For the third and final leg of the Formula 1 World Championship’s American triple-header, the teams head south again to Brazil for the São Paulo Grand Prix and the last Sprint weekend of the year. Scuderia Ferrari arrives at the José Carlos Pace circuit off the back of a third place podium finish for Charles Leclerc and a fourth place for Carlos Sainz in Mexico City. The result sees the Spaniard move up to fourth in the Drivers’ standings. The Brazilian circuit is generally known as Interlagos, as it is located between two lakes, built on clay soil, the instability of which has contributed to the bumpy nature of the track surface.
Anniversary. 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the first Grand Prix to be held in Brazil, a round of the championship that soon made a name for itself because of the atmosphere and the dramatic moments it produced. The track is just 4.309 kilometres long and starts with a slight climb before plunging downhill at dizzying speeds when tackled on a flying lap on the way to Turn 1, the Senna Esses, named in honour of the three-time Paulista world champion. This section is a good overtaking opportunity and it is followed by the Reta oposta, the first straight where the DRS can be activated up to turn 4. Here the cars test the limits of physics, generating massive G forces as the drivers aim to carry plenty of speed on the approach to the very technical second sector which goes from turn 6 to 11. High downforce is required for this section, on what is generally a medium to high downforce track. Sector three favours a low downforce set-up, with cars once again travelling flat out. The drivers tackle the Junção, sharp left-hand bend, as the track once more goes uphill and DRS is enabled for the Subida do Boxes and Arquibancadas, a flat-out left-hander that leads onto the finish straight. A lap of Interlagos only lasts about 70 seconds but it packs in as much excitement as many of the longest and most complicated tracks on the calendar.
Programme. The final Sprint weekend of the year features just one free practice session on Friday, followed by qualifying for Sunday’s 71-lap Grand Prix. Saturday is entirely given over to the Sprint with the Shootout in the morning followed by the 24-lap (approximately 100 kilometres) race. The top eight finishers can score points going from 8 down to 1.
