Brazilian Grand Prix 2011, Interlagos Circuit - Race 19/19

[Duke]

São Paulo

In 1938 a huge plot of land was bought in Sao Paulo by two local property developers who intended to build a large housing development. It soon became clear, however, that one part of the land was not suitable for housing and so they decided to build a racing circuit instead. Sao Paulo grew at an incredible speed though and soon the circuit was surrounded by houses.

When, in the 1970s, Emerson Fittipaldi began to have international success, the Brazilians started to want a Grand Prix. In 1971 and 1972 Interlagos hosted non-championship events but in 1973 the track staged its first championship Grand Prix. The track became a lucky charm for local racers, Fittipaldi, Carlos Pace and Carlos Reutemann all taking the spoils of victory in the 1970s. Interlagos was the scene of Pace's first and only Formula One triumph, and following his death in a plane crash the circuit was renamed in his honour.

In 1978 the Grand Prix moved to Rio, but in 1979 Interlagos got its race back. By 1981, however, Rio had retaken the Grand Prix, Sao Paulo's slums being at odds with the glamorous image Formula One wanted to portray. When a $15m redevelopment programme was agreed in the heyday of Ayrton Senna, a Sao Paulo local, the race finally switched back to Interlagos.

And there it has stayed. Since Senna's death there has been no Brazilian world champion, but the passion of the Brazilian fans keeps the sport coming back every year.


TV Times

Friday 25 November
First practice: 1155-1335, BBC Red Button/online
Second practice: 1555-1735, BBC Red Button/online

Saturday 26 November
Third practice: 1255-1405, BBC Red Button/online
Qualifying: 1500-1730, BBC One/online

Sunday 27 November
Grand Prix live - 1500-1815, BBC One/online
F1 forum: 1815-1915, BBC Red button/online
Highlights: 2300-0000, BBC Three


Track:

Track Diagram

Track DRS

Single DRS zone at turns 3 to 4 (back straight).


Circuit information

Circuit Name: Interlagos Circuit
Number of Laps: 71
Circuit Length: 4.309 km
Race Distance: 305.909 km
Lap Record: 1:11.473 - JP Montoya (2004)

The final race of the 2011 Formula One season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, takes place at the Autodromo José Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo on Sunday 27 November. Located in Interlagos, the historic 4.309 km circuit is the highest of the year at 800m above sea level, and one of only five anti-clockwise tracks on this year’s calendar.

The Safety Car has been deployed in seven of the last ten races in Interlagos, on a total of 11 occasions. Interlagos is the shortest permanent circuit on the calendar with the shortest lap time of any circuit.

DRS can be used over 59% of the lap in practice and qualifying: only Montreal, Spa and Monza have higher values.

2010 Race Edit - http://www.formula1.com/video/race_edits/


Team Preview

Pirelli -
Lotus -
Williams -
HRT -
Mclaren -
Mercedes -
Ferrari -
Renault -
Virgin Racing -
Red Bull -
Toro Rosso -
Sauber -
Force India -


Technical Changes

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/


Weather Forecast

News

• Pedro de la Rosa to join HRT next season - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96383
• Teams to use new softer tyre this weekend - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96376
• Lotus to bring upgrades to Brazil for final push - http://www.itv.com/formula1/news/2011/11/lotus-mount-final-push-to-catch-teams-ahead-8438/

Driver Changes

Jan Charouz - free practice for HRT.


Photos from the event

Thursday - http://www.formula1.com/gallery/race/2011/845/general/thursday.html

Friday - http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/11/25/2011-brazilian-grand-prix-practice-pictures/

Saturday - http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/11/26/2011-brazilian-grand-prix-qualifyingpictures/

Sunday -


FIA Press Conference

Thursday - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/11/12825.html

Friday - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/11/12836.html

Saturday - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/11/12846.html

Sunday - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/11/12853.html


Practice 1

[b]Pos  Driver                Team                    Time               Laps[/b]
 1.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault        1m13.811s   	        26
 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1m13.825s  + 0.014   25
 3.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes        1m13.961s  + 0.150   20
 4.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault        1m14.025s  + 0.214   28
 5.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                 1m14.507s  + 0.696   34
 6.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                 1m14.541s  + 0.730   26
 7.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes                1m15.162s  + 1.351   28
 8.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes    1m15.178s  + 1.367   28
 9.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes    1m15.241s  + 1.430   31
10.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes                1m15.321s  + 1.510   29
11.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m15.468s  + 1.657   29
12.  Romain Grosjean       Renault                 1m15.547s  + 1.736   18
13.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       1m15.663s  + 1.852   27
14.  Bruno Senna           Renault                 1m15.732s  + 1.921   32
15.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari          1m15.747s  + 1.936   31
16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth       1m15.836s  + 2.025   27
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari          1m15.979s  + 2.168   35
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m16.052s  + 2.241   33
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault           1m16.514s  + 2.703   33
20.  Luiz Razia            Lotus-Renault           1m17.595s  + 3.784   31
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth         1m18.140s  + 4.329   29
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth         1m18.653s  + 4.842   29
23.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth            1m18.952s  + 5.141   33
24.  Jan Charouz           HRT-Cosworth            1m19.577s  + 5.766   37

Practice 2

[b]Pos  Driver                Team                   Time                Laps[/b]
 1.  Lewis Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1m13.392s              35
 2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault       1m13.559s  + 0.167	41
 3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault       1m13.587s  + 0.195	41
 4.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari                1m13.598s  + 0.206	35
 5.  Michael Schumacher   Mercedes               1m13.723s  + 0.331	38
 6.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                1m13.750s  + 0.358	39
 7.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes       1m13.787s  + 0.395	36
 8.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes               1m13.872s  + 0.480	42
 9.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes   1m14.144s  + 0.752	41
10.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   1m14.807s  + 1.415	48
11.  Vitaly Petrov        Renault                1m14.856s  + 1.464	38
12.  Bruno Senna          Renault                1m14.931s  + 1.539	37
13.  Sergio Perez         Sauber-Ferrari         1m14.970s  + 1.578	32
14.  Kamui Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1m15.019s  + 1.627	45
15.  Sebastien Buemi      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m15.264s  + 1.872	44
16.  Jaime Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m15.388s  + 1.996	41
17.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth      1m15.679s  + 2.287	43
18.  Rubens Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth      1m15.903s  + 2.511	40
19.  Jarno Trulli         Lotus-Renault          1m16.298s  + 2.906	36
20.  Heikki Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault          1m16.338s  + 2.946	48
21.  Jerome D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth        1m18.031s  + 4.639	39
22.  Timo Glock           Virgin-Cosworth        1m18.051s  + 4.659	45
23.  Daniel Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth           1m18.367s  + 4.975	42
24.  Tonio Liuzzi         HRT-Cosworth           1m18.476s  + 5.084	42

Practice 3

[b]Pos  Driver              Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps[/b]
 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m12.460s            21
 2.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m12.547s  + 0.087s  19
 3.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m12.597s  + 0.137s  21
 4.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m12.622s  + 0.162s  15
 5.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m12.765s  + 0.305s  17
 6.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1m13.113s  + 0.653s  22
 7.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m13.286s  + 0.826s  21
 8.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m13.393s  + 0.933s  19
 9.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m13.419s  + 0.959s  19
10.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m13.583s  + 1.123s  18
11.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m13.838s  + 1.378s  20
12.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m14.283s  + 1.823s  19
13.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m14.286s  + 1.826s  20
14.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m14.311s  + 1.851s  24
15.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth     1m14.454s  + 1.994s  22
16.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m14.547s  + 2.087s  24
17.  Bruno Senna         Renault               1m14.551s  + 2.091s  15
18.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Renault         1m15.843s  + 3.383s  24
19.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault         1m16.026s  + 3.566s  22
20.  Jerome D'Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m16.616s  + 4.156s  26
21.  Tonio Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth          1m17.143s  + 4.683s  23
22.  Daniel Ricciardo    HRT-Cosworth          1m17.296s  + 4.836s  23
23.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m17.984s  + 5.524s  23
24.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari                         3

Qualifying

[b]Pos  Driver                Team                 Time           Gap   [/b]
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m11.918s
 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m12.099s   + 0.181
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m12.283s   + 0.365
 4.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m12.480s   + 0.562
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m12.591s   + 0.673
 6.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m13.050s   + 1.132
 7.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m13.068s   + 1.150
 8.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m13.298s   + 1.380
 9.  Bruno Senna           Renault              1m13.761s   + 1.843
10.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes
Q2 cut-off time: 1m13.571s                                   Gap **
11.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m13.584s   + 1.138
12.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m13.801s   + 1.355
13.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m13.804s   + 1.358
14.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m13.919s   + 1.473
15.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m14.053s   + 1.607
16.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m14.129s   + 1.683
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m14.182s   + 1.736
Q1 cut-off time: 1m14.571s                                    Gap *
18.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m14.625s   + 1.344
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m15.068s   + 1.787
20.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m15.358s   + 2.077
21.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m16.631s   + 3.350
22.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m16.890s   + 3.609
23.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m17.019s   + 3.738
24.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m17.060s   + 3.779

Race

[b]Pos  Driver        Team                       Time[/b]
 1.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           1h32:17.434
 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +    16.983
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    27.638
 4.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    35.048
 5.  Massa         Ferrari                    +  1:06.733
 6.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
 7.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +     1 lap
 8.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
 9.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
10.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
11.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
12.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
13.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
14.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
15.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +     1 lap
16.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
17.  Senna         Renault                    +    2 laps
18.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
19.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    3 laps
20.  Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:15.324

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth                 62
Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes             37
Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth            27
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              22

 

[deuse]

Great post Duke

Come on McLaren

 

[Duke]

Last race of the season However its a great track

 

[FrankJH]

Well done Duke

Looking forward to this - always enjoy Brazil (but its a real downer its the last race as well)

 

[Skeeter]

Wooot! And the GF is away this weekend too

Bummer its the last race (what am I going to do for 3 months!), but Brazil is always a good race!

Oh, and I call 2 DRS zones again, between turns 15 and 1, and turns 3 and 4.

 

[Guerrilla]

Thanks Duke

I do like Brazil, late race too.

 

[Duke]

Oh, and I call 2 DRS zones again, between turns 15 and 1, and turns 3 and 4.

Yeah quite likely

 

[dannyjo22]

I'm hoping for a lewis Pole to flag victory. In reality it will be Vettel

 

[utajoker]

Another Hamilton victory please, another vetted retirement too

 

[deuse]

Another Hamilton victory please, another vetted retirement too

THIS or vettel to end up in the middle of the pack so we can see if he can overtake without hitting other cars.

 

[Duke]

The weather looks quite varied at the moment, will keep an eye on it and update it nearer to the weekend.

 

[Skeeter]

Rain on Saturday. Thats what we need

Get on it Duke...

 

[Duke]

Knip more like


/pokes

 

[Glaucus]

I had to read that twice, I thought you were implying knip on Saturday , rather than knip doing the rain dance. Working sat night, but at least it doesn't start till 3, should be up by then.

 

[Skillmister]

THIS or vettel to end up in the middle of the pack so we can see if he can overtake without hitting other cars.

Would much rather see him in the middle of the pack than retire yeah.

Anyway afternoon race so i'll have to get some beer in to see off the final one

 

[Pete19s]

Pedro De La Rosa has signed up for HRT for two years:
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns23757.html

Whether or not HRT are on the grid for those two years remains to be seen.

 

[Duke]

New softer tyres this weekend - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96376

The teams have got their cars working on them now, so Pirelli will make them a little softer now and next year.

 

[FrankJH]

Really hoping for a JB win (or at the very least pushing Lewis hard all the way)


How about "Success ballast" to slow RB down next year - so if SV wins 3 in a row and then losses a race ballast doesnt drop to zero but to 2/3 of its peak and so on

Im sure it wouldnt be that hard to do and might produce closer racing (and as artificial as anything else thought of) - always liked the idea from touring cars myself

 

[Tute]

THIS or vettel to end up in the middle of the pack so we can see if he can overtake without hitting other cars.

Would love to see this, in reality I still expect Vettel pole and Vettel win, despite the hiccup last race.

 

[Skeeter]

Really hoping for a JB win (or at the very least pushing Lewis hard all the way)


How about "Success ballast" to slow RB down next year - so if SV wins 3 in a row and then losses a race ballast doesnt drop to zero but to 2/3 of its peak and so on

Im sure it wouldnt be that hard to do and might produce closer racing (and as artificial as anything else thought of) - always liked the idea from touring cars myself

While the idea is sound (its proven to work in other series) the sensitivity to weight distribution of F1 cars mean the teams would likely throw up a massive fuss about it.

There is also the point that F1 is meant to be as much about building the fastest car as it is about being the fastest driver. Touring cars are different in that their aim is to make all cars equal. If they are going to slow down the fast cars so that everyone has a fair chance, then they may as well make it a single spec series.

And also, if Vettel is the fastest and the RBR is the fastest car, why should they not be rewarded with multiple wins? When he was winning, you didn't see people asking for Tiger Woods to use smaller clubs to make things fair? Or asking Federer to use a smaller racket?

If anything, the best solution to stop Vettel winning is for the other drivers and the other teams to up their game.