The
Brazilian Grand Prix ( ) is a Formula One championship race which occurs at
the Autódromo José Carlos Pace
in Interlagos
, a district in the city of São Paulo
, Brazil
.
History
A
Brazilian Grand Prix was first held at Interlagos in 1972, although it was not part of the Formula
One World Championship. The following year, however, the
race was first included in the official calendar.
In the Brazilian Grand
Prix moved to Jacarepaguá
in Rio de
Janeiro
, briefly returning to Interlagos for the next two
seasons before becoming the sole host from onwards. In the
Grand Prix returned to Interlagos, where it has stayed since. In ,
for the first time, the Brazilian GP decided the World
Championship, won by
Fernando
Alonso. On November 2 2008,
Felipe
Massa became the latest home winner of the Brazilian GP, his
victory in the last race of the 2008 season was still not enough to
secure the championship as he lost to
Lewis Hamilton by a single point.
The Interlagos circuit has created some of the most exciting and
memorable races in recent Formula One history, and is regarded as
one of the most challenging and exciting circuits on the F1
calendar.
Along with Spa-Francorchamps
, it is rare in that the circuit in its modern form
is one of the few with a lengthy history in the sport not
considered to have lost much of its mystique or challenge in its
adaptation for the modern, much more safety-conscious era of 21st
century Formula One.
Particularly memorable recent Brazilian Grands Prix include the
2003 race, which saw a maiden Grand Prix victory, highly
unexpectedly, and amidst chaotic and unusual circumstances, for
Jordan's
Giancarlo Fisichella. Heavy rain before
and during the race produced problems with tyre selection which
caught out many teams, which allowed the weak
Minardi team to have a real chance for victory the
only time ever, because they were the only team who prepared to the
rainfall, but their drivers were also soon out. And treacherous
track conditions caused multiple drivers to spin out of the race,
including then-reigning World Champion
Michael Schumacher, ending a remarkable
run of race finishes dating back to the German Grand Prix 2001.
Amidst this, a number of drivers, including McLaren's
Kimi Räikkönen and
David Coulthard, led the race, and, when a
heavy accident involving Renault's Fernando Alonso blocked the
circuit and brought out the red flag, confusion reigned. Fisichella
led the race at the time, having just overtaken Räikkönen; however,
it was the Finn who was declared the race winner under the count
back rule, which stipulates that the race result in such
circumstances is taken from the running order two laps prior to the
race being stopped. This decision was overturned days later in the
FIA Court of Appeal in Paris after new evidence came to light which
proved that Fisichella had crossed the finish line in the lead for
a second time
before Alonso's accident, and therefore was
the rightful winner.
The
2001 Grand Prix was
notable for marking the explosive arrival of
Juan Pablo Montoya onto the Formula One
scene. The Colombian driver stunningly muscled his way past Michael
Schumacher early on and led easily until an incident in which
Arrows'
Jos Verstappen ran into the
back of his Williams-BMW and ended his race. Montoya did eventually
lay to rest the ghost of this event by winning the 2004 race in his
final Grand Prix for Williams before moving to McLaren, holding off
his future team-mate Kimi Räikkönen to take a hard-fought victory.
This edition of the race is also notable for hosting the first time
brothers,
Michael Schumacher and
Ralf Schumacher, shared Row One
Fernando Alonso became the youngest ever Formula One World Champion
at the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, his third place behind winner
Juan Pablo Montoya and championship rival Kimi Räikkönen enough to
clinch the title with two races remaining.
For 2006 the Brazilian Grand Prix, as in 2004, was moved to the
prestigious position of hosting the final round of the season, in
what was Michael Schumacher's farewell to Formula One. Starting
from 10th position on the grid, Schumacher did an astonishing job
on his last race. He fell to 19th position on the ninth lap due to
a flat tyre caused by a minor collision with Giancarlo Fisichella
when the former was trying to overturn the latter. After pitting
for a new tyre he returned to the race, just in front of leader
Massa, so almost being overlapped, passing several drivers to take
the chequered flag in fourth place, after a dazzling passing
manoeuvre on Kimi Räikkönen. His performance was not enough to give
'Schumi' his eighth trophy, as Fernando Alonso, who needed only one
point to become World Champion again, finished in second place.
Brazilian Felipe Massa took
pole
position and led the race from start to finish for the second
victory of his career and celebrations from his Brazilian
supporters.
In March 2008, the mayor of São Paulo announced that he had signed
a new deal with
Bernie Ecclestone
to continue the holding of the Brazilian Grand Prix. This deal
allows the Brazilian race to be on the calendar until 2015. With
this, Interlagos is set for major improvements in its pit and
paddock facilities.
In the final race of the 2008 season Lewis Hamilton became the
youngest world champion in Formula One history at the Brazilian
Grand Prix. After adopting a conservative strategy without risks
for most of the race to secure at least 5th place, and the title, a
late-race rain shower caused unexpected trouble. First, Hamilton
was pushed down to 5th place by German Toyota driver Timo Glock who
didn't enter the pits for intermediates like most other front
runners. With just 3 laps to go, Sebastian Vettel then also
overtook the Briton on the track which meant he would end up with
equal points to Massa, but with one victory less. While everybody
was focussing on the battle between these two (Vettel managed to
stay in front in the end), against all expectations both were able
to overtake Glock, who had lost all grip with his dry weather
tyres, in the very last corner before the finishing straight. This
meant that, while the McLaren driver's title rival Felipe Massa won
the race in his Ferrari, Hamilton ultimately grabbed the fifth
place he needed to become champion. Renault's Fernando Alonso, the
previous youngest champion, was second ahead of Massa's team-mate
Kimi Räikkönen and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.
Winners
Drivers
| # Wins |
Driver |
Years Won |
| 6 |
Alain Prost |
1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 |
| 4 |
Carlos Reutemann |
1972, 1977, 1978, 1981 |
| Michael Schumacher |
1994, 1995, 2000, 2002 |
| 2 |
Emerson Fittipaldi |
1973, 1974 |
| Nelson Piquet |
1983, 1986 |
| Nigel Mansell |
1989, 1992 |
| Ayrton Senna |
1991, 1993 |
| Mika Häkkinen |
1998, 1999 |
| Juan Pablo Montoya |
2004, 2005 |
| Felipe Massa |
2006, 2008 |
| 1 |
José Carlos Pace |
1975 |
| Niki Lauda |
1976 |
| Jacques Laffite |
1979 |
| René Arnoux |
1980 |
| Damon Hill |
1996 |
| Jacques Villeneuve |
1997 |
| David Coulthard |
2001 |
| Giancarlo
Fisichella |
2003 |
| Kimi
Räikkönen |
2007 |
| Mark Webber |
2009 |
|
By year
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the
Formula One World Championship.
Sponsors
Grande Prêmio
Marlboro do
Brasil
1999-2004
Grande Prêmio
Petrobras do Brasil
2009-
References
- Autosport
magazine, 27 March
2008 p.11
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