The penultimate race of the year follows on from an excellent race at the Circuit of the Americas. Brazil normally produces thrillers, let’s hope this year is no exception!
Race Information:
Track: Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Number of Laps: 71
Circuit Length: 2.7 miles (4.3km)
Race Length: 190.1 miles (305.9km)
Fastest Lap: 1:09.822 (Rubens Barrichello, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, 2004)
Fastest Race Lap: 1:11.473 (Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams BMW, 2004)
Tyre Compounds: Soft, Medium, Intermediate, Wet
First F1 Grand Prix (Country): 1972
First F1 Grand Prix (Track – Current Layout): 1990
Most Wins: Alain Prost (6 over two tracks), Michael Schumacher (4 at new Interlagos)
Race Preview:
Had this season had normal points throughout, it would have been possible for Lewis Hamilton to have wrapped up the title this weekend by simply finishing 1 point ahead of Nico Rosberg. This year, though, Brazil will not be hosting the title decider, as Rosberg’s second place finish last time out guaranteed that the title battle will go to the double points finale at Abu Dhabi in a fortnight.
We come into this race weekend with some surprise announcements having been made. Sauber have completed their driver lineup for next season – replacing their two current drivers with Caterham driver Marcus Ericsson and Williams reserve driver Felipe Nasr. Sadly, news broke during FP1 this morning that Marussia will not be returning to the grid. The team, who were placed into administration, have folded today, costing over 200 people their jobs.
Their rivals, Caterham, are still in administration but will not be present once again for this race. The qualifying format will therefore remain the same as Austin – 4 cars will be eliminated in both knock-out sessions leaving the top 10 shootout as normal.
Once again we come into the weekend expecting a Mercedes domination, but with Interlagos always producing unpredictable weather, don’t be surprised with a shock result! Nico Hulkenberg always goes well here, whilst Vergne and Button are also very good in the wet.
