30/10/2024
NEWS STORY
Toto Wolff: The past two races in Austin and Mexico City have not been our cleanest so we are aiming for a smoother weekend at Interlagos. Despite the challenges in the US and Mexico, we have furthered our learning with the W15. Given our position in the championship, we have been able to test things out with little penalty. Whilst we are still focused on maximising our result each and every weekend, that testing and learning will be valuable in setting us up strongly for 2025. We will continue that approach this weekend in Brazil.
Interlagos is a proper driver's circuit with plenty of undulation and a challenge mix of low, medium, and high-speed corners. Given that it is the penultimate Sprint format of the year, we will have to execute effectively from the first session to get the car in a good window. We know it will be difficult to challenge the Ferraris and the McLarens who have looked strong in recent races. We will still be working hard to do so though and will see where our relative performance is over the weekend.
Fact File
• The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace is the fourth-shortest track on the 2024 F1 calendar at just 4.309 km long, only behind Monaco, Zandvoort and Mexico.
• The Sao Paulo Grand Prix venue is situated 800 metres above sea level, the second-highest altitude on the F1 calendar behind Mexico City (which sits at 2,300m above sea level).
• Interlagos is a track of two extremes. The first and third sectors require a low-drag car for the long straights, but the middle sector is twisty, requiring high downforce. The second DRS zone means more focus is typically on higher downforce for the ultimate fastest lap, but a balance still needs to be found with being competitive on the straights during the race.
• There is 1.2 kilometres of driving at full throttle between the exit of Turn 12 and the braking zone for Turn One, with an elevation change of 33 metres.
• The biggest difference in elevation is from the start/finish straight to Turn 4 where there is a 40-metre drop in elevation.
• The long straight before the lap begins also requires some clever deployment of energy from the ERS to maximise performance towards the end of the out lap, as the drivers start their flying lap.
• Turn 1 is banked heavily towards the inside, unloading the front-left wheel and causing frequent lockups. However, because the tyre is unloaded, flat spots are less likely and time loss isn't as high as you'd expect, due to the steep banking and variety of corner lines drivers can take. The variety of lines is also what makes this corner well suited to overtaking.
• The uphill grid requires the drivers to find the balance between holding the car on the brakes as gently as possible, without rolling backwards.
• From Turn 10 to Turn 6 (around 3.5 km of distance) the left-hand front tyre does very little work and therefore cools down quickly, providing a tricky engineering challenge to keep the tyre in its temperature window.
• With long straights and a second DRS zone, Interlagos is one of the best tracks of the season for overtaking. However, it can be difficult for the defending car to manage its battery, as there aren't many big braking zones to recover energy.
• The Sao Paulo Grand Prix is the fifth F1 Sprint of the 2024 season, with just Qatar left on the Sprint calendar this season.
• This will be the fourth consecutive year that the circuit has hosted a Sprint weekend.
• Interlagos is a very flowing circuit with a lot of combined corner entries (where you are cornering and braking at the same time), meaning good stability is important. However, you also need a good front end for the low-speed middle sector.
• Track temperatures can reach some of the hottest of the season in Brazil, up to 60°C. And thunderstorms are common around this time of year, which can potentially spice up the weekend.
• Since 2021, the race around the circuit has been known as the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
• Valtteri Bottas won the inaugural F1 Sprint race at Interlagos in 2021. A year later, George Russell won his first F1 Sprint race at the venue.
• A day later in 2022, George won his first F1 Grand Prix, leading home at W13 1-2 with Lewis behind.
• Lewis has three wins at the circuit (2016, 2018 & 2021) and in 2022 the seven-time world champion was made an honorary citizen of Brazil in an official ceremony.
• The team has six wins overall at Interlagos. In addition to the four from Lewis and George, Nico Rosberg also won in Sao Paulo (2014 & 2015).