The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
championship race which is currently held at the
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, is a motorsport circuit located in the city of São Paulo, in the neighborhood of Interlagos. It was inaugurated on 12 May 1940, by the federal intervener Adhemar de Barros. The t ...
in
Interlagos neighborhood,
Cidade Dutra
Cidade Dutra is one of 96 districts in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.
Neighborhoods of Cidade Dutra
* Chácara Meyer
* Chácara Monte Sol
* Cidade Dutra
* Conjunto Residencial Salvador Tolezani
* Granja Nossa Senhora Aparecida
* Jardim Alpi ...
,
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
.
Origins
![Circuit-gavea-1934](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Circuit-gavea-1934.png)
Motor racing started in Brazil before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, with races on the Gávea street circuit in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
starting in 1934. In 1936 construction began on Brazil's
first permanent autodrome in the
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
neighborhood of Interlagos and was finished in 1940. Brazil held Grands Prix during the early parts of WWII at Interlagos and Gavea. Interlagos, a circuit inspired in layout by the
Roosevelt Raceway
Roosevelt Raceway was a race track located just outside the village of Westbury on Long Island, New York. Initially created as a venue for motor racing, it was converted to a ½-mile harness racing facility (the actual circumference was 100 fee ...
in the United States quickly gained a reputation as being a tough and demanding circuit with many challenging corners, elevation changes, a rough surface, and little room for error.
Formula One
Interlagos, São Paulo
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. Like most major circuits used for Grands Prix in Latin America such as the Hermanos Rodríguez Autodrome in Mexico City, Interlagos was (and still is) located in the confines of a sprawling urban neighborhood in a very large city. 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
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
. In 1974, Fittipaldi won again in rain soaked conditions, and the year after, another São Paulo native,
Carlos Pace
José Carlos Pace (October 6, 1944 – March 18, 1977) was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting at the 1972 South African Grand Prix. He won one race, achieved six podiums, a ...
, won the race in his Brabham, followed by Fittipaldi. 1977 was won by Reutemann, but the drivers began complaining about Interlagos's very rough surface, and the event was then relocated for a year to the new Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro.
After a year in Rio, the race returned to Interlagos, with new and upgraded facilities for the next two seasons; this race was won by
Jacques Laffite
Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1.
...
to complete his and Ligier's conquest of the opening South American rounds in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and Brazil. But the Interlagos surface was still very bumpy. The original arrangement from 1978 onwards was to alternate the Brazilian Grand Prix between the São Paulo and Rio circuits; the 1980 race was originally supposed to be held at Jacarepaguá but parts of that circuit (which was originally built on a swamp) were beginning to sink into the soft ground and the circuit disintegrated badly, so the 1980 Grand Prix was to be relocated to Interlagos. But by this time, the population of São Paulo had risen from 5 to 8 million over the space of 10 years; the area surrounding the track was becoming increasingly run-down and surrounding the circuit did not look good for Formula One, which thanks to worldwide television exposure was becoming something of a glamorous spectacle. Formula One was originally supposed to come back to Interlagos for the 1981 season after the track surface there would be repaved; it turned out that F1 came back a year too early. The drivers were dissatisfied with the safety conditions of the very bumpy Interlagos circuit which had not been changed after the previous year's improvements. The ground-effect wing cars of that year had a tendency to bounce up and down thanks to the suction created by the cars' wing-shaped underbodies, and they were more stiffly suspended than before; so these fragile cars were barely tolerant of such a rough track and were very unpleasant to drive. The bad surface was so rough that the bumps caused mechanical problems for some cars. Also, the barriers and catch-fence arrangements were not adequate enough for Formula One.
Jody Scheckter
Jody David Scheckter (born 29 January 1950) is a South African business proprietor and former motor racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980, winning the Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari. Scheckter remains the only Afri ...
attempted to stop the race from going ahead but this did not work and the race ended up being won by Frenchman
René Arnoux
René Alexandre Arnoux (; born 4 July 1948) is a French former racing driver who competed in 12 Formula One seasons (1978 to 1989). He participated in 165 World Championship Grands Prix (149 starts) winning seven of them, achieving 22 podium fi ...
. With Formula One's more glamorous image being better suited to the better-looking city of Rio de Janeiro, the F1 circus went back to Rio again and the circuit went on to host the 1980s turbo era.
Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro
In the Brazilian Grand Prix moved to
Jacarepaguá
Jacarepaguá (), with a land area of , is a neighborhood situated in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2010, it had a population of 157,326. The name comes from the indigenous name of the location, "shallow pond of caymans", yakaré (c ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
. Argentine Carlos Reutemann dominated in his Ferrari, which was equipped with superior Michelin tyres. This proved to be the French company's first victory in Formula One. Reutemann was followed by home favorite Fittipaldi and defending champion
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
.
After the emergence in 1980 of Rio de Janeiro racer
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...
, the decline of Interlagos 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: most corners were long and fast, some were slightly banked and the track had a very abrasive surface. Due to the FIA calendar, which invariably had the Brazilian GP at the beginning of the season thus in the Southern hemisphere summer and the tropical weather of Rio, most races were held under very high temperatures and high humidity. Due to all of those circumstances, Grands Prix at Rio were highly demanding and most drivers who won it were exhausted in the end.
In 1981,
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver who raced in Formula One from to , and later became a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party, and governor o ...
disobeyed team orders to let his teammate
Alan Jones by and took the victory; the following year Piquet finished 1st and
Keke Rosberg
Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...
finished 2nd but because of the
FISA–FOCA war
The FISA–FOCA war was a political battle contested throughout the early 1980s by two now defunct representative organizations in Formula One motor racing, the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) and the Formula One Construct ...
, Piquet and Rosberg were both disqualified for being underweight in post-race scrutineering, and the race victory was given to 3rd placed
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...
, who would go on to win at Jacarepaguá 4 more times (thus earning the nickname "the King of Rio"). The race also saw Italian
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .
He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and ...
retire due to physical exhaustion (a very rare occurrence in F1, but quite common at Rio). Piquet won in 1983 and 1986, and the 1988 race was particularly notable, as up-and-coming star
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...
started from the pit-lane in his first race for McLaren; he began a furious charge that brought him up to second behind his teammate Prost; but he was disqualified for switching to his spare car after the parade lap had begun. The
1989 event was the last race at Jacarepaguá. It was won by British driver
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series ( 1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over ...
in his Ferrari, in the first Grand Prix won by a car with a semi-automatic gearbox, and it also saw German
Bernd Schneider and American
Eddie Cheever
Edward McKay "Eddie" Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championshi ...
collide, and Cheever collapsed twice after he exited his car due to exhaustion.
Return to a new Interlagos
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 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.
The first race at the new Interlagos in 1990 was won by
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...
, who won his 40th career race (the most ever at that point in time) and his 6th Brazilian Grand Prix. It wasn't a popular win, as the events of the previous year's
Japanese Grand Prix
The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the ...
were still fresh in the minds of many Brazilians: Prost was seen as having been given the Drivers' title by FIA president
Jean-Marie Balestre
Jean-Marie Balestre (9 April 1921 – 27 March 2008) was a French auto racing administrator, who became President of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) from 1978 to 1991 and President of the Fédération Internationale de ...
at Senna's expense after Senna was disqualified from that race in Japan. The Brazilian, a home favorite, finished 3rd in Brazil after leading much of the race but then hitting his backmarker ex-teammate Satoru Nakajima in a Tyrrell. 1991 saw the patriotic Senna emotionally win his first Brazilian Grand Prix. His McLaren's manual gearbox was losing gears quickly and close to the end, he only had 6th gear left. This made 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. 1992 saw Mansell dominate the weekend and the rest of the season. 1993 was a race of variables; it began to rain heavily early into the race and Prost, now driving a Williams, had a rare accident on the main straight and retired. Senna went on to win in a McLaren from Prost's teammate Damon Hill. 1994 saw Senna, now driving for Williams, spin his recalcitrant car going through Juncao late into the race. He was running in 2nd, trying to catch German
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
, who went on to win. Senna would lose his life in an accident at the San Marino Grand Prix later in the year. 1995 was a very controversial race that initially had race winner Schumacher and Briton David Coulthard's cars excluded for apparently using illegal fuel during the race, but then reinstated. 1996 saw Damon Hill win his first of 8 races that season. 1997 saw an accident at the start that involved 4 cars, and Canadian
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve ( born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian professional racing driver and amateur musician who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship with Williams. In addition to Formula One (F1) he has competed in various ot ...
went off the course at the first corner; the race was stopped and restarted, and Villeneuve jumped into the spare car and won the race. 1998 saw a controversy surrounding McLaren – Ferrari had protested about their braking system, and it was then banned from the Brazilian Grand Prix, although it had been approved 4 times by FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting. It didn't matter much: Finnish McLaren driver
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three Fo ...
won the race anyway. 1999 saw local
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 T ...
lead for some time until the engine in his car failed, and Hakkinen won again.
![Audience of the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Audience_of_the_2004_Brazilian_Grand_Prix.JPG)
The
2001 Grand Prix was notable for marking the explosive arrival of
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver.
He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...
onto the Formula One scene. The Colombian driver stunningly muscled his way past Michael Schumacher early on and led easily until an incident in which Arrows's
Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a former (Formula One) racing driver. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993.
In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different t ...
ran into the back of his Williams-BMW and ended his race. Montoya did eventually laid to rest the ghost of this event by winning the 2004 race in his final Grand Prix for Williams before moving to McLaren, holding off his future teammate
Kimi Räikkönen to take a hard-fought victory. The 2001 race is also notable for two brothers, Michael and
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races.
Schumacher began kart ...
, sharing a row on the starting grid for the first time.
Particularly memorable recent Brazilian Grands Prix include the 2003 race, which saw a maiden Grand Prix victory, highly unexpectedly, and amidst chaotic and unusual circumstances, for
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
's
Giancarlo Fisichella. Heavy rain before and during the race produced problems with tyre selection which caught out many teams, which allowed the weak
Minardi team to have a real chance for victory the only time ever, because they were the only team who prepared for the rainfall, but their drivers were also soon out. And treacherous track conditions caused multiple drivers to spin out of the race, including then-reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher, ending a remarkable run of race finishes dating back to the
2001 German Grand Prix. Amidst this, a number of drivers, including McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen and
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...
, led the race, and, when a heavy accident involving Renault's Fernando Alonso blocked the circuit and brought out the red flag, confusion reigned. Fisichella led the race at the time, having just overtaken Räikkönen; however, it was the Finn who was declared the race winner under the rule that stipulated that the race result in such circumstances was to be taken from the running order two laps prior to the race being stopped. This decision was overturned days later in the FIA Court of Appeal in Paris after new evidence came to light which proved that Fisichella had crossed the finish line in the lead for a second time ''before'' Alonso's accident, and therefore was the rightful winner. The
2004 event marked the first time since the race's admission to the Formula One Championship calendar that it was not one of the first three rounds of the championship season.
![Safety Car at 2006 Brazil](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Safety_Car_at_2006_Brazil.jpg)
Fernando Alonso became the youngest ever Formula One World Champion at the
2005 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2005) was a Formula One motor race held on at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil on 25 September 2005. The 71-lap race was the seventeenth round o ...
, his third place behind winner Juan Pablo Montoya and championship rival Kimi Räikkönen was enough to clinch the title with two races remaining.
For 2006, the Brazilian Grand Prix, as in 2004, was moved to the prestigious position of hosting the final round of the season, in what was Michael Schumacher's first farewell to Formula One, before his return for the season. Starting from 10th position on the grid, Schumacher did an astonishing job on his last race. He fell to 19th position on the ninth lap due to a flat tyre caused by a minor collision with Giancarlo Fisichella when the former was trying to overtake the latter. After pitting for a new tyre he returned to the race, just in front of leader Massa, so almost being lapped, then passing several drivers to take the chequered flag in fourth place, after a dazzling passing manoeuvre on Kimi Räikkönen. His performance was not enough to give 'Schumi' his eighth trophy, as Fernando Alonso, who needed only one point to become World Champion again, finished in second place. Brazilian Felipe Massa took
pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
and led the race from start to finish to get the second victory of his career and to be greeted by celebrations from his Brazilian supporters.
In March 2008, the mayor of São Paulo announced that he had signed a new deal with
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns ...
to continue the holding of the Brazilian Grand Prix. This deal allowed the Brazilian race to be on the calendar until 2015. With this, Interlagos was set for major improvements in its pit and paddock facilities.
In the final race of the 2008 season in Brazil, Lewis Hamilton became the youngest Formula One World Champion up to that point in Formula One history. After adopting a conservative strategy without risks for most of the race to secure at least 5th place, and the title, a late-race rain shower caused unexpected trouble. First, Hamilton was pushed down to 5th place by German Toyota driver
Timo Glock who didn't enter the pits for intermediates like most other front runners. With just 3 laps to go, Sebastian Vettel then also overtook the Briton on the track which meant he would end up with equal points to Massa, but with one fewer victory. While everybody was focusing on the battle between these two (Vettel managed to stay in front in the end), against all expectations both were able to overtake Glock, who had lost all grip with his dry-weather tyres, in the very last corner before the finishing straight. This meant that, while the McLaren Drivers' Championship title rival Felipe Massa won the race in his Ferrari, Hamilton ultimately grabbed the fifth place he needed to become champion. Renault's Fernando Alonso, the previous youngest champion, was second ahead of Massa's teammate Kimi Räikkönen and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.
The 2009 race determined another Drivers' Champion, with Jenson Button in a Brawn finishing 5th to secure his only Drivers' Championship over Vettel, now driving for Red Bull, who finished 4th; Vettel's Australian teammate
Mark Webber won the race ahead of Pole
Robert Kubica
Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing and rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test d ...
. 2010 saw a wet qualifying and German
Nico Hülkenberg
Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the ye ...
drove an astonishing lap to put his non-competitive Williams on pole position. His countryman Vettel won the race ahead of Webber, and this race gave Red Bull the Constructors' Championship, and it set up a 4-way duel for the Drivers' title at the final round in Abu Dhabi. 2011 saw another Red Bull 1–2, but it was Webber this time who had won from Vettel, who had already won his second Drivers' title in Japan earlier that year. 2012 was another classic race, where Vettel this time had to do battle with Spanish Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. After making a very poor start which dropped him to 22nd, he climbed up to 6th which was enough to see him win his 3rd consecutive Drivers' title. This race was also notable for being Michael Schumacher's last ever F1 race: the legendary German had made a comeback with Mercedes in 2010, but he did not win a single race – a huge surprise, considering he was the most successful F1 driver in history. 2013 saw Vettel win his 9th consecutive race that season which was a new record. 2014 saw the totally dominant Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis 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 3rd Drivers' Championship. 2016 saw continued Mercedes domination, but it was Hamilton who won with Rosberg second. But the Mercedes victory that day was overshadowed by heavy rain, multiple accidents and an astonishing drive from the Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, son of former F1 driver
Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a former (Formula One) racing driver. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993.
In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different t ...
, who drove his Red Bull from 16th to 3rd in 15 laps after his team botched its tyre strategy.
Five Brazilian drivers have won the Brazilian Grand Prix, with
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
,
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...
,
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...
and
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one poin ...
each winning twice, and
Jose Carlos Pace winning once. The most wins ever is by the Frenchman
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...
, who has won the race 6 times (including 5 times at
Jacarepaguá
Jacarepaguá (), with a land area of , is a neighborhood situated in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2010, it had a population of 157,326. The name comes from the indigenous name of the location, "shallow pond of caymans", yakaré (c ...
). Argentine driver
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver who raced in Formula One from to , and later became a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party, and governor o ...
and
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
have both won 4 times.
On 10 October 2013 it was announced that the contract for the Brazilian Grand Prix had been extended until 2022.
The scheduled 2020 race was cancelled by
Formula One Management
The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the promotion of the FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights.
The Group was previously owned by Delta Topco, a Jersey-based company ow ...
in July that year due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, leaving promoters of the Interlagos race furious who say the losses they will make because of this and that it could mean the end of Formula One racing at the venue longer term.
Rumours of a return to Rio de Janeiro
In spring 2019,
Jair Bolsonaro, the
President of Brazil
The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...
, announced that the Brazilian Grand Prix would move back to Rio de Janeiro.
Because the Jacarepaguá circuit had been demolished to make way for the construction of facilities for the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
, a
new circuit is to be built in the
Deodoro neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.
However, this was denied by Formula One's commercial manager
Sean Bratches.
In November 2020 a deal was signed which would see Formula One continue to race at Interlagos until 2025, albeit under the title of São Paulo Grand Prix. This was the first time that the race had been known as the São Paulo Grand Prix. The race's contract was suspended in January 2021. Also in January 2021, with official confirmation in February 2021, the newly elected Mayor of Rio de Janeiro,
Eduardo Paes
Eduardo da Costa Paes (, born 14 November 1969) is a Brazilian politician who was the mayor of the city of Rio de Janeiro from 2009 to 2012, re-elected for a second term from 2013 to 2016 and returning elected again in 2021. He is currently t ...
, confirmed that the plans for the construction of the new circuit at Deodoro were scrapped, with the promise of finding a new suitable place for its construction.
Formula 1
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
drivers also expressed their concern for the environment about the project and
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...
said, ‘I don’t think it’s a smart move. There is a global crisis with deforestation.’
Winners
Repeat winners (drivers)
''Drivers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.''
''A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.''
Repeat winners (constructors)
''Teams in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.''
''A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.''
Repeat winners (engine manufacturers)
''Manufacturers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.''
''A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.''
* Built by
Cosworth
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
, funded by Ford
** Between 1998 and 2005 built by
Ilmor
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...
, funded by Mercedes
*** Built by
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
By year
![Interlagos 1973](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Interlagos_1973.jpg)
*''A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.''
*''Since 2021 the event is held under the name "São Paulo Grand Prix".''
References
External links
Brazilian Grand Prix (Official Site)Satellite picture of Autódromo José Carlos Pace by Google MapsSatellite picture of Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet by Google Maps
{{Visitor attractions in São Paulo (city)
Formula One Grands Prix
National Grands Prix
Formula One non-championship races
Recurring sporting events established in 1972
1972 establishments in Brazil
Tourist attractions in São Paulo