and P2 grid starts for the past 3 years
✪ Mercedes and Red Bull have each led 95 different F1 Grand Prix
✪ Ferrari has still not scored consecutive pole positions since Fernando Alonso took pole for the Scuderia at the 2012 British and German Grand Prix and has still not scored a consecutive front row lock-out since Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa lock-out the front row for the 2006 US and French Grand Prix
✪ Ferrari’s pole in Mexico meant that Ferrari engines have powered cars to 214 F1 Grand Prix pole positions, 1 more than any other engine manufacturer. Next-best is Renault (213) then Ford (139)
✪ Ferrari last season was the only team to score championship points at all 21 events
✪ Red Bull has achieved a podium result for at least one of their drivers in 112 different F1 Grand Prix
✪ A double-podium in Brazil for Red Bull Racing would be their 149th and 150th in F1
✪ If Red Bull Racing can finish at least 1 car I n the top 10 in Brazil it will be the team’s 200th F1 Grand Prix in the points
✪ The current Williams team traces its origins back to 1977. The team began by running a March for Belgian Patrick Neve who sadly died earlier is year and later in 1978, became a constructor running a single FW06 car for Alan Jones. In 1979 the team expanded to 2 cars with Clay Regazzoni joining Jones. Regazzoni won Williams’s first Grand Prix, at Silversone in 1979 while Jones claimed Williams’s first driver’s and first constructor’s titles in 1980. Frank Williams had made his first forays into F1 in 1969, running a Brabham for Piers Courage. Campaigns with De Tomaso, private March’s, with his own cars and Heskeths latterly in conjunction with Canadian-Austrian entrepreneur Walter Wolf followed but it wasn’t until Williams teamed up with Head in 1977 and started all over again that Williams’s F1 fortunes really took off
✪ McLaren has not led a F1 race lap since Jenson Button led lap 14 of the Hungarian GP in 2014. The team has started 64 GP since
BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
✪ Mercedes if they win on Sunday will become the first constructor to win 4 Brazilian Grand Prix in a row. They, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have each won 3 in a row
✪ The race for the past 4 years has been won by the pole position–winning driver
✪ Last year’s race took just over 3 hrs to complete. It is the longest Brazilian Grand Prix in terms of time from start to classified finish in the championship history of the event
Driver’s Championship standing
|
Pos |
Driver |
Points |
|
1 |
Lewis Hamilton |
333 |
|
2 |
Sebastian Vettel |
277 |
|
3 |
Valtteri Bottas |
262 |
|
4 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
192 |
|
5 |
Kimi Raikkonen |
178 |
|
6 |
Max Verstappen |
148 |
|
7 |
Sergio Perez |
92 |
|
8 |
Esteban Ocon |
83 |
|
9 |
Carlos Sainz |
54 |
|
10 |
Lance Stroll |
40 |
|
11 |
Felipe Massa |
36 |
|
12 |
Nico Hulkenberg |
34 |
|
13 |
Romain Grosjean |
28 |
|
14 |
Kevin Magnussen |
15 |
|
15 |
Stoffel Vandoorne |
13 |
|
16 |
Fernando Alonso |
11 |
|
17 |
Jolyon Palmer |
8 |
|
18 |
Pascal Wehrlein |
5 |
|
19 |
Daniil Kvyat |
5 |
|
20 |
Marcus Ericsson |
0 |
|
21 |
Pierre Gasly |
0 |
|
22 |
Antonio Giovinazzi |
0 |
|
24 |
Jenson Button |
0 |
|
24 |
Paul di Resta |
0 |
Constructor’s Championship standing
|
Pos |
Team |
Points |
|
1 |
Mercedes |
595 |
|
2 |
Ferrari |
455 |
|
3 |
Red Bull Racing-Tag Heuer |
340 |
|
4 |
Force India-Mercedes |
175 |
|
5 |
Williams-Mercedes |
76 |
|
6 |
Toro Rosso-Renault |
53 |
|
7 |
Haas-Ferrari |
48 |
|
8 |
Renault |
47 |
|
9 |
Mclaren-Honda |
24 |
|
10 |
Sauber-Ferrari |
5 |
Driver’s penalty points:
|
Driver |
Penalty points |
|
Daniil Kvyat |
7 |
|
Kevin Magnussen |
6 |
|
Jolyon Palmer |
6 |
|
Stoffel Vandoorne |
5 |
|
Felipe Massa |
5 |
|
Carlos Sainz |
4 |
|
Nico Hulkenberg |
4 |
|
Romain Grosjean |
4 |
|
Sebastian Vettel |
3 |
|
Max Verstappen |
3 |
|
Sergio Perez |
3 |
|
Kimi Raikkonen |
3 |
|
Esteban Ocon |
2 |
|
Pascal Wehrlein |
2 |
|
Lewis Hamilton |
2 |
|
Jenson Button |
2 |
|
Fernando Alonso |
2 |
|
Marcus Erricson |
2 |
|
Lance Stroll |
1 |
