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Race Name: Brazilian Grand Prix
Circuit Name: Interlagos
Circuit Length: 2.68 miles 4.292km
Race Length: 72 laps
Lap Record: Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F1-2000, 1m14.75s, 2000

Jarno Trulli's View

"Interlagos is a very nice circuit, but it is technical and tough and very twisty, I always like driving in Brazil as the circuit suits my driving style and I have always been strong there, so I hope for more good results. Last year we scored our first points at this race so I would like a repeat performance."

Jenson Button's View

"I approach the first corner traveling at my maximum speed of 310kmh in top gear and the entry is very difficult. It is a little bumpy in the braking area and the line of sight into the first corner is quite difficult as the circuit drops away off-camber. The first corner itself is taken in second gear at 105kmh. Accelerating into the right-hand turn two, not braking for it but having to be very careful with the throttle, I will apex the right-hand part at 150kmh in third.

From there a long left-hander leads to the back straight, which is pretty well flat-out. I exit the corner at around 240kmh and shift from fourth to fifth.

At the end of the straight I will be traveling at slightly lower than my fastest speed, around 305kmh in top gear, before braking hard for the left-hand corner, which I take at 135kmh in third. This corner is very long and I am basically flat-out for the second part of it, exiting at around 240kmh in fourth gear, but with quite high lateral loading.

On the short straight that leads to the next corner, I will peak at around 280kmh in fifth before dropping to 190kmh for the next, fourth-gear corner. Again this is a long corner and I have to be very careful on the throttle here to balance the car. Entering the tight right-hand corner is quite difficult because I have to brake still with some lateral force on the car and drop the car right down to 65kmh in first gear.

This is followed by a left-hand corner, and I will quickly grab second gear at around 125kmh before entering this corner. Again I use the brakes lightly to stabilize the car and bring the speed down to around 95kmh.

On the very short straight before the next corner I should just hit fourth gear on a good lap, at around 210kmh, before again dropping down to first gear and around 70kmh for the right-hander. This is then followed by a long left-hand corner, taken almost flat-out, and I will be exiting it at around 270kmh in fourth gear before entering the very important final corner.

I have to drop down to 110kmh in second gear for this but this corner is critical as it leads onto a long straight which, although it starts with a curve, is actually taken flat out. I cross the finishing line at around 305kmh in top gear to finish the lap."

The Track's F1 History

The circuit was built privately and opened in 1940. However it passed into municipal hands 10 years later and had to wait another decade before being modernized. The original Interlagos was the home of F1 in Brazil for a period in the 1970's, before losing out to Rio.

A redesigned circuit with revamped facilities hosted F1 again in the 1990's. Since then it has become notorious for fantastic racing, the wildly excitable Brazilian crowd, enormous bumps and its unfortunate location in the unpleasant city of Sao Paulo.

This is a popular circuit, despite the very bumpy surface. It is made up of mostly left handers, causing neck problems for many of the drivers, linked by some very fast and long straights. Combined with an electric atmosphere which has only suffered slightly since the days of Ayrton Senna, it always provides an exciting Grand Prix.

As mentioned above the race has been held here ever since the early 1990s when it moved from Rio. One of the best pile ups came here in 1994 when Eddie Irvine in the Jordan crashed into Jos Verstappen in the Benetton managing to take out Eric Comas' Ligier and Martin Brundle's McLaren in the bargain!

In 1991 Senna won here after Mansell's dominant Williams developed gearbox trouble while Mansell redressed the balance in 1992 with a dominant win.

In 1993 Michael Andretti nearly ended up in the grandstand after a horrifying start line coming together (Senna won the race).

In 1995 Michael Schumacher won again (he won in 1994 after Senna spun his Williams out while trying to catch the Benetton) after being chucked out for fuel irregularities.

1996 was perhaps Hill's best race. Superior tactics coupled with great wet weather driving made the rest of the field (Schumacher and Alesi included) look pretty amateur.

In 1997 Villeneuve won after crashing off at the first start. He took the lead at the restart and, despite another pile up on the first corner, never looked like losing it.

In 1998 Hakkinen won in what was seen as a pretty boring race.

In 1999 Barrichello put in a strong performance setting the crowd alight as he led 43 laps in his Stewart. Eventually the car succumbed to engine trouble and Hakkinen won again but his performance last year coupled with his being in a Ferrari this year has meant that Barrichello has managed to sell out the race weekend.

In 2000 crowd expectations were high for Barrichello to replicate Ayrton Senna's win here in 1991 but mechanical failure on Barrichello's car (added to Schuey's being slightly faster throughout the weekend) left the crowd disappointed. Coulthard was a good second while Fisichella finished third to cement his early second place in the driver's championship. The race was overshadowed by hoardings falling on to Jean Alesi's Prost and for both the Saubers having to be withdrawn after a spate of rear wing failures.

In 2001 Schuey's early season dominance was redressed in dramatic fashion as Montoya showed his determination and his future intentions by pulling off a great more to overtake Schumacher over the start finish straight. Montoya had been electrifying all weekend and his move on Schumacher showed that he was not going to take prisoners in his quest for the World Driver's Championship. Montoya was eventually taken out by Verstappen's Arrows after he had lapped the Dutchman while Coulthard managed to get ahead of Schuey as they lapped a Minardi. Schuey faded badly as the conditions became damp due to his roll bar being too stiff resulting in a Coulthard win with Schumacher second and Nick Heidfeld scoring a debut podium in third.

2002 saw Schumacher and Montoya's early season game of tag continued with JPM losing his front wing. Ferrari had taken the unusual step of bringing both the 2001 and 2002 cars to Interlagos resulting in their having to ferry vast amounts of manpower and machinery to Brazil. Schumacher raced the 2002 car whilest Barrichello had to make do with the older car in the interests of reliability. As it was it was Barrichello who retired whilest Schumacher held off what looked a pretty ineffectual challenge from his brother to win. Last year Giancarlo Fisichella scored one of the most unlikely victories in the history of Formula 1 as he took the lead in torrential conditions after David Coulthard pitted. Fernando Alonso caused the race to be red flagged after piling into the back of Mark Webber's crashed Jaguar and, although it was initially assumed that Kimi Raikonen had won, the results were later overturned with Fisichella named winner prior to the San Marino Grand Prix. Before this many of the other top runners had washed out at the same corner with Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya all crashing out at the same point.

The Track

The track is a good mix of two or three decent straights and a tight and very twisty infield. It is one of only two circuits on the calendar that runs anti-clockwise (the other being Imola) and this, coupled with it's notoriously bumpy nature and high humidity, turns it into something of a car and driver breaker. Transmissions, gearboxes and even suspension systems suffer during the race and drivers will often lose up to 2 litres of fluid during the race! Each year the track is said to be resurfaced but it rarely makes any difference. This year is said to be the same. The only other thing which Interlagos is well known for having is the worst pits area out of the tracks visited! Couple that with its being situated in the slums outside San Paolo and it is easy to see why the teams do not particularly relish coming here!

Last Year's Brazilian Grand Prix Results
Amended Results

Circuit Name / Location:  Interlagos, San Paolo

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