GP Brazil: Times, standings, circuit info, weather

GP Brazil times

We will remain in the Latin American atmosphere for a while, because the GP of Brazil is on the program next weekend. Believe it or not, that is also a sprint race. We’ve had quite a few lately. This means that there will be qualifying for the GP on Friday, a sprint qualification and sprint race will take place on Saturday and then the Grand Prix on Sunday. Anyone who thought it all got a bit late last weekend can look forward to more favorable times this weekend.

Championship standings

Lewis Hamilton has beaten Sergio Pérez in Mexico in the battle for second place in the championship. The Brit took 19 points and Pérez scored nothing. The difference is now only 20 points, with three races to go. Pérez still has to work hard to defend his position, because with his current form he drops back to P3. Fernando Alonso has already dropped one place. He was second at the beginning of this year, but is now fifth. Carlos Sainz is actually moving up one spot.

He fought hard for it, but Daniel Ricciardo achieved a huge victory for AlphaTauri in the teams championship. Due to its sixth place, the team instantly rises from last to eighth place in the championship. It remains exciting at the front between Mercedes and Ferrari.

Circuit

Circuit Interlagos, officially called Autódromo José Carlos Pace, is an old acquaintance in Formula 1. The circuit near São Paulo already hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1972 and had several memorable editions. For example, local heroes Emerson Fittipaldi and Ayrton Senna won the race twice in front of the always enthusiastic home crowd. Senna in particular was held in high esteem in his home country and is still very much alive among fans there.

Interlagos, which literally means ‘between the lakes’, is a circuit with some special characteristics. For example, the first bend turns left, which is unusual, and the track has quite a bit of elevation gain. The first three corners (the ‘Senna Esses’) provide a spectacle almost every year. If not at the start, then during the race with nice overtaking actions. Sector 2 is also spectacular, with some pretty tight bends and room to overtake. The lightning-fast turns 14 and 15 towards the straight often provide beautiful images. On this last part of the circuit, Verstappen briefly lost control of the steering wheel in the aforementioned rain race of 2016, but managed to avoid a crash in a special way.

The drivers will drive 71 laps around the 4.3 km long circuit next Sunday, for a total race distance of 305.9 km. The fastest race lap is now quite old: Valtteri Bottas clocked a time of 1:10.540 here in 2018. Kevin Magnussen surprisingly took pole position here last year with 1:11.674. However, he quickly dropped back in the race and Mercedes driver George Russell emerged as the winner. He took the first and so far only victory for Mercedes since 2021.

Weather

The weather often plays a significant role in the course of the Brazilian Grand Prix. For the time being, it seems that it will have a significant influence on what happens on the track, especially on Friday. That is the hottest day of the race weekend at around 30 degrees Celsius, but the chance of rain is also quite high. There is also a small chance of a shower on Saturday, but on Sunday it seems to remain dry and it is also a bit less warm at 25 degrees Celsius.