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The Brazilian Grand Prix – Information and schedule

The Brazilian Grand Prix, the twentieth race of the originally planned twenty-three, is scheduled for the weekend of 3 to 5 November. What is the schedule and where can you follow the race weekend?

Published

1 year ago

2. 11. 2023

Tomáš Myšák

Zdroj: Chris Graythen, Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

The Brazilian Grand Prix, the twentieth race of the originally planned twenty-three, is scheduled for the weekend of 3 to 5 November. What is the schedule and where can you follow the race weekend?

The first race under the umbrella of the official F1 championship in Brazil took place back in 1973, with the first winner being local driver Emerson Fittipaldi. However, the fans were treated to more home winners in the following years, with Fittipaldi also winning in 1974 and José Carlos Pace dominating the Brazilian event in 1975.

Construction work began on this circuit in 1938, after which the designers were inspired by three other circuits – Brooklands in the UK, Roosevelt Raceway in the USA and Montlhéry in France.

And like many tracks built before World War II, Interlagos, as the circuit is casually called, offered banked corners. Many once referred to the Brazilian circuit as one big oval. However, various modifications were gradually made, mainly for Formula One racing, until it became the circuit we know today.

The fastest lap here is held by Valtteri Bottas, who set a time of 1:10.540 in 2018. The most wins (6) at this circuit were won by Alain Prost, who won here in the 1980s.

The most successful team in terms of wins is McLaren. The British team from Woking has won the race at Interlagos twelve times, with Ferrari second with 11.

Autódromo José Carlos Pace

The track itself is 4.309 km long and consists of fifteen corners. Autódromo José Carlos Pace, as the official name of the circuit is, offers two DRS zones with two detection points. The first is located before turn 2 and the second after turn 13.

The first DRS zone can then be found on the straight between turns 3 and 4, the second in the start/finish area. The Brazilian Grand Prix is normally scheduled for 71 laps, during which the drivers will cover just under 306 kilometres.

But in addition to the detection points, you can also see the average speeds that the drivers reach in each corner, as well as which gear they usually shift into in that corner.

Source: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1

Brazilian Grand Prix – programme

The Formula 1 cars will take to the track for the first time on Friday, November 3, at 15:30, as part of the first practice session (officially called Free Practice 1 – ed.). This will last the standard one hour.

And as the Brazilian Grand Prix is the last of several sprint weekends this season, the drivers will also take part in qualifying on Friday.

This, of course, will determine the starting order for Sunday’s race and will start at 19:00. On Saturday, the Sprint Shootout is scheduled. That is, the qualifying session, which for a change determines the order for the start of the sprint. F1 has scheduled it to start at 15:00, with the sprint starting at 19:30.

The race is scheduled, of course, classically for Sunday, November 5. All five lights will go out at 18:00 sharp.

Brazilian Grand Prix – odds and predictions

Max Verstappen won the recent Mexican Grand Prix and the reigning champion will clearly be the biggest favourite to win at Interlagos in Brazil. His biggest rival should be Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes have taken one thing away from the last two races in terms of information gained – and that is that they have very good race pace. It probably won’t be enough to win again, but if the seven-time world champion doesn’t reach the podium, he will be disappointed.

It should be borne in mind, though, that according to race simulations McLaren should be up to the fourth fastest team. And that’s of course after Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. But it’s the Maranello team that will be the big question mark.

The bumpy track could cause problems with the ideal set-up for both cars. It should be noted, rain is forecast for Friday’s qualifying. This will determine the grid order for Sunday’s grand prix due to the sprint format of the race weekend. Adverse conditions could therefore shuffle the standings.