A track etched into the collective imagination of all motoring enthusiasts: the Interlagos circuit, named after Carlos Pace, lies on the outskirts of São Paulo. Construction began in 1938, with the track opening two years later. The FIA WEC returns for a leg in Brazil ten years after the last appearance and, for the first time, in the era of the new Hypercar top class. For the Ferrari 499P, the fifth championship round on South American soil represents a real debut, since the Maranello brand Hypercars have never tested on the 4.309-km São Paulo circuit.
Initially, the circuit featured a wide oval with high-speed banked corners. Over the decades, the GP track, which originally spanned almost eight kilometres, underwent several modifications until its current configuration. Today, the track that hosts the World Endurance Championship, which includes 15 turns (10 left, 5 right), measures 4.309 km, as already mentioned, and is characterised not only by the iconic ups and downs, but also by a main straight of no fewer than 1.393 km.
In the mid-twentieth century, the cars of the Maranello-based manufacturer achieved some successes on the São Paulo track. In 1957 I. Ferreira won the second Prêmio Cinqüentenário ACB with the Ferrari 750 Monza – the prototype that had made its racing debut on the Italian track of the same name in 1954 – and in the same year Celso Lara Barberis won the third, fourth and fifth of the same Prêmio in the Sport class with the 500 Mondial, a car powered by a 1984 cc four-cylinder engine that could produce 125 kW and a top speed of 236 km/h.
The Brazilian circuit returns to the FIA World Endurance Championship spotlight after ten years, with São Paulo having previously hosted world championship rounds in the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons. During this time, Ferrari won twice with production-derived cars. In the LMGTE Pro, Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni in AF Corse’s 458 Italia GT2 climbed the top step of the podium in 2012 and 2013.
In the third millennium, again with series-derived racing cars, Ferrari won the 500 km of Interlagos, valid for the Brazilian GT championship, in 2009 with the F430 GT3 driven by Francisco Longo and Daniel Serra.
A prominent place in the history of the Brazilian circuit is occupied by the Formula 1 Grands Prix: Scuderia Ferrari notched up 50 races at Interlagos, debuting in 1973 with Arturo Merzario and Jacky Ickx who finished fourth and fifth respectively; the Maranello-based manufacturer also picked up 11 wins – the first in 1977 with Carlos Reutemann, the latest in 2017 with Sebastian Vettel – and 32 podiums at the São Paulo circuit.