Constructed before World War II, Brazil’s Autódromo José Carlos Pace, commonly known as Interlagos, still holds onto its original charm.
The circuit starts with banked curves, a quality featured among many pre-WWII tracks, as the drivers push through the Senna S (Turns 1-2) and launch into a DRS zone at the exit of Turn 3 and heading towards Turn 4. Sector Two (Turns 4-11) is fairly snake-like, and the lap ends on a banked final turn. The track designers drew inspiration from a trio of now-defunct circuits: UK’s Brooklands, France’s Montlhéry and New York’s Roosevelt Raceway.
A permanent track started being constructed in 1938. And though it was inaugurated in November 1939, weather prevented a race from taking place. For a few decades, racing took place before the circuit closed its doors at the end of 1967 to undergo extensive renovations and reopened in 1970.
F1 didn’t enter the picture until 1972 with a non-championship event before Brazil was added to the calendar a year later — and home hero Emerson Fittipaldi walked away victorious. But, during the 1980s, the circuit lost F1 due to the city council’s reluctance to invest in the safety changes needed for the sport. Rio de Janeiro kept F1 for several years until the city couldn’t afford it, and the sport returned to São Paulo in the 1990s.
With that brief history lesson under your belt, here are the deeper details you need to know about Brazil’s hilly permanent track between two reservoirs.
Early days of the Interlagos circuit
Real estate entrepreneur Louis Romero Sanson’s company was designing a residential expansion of São Paulo in 1926, and architect Alfred Agache, who helped with the Rio de Janeiro redevelopment project, was hired to help.
According to racingcircuits.info, the land reminded Agache of Switzerland’s Interlaken, a town nestled in a narrow valley between two lakes and surrounded by mountains. The São Paulo land is situated between two reservoirs, Guarapiranga and Billings, which were built in the early 20th century. Interlagos, which means “between lakes” in Portuguese, naturally became the area’s well-known name.
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But the Interlagos development didn’t pan out at first. Between political turmoil and the 1929 stock market crash, the project fell apart. Racing, though, continued in the Brazilian streets until disaster struck in July 1936. French dancer and driver Hellé Nice crashed into a grandstand after hitting a bale of straw, killing four people and wounding another thirty-plus. The President of the Automobile Club of Brazil wanted to find a safer environment for drivers to compete, and Sanson was contracted to finish the circuit.
What’s in a name?
This race and track have been a mystery because they have had numerous different names, all ultimately meaning the same thing.
Autódromo de Interlagos was renamed Autódromo José Carlos Pace nearly four decades ago (since 1985). The name is in honor of Brazilian driver José Carlos Pace, who won the 1975 Brazilian GP and died in a plane crash near São Paulo in 1977. He competed in over 70 grands prix and secured six podium finishes (including a single victory) and one pole position.
Meanwhile, the race itself has undergone a recent name change. It switched from the Brazilian Grand Prix to the São Paulo Grand Prix in 2021 after the promoter changed.
A nod to a Brazilian great
Turns 1 and 2 are named the Senna S in honor of Brazilian great Ayrton Senna. He’s one of three Brazilian drivers to win an F1 world championship (he has three to his name), secured 65 pole positions (a record that stood until 2006), and won 41 races.
Charles Leclerc said Thursday, “Ayrton is the one and only idol I’ve ever had.” Lewis Hamilton made a similar remark, highlighting how Senna is a common hero among the drivers and how “when you come out here, you really feel his presence.”
📍🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/ycwAOJsf81
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 2, 2023
Your proper, tech(ish) breakdown
Autódromo José Carlos Pace is the second-highest track on F1’s calendar (behind Mexico City’s circuit) but is the third shortest lap of the year (behind Monaco and also Mexico City).
The first sector is a steep downhill drive before drivers eventually climb back up. And when it comes to the 15 turns (five right-handers and nine left-handers), it’s a mix of medium- and low-speed corners that result in a few changes in direction. “The asphalt itself has a high level of roughness: typical of permanent tracks with a long history behind them,” Pirelli’s Mario Isola said in his race preview. “Degradation is mainly thermal, so the C2, C3, and C4 compounds have been chosen. A two-stopper is the most likely strategy, while a one-stopper would require plenty of tire management, affecting race pace.”
Drivers take different racing lines heading out of the final banked turn and onto the long main straight, and it is a prime overtaking option. It boils down to which route is the shortest and fastest. Some will choose to go tight alongside the pit wall, while others take a more normal line by going straight when exiting the corner.
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“The track is iconic. You know, they don’t build circuits like this anymore. So it’s a race that I think all the drivers really love,” said Hamilton, who is an honorary citizen. “It’s a race that it’s fun to drive a single lap, but the races are very strong here; you’ve got that long straight which you can overtake on and the follow through, Turns 1, 2 and 3 and then have a fight down to Turn 4 so a good overtaking place as well.”
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(Lead image of fans with the Interlagos Ayrton Senna statue: NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)
