In Brazil for the final Sprint of the season

It’s time for the penultimate race of the longest season in the history of the Formula 1 World Championship, with no less than 22 rounds. This weekend’s race at Interlagos is the second São Paulo Grand Prix, although for the previous 47 times, it featured on the championship calendar, known as the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Unique track. Formula 1 has raced at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, more generally referred to as Interlagos, 38 times. It is one of the most unusual tracks on the calendar, set in a natural bowl, between two artificial lakes (Interlagos meaning “between lakes” in Portuguese.) At 4.309 kilometres it is one of the shortest on the calendar, runs counter clockwise and provides a severe test of man and machine. It features a mix of fast corners, hairpins and gradient changes, which along with a bumpy surface makes for a particularly demanding mix. Therefore, finding the right set-up is a compromise between a lot of aero downforce and as little drag as possible. Interlagos is demanding from an aerodynamic point of view, mainly because of the slow mixed middle section with its low speed corners, while the first and third sectors favour a strong power unit to deal with straights and corners taken at full throttle. Overtaking is a definite possibility, especially in the Senna esses after the start-finish line, which is one of the DRS zones, along with another on the straight between turns 3 and 4. Turn 12, “Junção” is the key to being quick in the final sector, both on a qualifying lap and in the race if a driver has to defend or go on the attack in the braking zone for turn 1. 

Final Sprint. As was the case last year, the São Paulo Grand Prix is the final Sprint race weekend of the season which means a different timetable to usual. On Friday, there is just one hour of free practice from 12.30 local (16.30 CET) before Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will be tackling qualifying at 16 (20 CET) to decide the grid positions for Saturday’s Sprint race that gets underway at 16.30, over 24 laps, equal to around 100 kilometres. The top eight score points and the result also decides the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix that starts at 14 (18 CET) over 71 laps, a distance of 305.879 kilometres.

Programme

Free practice 1 Friday November 11, 12.30-13.30 local (16.30-17.30 CET)
Qualifying Friday November 11, 16 local (20 CET)
Free practice 2 Saturday November 12, 12.30-13.30 local (16.30-17.30 CET)
Sprint Saturday November 12, 16.30 local (20.30 CET)
Race Sunday November 13, 15 local (19 CET) 

Three questions to...

LAURENT MEKIES, RACING DIRECTOR

1. Can you tell us about your passion for motorsport? Where did it start? How did you get to Ferrari and what is your best memory so far from your time in red?
"It all started, as is the case for most kids around the world, by being attracted and passionate about cars since a very early age, then being lucky enough to turn this passion into a job a few years later. Fortunately there are some great opportunities to start in the grassroots categories of motorsport after university, to then climb the ladder to eventually reach Formula 1. After a long stint at Scuderia Toro Rosso and another one at the FIA, I was (again) lucky to cross Mattia’s path at a time when he was always looking to strengthening the team and that’s how I got the opportunity to join Ferrari. The best memory? Monza 2019 of course, as winning in front of our tifosi is something incomparable!".

2. Can you describe the characteristics of the Interlagos track? What it normally takes to go fast on this circuit?
"It is one of well established venues on the calendar. It has plenty of character with a superb mix of middle speed corners and a seriously long uphill straight line at the end of the lap. So it’s a tough one for setup choices, downforce levels and so on. It’s also a track where we have often had to deal with heavy rain in the past which makes for very unpredictable racing".

3. This weekend we have the Sprint format for the third and last time in the season: what skills are highlighted both for the team and the drivers by this format?
"With the Sprint format you go straight into qualifying after only one hour of practice and that’s it. You cannot change the setup of the cars from that point onwards. So it puts some serious emphasis on the quality of your preparation work back at home, in terms of simulation and in the simulator with our drivers. It also puts all drivers to the test, having to nail a qualifying lap after so little time to adapt. From that point onwards, it is a little bit like a 400km race, interrupted by a red flag after the first 100km (the Sprint)".


Laurent Mekies
Nationality: France
Born on 28/4/1977
in Tours (France)

Photos of Laurent Mekies are available for download at
https://we.tl/t-lKaIUY3ALI

Ferrari Stats

GP contested 1050
Seasons in F1 73
Debut Monaco 1950 (A. Ascari 2^nd; R. Sommer 4^th; L. Villoresi ret.)
Wins 242 (23.05%)
Pole positions 242 (23.05%)
Fastest laps 259 (24.67%)
Total podiums 796 (25.27%)

Ferrari Stats Grands Prix in Brazil

GP contested 48
Debut 1973 Brazilian GP (A. Merzario 4th; J. Ickx 5th)
Wins 11 (22.92%)
Pole positions 7 (14.58%)
Fastest laps 8 (16.67%)
Total podiums 31 + 1 Sprint (21.53%)

São Paulo Grand Prix: facts & figures

1. The number of Sumo rings in Brazil. Located in São Paulo, it is the only traditional facility for this ancient and revered discipline found outside Japan. This is the result of their being a community of almost two million Japanese people who have made this South American country their home. The first immigrants arrived in 1908 and Brazil now boasts the biggest Japanese community outside Japan. The majority of these Brazilian-Japanese live in the states of São Paulo and Paranà.

36. The percentage of races won from pole position at Interlagos, one of the lowest figures on the calendar. As previously mentioned, overtaking is quite common at this short track and so, only 16 times in 38 races has the winner started from pole. The first to do so was local hero Emerson Fittipaldi in 1974 and the most recent was Max Verstappen in 2019. For Ferrari, Felipe Massa won from the number one spot in 2006 and 2008.

706/07. The number of the law, approved in March 2009, that meant painting street art was no longer a crime, which it had been up to that point. Since then, the country, particularly São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, has attracted many artists whose murals are now an accepted art form in the cities. They are particularly prevalent in the Beco do Batman, Vila Madalena and Pinheiros areas of São Paulo.

1554. The year the city of São Paulo was founded, on 25 January. The Jesuit missionaries Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta who built the first village, establishing the Colégio de São Paulo de Piratininga mission, home to fewer than one hundred people. The name of the city was down to the fact that, on that day, the church was celebrating the saint day of St. Paul the Apostle. Today, it is home to just over 12 million inhabitants.

25.000. The number of people who live in the Vargem Grande district of São Paulo in the Parelheiros district. Found at the southern end of the city, it is located inside a crater caused when a meteorite crashed into the earth more than 40 million years ago. The crater is 140 metres lower than the surrounding land.