Poll: Official 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Thread - Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Sao Paulo - Round 21

Rate the Interlagos Grand Prix out of ten

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chrismscotland

chrismscotland

chrismscotland

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São Paulo​

When was the track built?​

Building work began on what ended up being called the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace – but what is more commonly referred to as Interlagos – all the way back in 1938. The track designers took their inspiration from three main circuits: Brooklands in the UK, Roosevelt Raceway in the USA and Montlhery in France.

When was its first Grand Prix?​

Buoyed by the success of Brazil’s Emerson Fittipaldi, Formula 1 first jetted into Interlagos for a world championship race in 1973. Fans were treated to a home win in the first three Brazilian Grands Prix, with Fittipaldi victorious in 1973 and 1974, while Carlos Pace won in 1975.

What’s the circuit like?​

Like many pre-World War II tracks, Interlagos features banked corners, with the drivers beginning their lap on a sort of half oval – in fact, between 1957 and the track’s return to the F1 calendar in 1990, Interlagos could be run as a giant oval. After wiggling through the Senna S and down to Turn 4, the drivers then go through a snaking in-field section with some challenging camber changes, before slinging back up the hill and through the banked final turn.

Why go?​

A carnival atmosphere really does dominate in Brazil, and watching Formula 1 cars alongside the locals is something every F1 fan should experience. True, it doesn’t look like there’ll be a local driver to cheer on any time soon, but that won’t stop the party at Interlagos.

Where is the best place to watch?​

Because of the bowl-like nature of the track, a place in Grandstand A on the banked entry to the start-finish straight will give you a double whammy of views, allowing you to see the cars winding through the infield section and then passing underneath you. On the other end of the straight, Grandstand M will put you on top of the first corner and the Senna S, the best spot to watch overtakes on the track.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix 2023 - Schedule Information & TV Broadcast Times​

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Channel 4 Highlights - Broadcast Times​

Saturday 4th November - Sao Paulo GP Qualifying & Sprint Race Highlights - 23:00 & (Repeated 08:00 Sun 5th)
Sunday 5th November - Sao Paulo GP Race Highlights - 22:35


Weekend Weather Forecast (as of 31/10/2023)​



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Track Diagram & Information​



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Previous Race Highlights​

Drivers Championship​


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Constructors Championship​


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Just a reminder, but consider it a warning - can we not have any further derogatory name calling of drivers, team bosses and the like. We don't expect you to like every driver/team, but at least keep comments respectful.

If you don't follow this warning, you will lose access to the race thread and the thread for the following race as well.

This includes but is not limited to such terms including Lulu, Crashstappen, Karen Horner, Whingey Spice etc.
 
Mr Jack said:
A lot of the reputation of the Brawn that season was down to Button's skill. Vettel might well have won the season without his influence. Jenson won six of the first seven races while his teammate managed only three second places.
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cuke2u said:
Agreed, even Ross Brawn described him as being special..
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Always thought Button was under-rated and frankly drove crap cars for most of his career.
In a Hamilton era Merc he would have won multiple titles.
 
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Scam said:
It just seems daft that they have less time to setup the car in practice, then have to sit through 24 laps of realising what is wrong with the car.. by which point they can’t do anything about it.
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Maybe but I also think that's part of the point, less setup time means more likely that teams gamble on setups, etc and make the racing a bit more unpredictable
 
Feek said:
Exactly. Drivers used to race anyone. I’m getting a little fed up with the “it’s not his race” comments we’ve been hearing a lot of recently. If someone is trying to overtake, if you’re not being blue flagged then it IS your race.
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I have to say I think DRS may well be to blame for a lot of it.

We all know that most days the Red Bull is the fastest car (in Max's hands anyway) and that it seems to vary between McLaren, Ferrari and Merc for 2,3,4 but drivers (Maybe Alonso aside) do seem to just not bother defending against a car they see as "superior" anymore and in fairness a quicker car + DRS makes it pointless to waste time defending.

I remember the old days where you had folks races totally ruined by drivers out of position in a very fast car who just couldn't get past an Arrows, Sauber or Lotus.

That said at this stage of the season I can't blame Norris for wanting to have a clean race and avoid contact at the start, why fight at the start risking contact when he can re-pass in a few laps more cleanly with DRS?
 
Mad_Jay said:
Unfortunately that's not going to happen in this era of F1 and especially towards the end of the season. The drivers/teams are worried about accidents, costs, future grid penalties due to changes of broken engines/gearboxes and the chance of losing points in the constructors. I can guarantee some teams tell their drivers not to push/take too many risks in post session meetings prior to the sprint race.

Whilst the sprint is a good idea and a chance for fans to see 'extra racing', I see it more as a spoiler to what will happen on the Sunday in its current format.

We now already know that:
  • Max will drive away into the distance again
  • The Mercedes are terrible in a straight line and can't do anything about it, which will kill any suspense in on track battles
  • Which teams/drivers can make the tyres last the length of a stint
  • The "DRS Train" effect is hilarious here. The first two thirds of the sprint the drivers can actually all remain within a second of each other, which may look exciting but doesn't always lead to passing. Once the tyre deg kicked in, the race settled down and everyone was spread out.
George Russells comments about Max and Landos lap times on his in lap summed it all up really.
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I'm all for the springs, as Brundle said 20 odd laps of racing is always better than an hour of watching Free Practice (for the fans anyway).
But they need to mix up the format - don't make it count toward the existing Drivers and Teams Championships but have it as a separate entity and then teams may be more willing to go for things like reverse grids (or partial reverse grids / top 10 reverse like in some other series).

I'm not totally convinced it will avoid it "ruining" the Sunday for us (regardless of where a car starts we're likely still to be able to tell if its fast or not!)
 
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