The season’s penultimate race sees drivers and groups journey to Brazil, dwelling of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Round 21 of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship. F1Technical’s Balázs Szabó picks out some key facts ahead of the race that takes place at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.
Long historical past – Today’s race will probably be the forty ninth Formula One race to be held in Brazil and the second ever to be named Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Of the 48 F1 races held in Brazil to this point, 38 grands prix happened at Interlagos. The different ten have been staged at Rio de Janeiro’s Jacarepagua circuit in two stints (1978 and 1981-1989).
The inaugural race – The Formula One World Championship first visited Brazil again in 1973 with a non-championship occasion held in the earlier 12 months. The inaugural race was staged at the Interlagos circuit which was designed and developed by an Englishman, Loius S. Sanson and opened its gates in 1940.
The significance of the first row – The pole man has solely gained right here at Interlagos a complete of 16 occasions out of 38 begins. Considering the statistics from the previous six years, the significance of beginning the Brazil F1 race from the first row has considerably grown. In the hybrid period, 5 races have been gained by the pole man. This sequence was solely damaged by Sebastian Vettel who gained at Interlagos in 2017 after ranging from the second place. In contradiction to it, Hamilton gained from P10 final 12 months.
Mercedes stronghold– Since the hybrid energy models have been launched in Formula One, the Mercedes squad has gained each race however two. In 2014 and 2015, it was Nico Rosberg who got here out on prime at the finish of the Brazilian Grand Prix. The subsequent 12 months noticed his then-teammate Lewis Hamilton securing the victory which the Briton repeated in 2018 and final 12 months.
One of the two non-Mercedes triumphs got here in 2017 when Sebastian Vettel put in a heroic efficiency to fend off the quicker Mercedes automobiles to safe his third Brazilian Grand Prix victory. The different event when Mercedes was defeated in Brazil was in 2019 with Max Verstappen crossing the end line first.
Shall we name that SPRIIINT OPERATOR? 😎
Bravo ✨ @carlossainz55 #essereFerrari🔴 #BrazilGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/tBaRXYz0mL
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) November 13, 2022
The French driver – Alain Prost holds the document for many wins in Brazil with six. Michael Schumacher is the second most profitable driver in the historical past of the Brazilian Grand Prix. The German gained on 4 events of which he took two victories for Benetton whereas he was victorious with Ferrari twice. Carlos Reutemann, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel share the third place on this checklist with three wins apiece.
The Brazilian stars – Home heros Felipe Massa, Ayrton Senna, Emerson Fittipaldi and Nelson Piquet all have two victories on their dwelling turf.
A brief one – The Autodromo José Carlos Pace is one of the shortest tracks on the present Grand Prix calendar. Drivers might want to full 71 laps in complete on the 4.309km race circuit to cowl the complete race distance of 305.909km.
Overtaking – There’s a lot of scope for overtaking: the long term uphill, by means of a left kink and over the begin end line, leads into a very good overtaking spot proper at Turn 1. Another lengthy straight follows the spectacular part of Turns 1-3 that’s known as Senna Esses, offering one other overtaking alternative as drivers have to brake exhausting into Turn 4.
The vital numbers – As widespread, drivers have to stick to a velocity restrict of 80kph in the race whereas driving by means of the pit lane. The begin and the end line will not be an identical with an offset of 30m mendacity between them.
The Finnish record-keeper – Valtteri Bottas holds the document for the quickest ever race lap at Interlagos. The Finn recorded a 1m10.540 in 2018 to set a brand new lap document round the undulating, twisting circuit. However, the quickest ever lap belongs to his present teammate Lewis Hamilton who set a lap time of 1m07.281 on his solution to safe the pole place for the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Small adjustments – At the finish of the run-off space in Turn 1 a piece of modular concrete barrier and tyre limitations has been put in. Between Turns 6 and seven, on the left aspect, a brand new guardrail has been put in in the run-off space. Following the creation of a brand new public space between Turns 10 and 14, new guardrails and fencing have been put in. Furthermore, on the proper aspect of the Main Straight new floor grooves have been lower to mitigate aquaplaning
The standard configuration – There will probably be two DRS zones in at present’s race at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. The first zone has a detection level at the apex of Turn 2 and activation 30m after Turn 3. The second zone has a detection level 30m after Turn 13 and activation 160m earlier than Turn 15.
