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The Sao Paulo
Grand Prix brings the curtain down on Formula 1’s long trip in the Americas,
with the races at Austin, Mexico City and now Interlagos all taking place at
one week intervals.
There is a common thread, a very dark one in this case, that links all three
of the aforementioned tracks, namely new asphalt. However, while in Austin
and Mexico City only sections of the tracks had been resurfaced, in Sao
Paulo all 4.309 kilometres has been renewed, including the pit lane. The
work was only recently completed and the asphalt was then thoroughly
cleaned, using a high pressure water washing system that removes the sheen
that usually appears on brand new bitumen and this has also increased the
abrasiveness of the surface.
Therefore, the track surface will be a completely unknown factor for drivers
and teams this weekend. Complicating the puzzle still further is the fact
Pirelli has chosen to bring a softer trio of compounds to Brazil than last
year: the C3 will be the Hard, with C4 as Medium and C5 as soft. On top of
that it’s a Sprint weekend, so that there is only free practice session for
teams to find the best set-up, even if, as was seen in Austin, the “short”
race in fact proved to be very useful to fine tune the balance of the car
for the actual Grand Prix.
At Interlagos, the lateral and longitudinal forces exerted on the tyres
around the 15 corners of this anticlockwise track are medium to low in
intensity and well distributed across both axles. Furthermore, the new track
surface could see a lowering of lap times and, as a consequence, an increase
of the stress to which the tyres are subjected.
The Brazilian weekend usually provides spectacular action. The circuit named
in honour of José Carlos Pace presents several
overtaking opportunities, but other random factors, such as a high chance of
a Safety Car and extremely changeable weather, make the outcome of the Grand
Prix uncertain and hard to predict. Usually, the fastest strategy is a
two-stop, favouring the use of the softer compounds. Last year, all bar one
of the drivers chose to start on the Softs, but a red flag after the start
allowed for a switch to Mediums before ending the race on another set of
Softs. This year, the fact the compounds are a step softer could open up a
wider range of possible strategies, making the race even more exciting.
The Interlagos circuit has hosted 40 Grands Prix, but only the last three
have been named after the Paulista city. The previous 37 went by the name of
the Brazilian Grand Prix, a race which was also held ten times at Rio de
Janeiro’s Jacarepaguà circuit.
The most successful driver in Brazil is Alain Prost with six wins to his
name, although only one of those was in Sao Paulo, a track where Michael
Schumacher holds the record with four victories. Ayrton Senna tops the list
for pole positions with six in his home country, equally divided between the
two tracks. At Interlagos, four other drivers have matched Senna’s total:
his fellow countrymen Felipe Massa and Rubens Barrichello, Mika Hakkinen and
Lewis Hamilton. Of the teams, McLaren is the most successful with 11 wins,
although Ferrari has the most wins at Interlagos with nine. The English team
tops the list for pole positions in this event with 11 as well as when it
comes to those at this weekend’s venue, with nine.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the tragic death of Ayrton Senna
and, as was the case at Imola back in May, events and tributes will be held
at Interlagos. Pirelli will be involved, in conjunction with the Senna
Institute, auctioning a special version of the Pole Position Award in the
Brazilian national colours, also featuring the legendary Brazilian’s logo.
Furthermore, as was the case at five previous races this year, there will be
a special edition of the Pirelli Podium Cap, also in the colours of the
national flag with the Senna logo, paying tribute to a driver who will
forever be remembered not just by all Brazilians, but also by all those who
love Formula 1. |
