The Sao Paulo Grand Prix brought the curtain down on Formula 1’s long trip across the Americas, with the races at Austin, Mexico City and now Interlagos all taking place at one week intervals.

There is a common thread, a very dark one in this case, that links all three of the aforementioned tracks, namely new asphalt. However, while in Austin and Mexico City only sections of the tracks had been resurfaced, in Sao Paulo all 4.309 kilometres has been renewed, including the pit lane. The work was only recently completed and the asphalt was then thoroughly cleaned, using a high pressure water washing system that removes the sheen that usually appears on brand new bitumen and this has also increased the abrasiveness of the surface.

Therefore, the track surface will be a completely unknown factor for drivers and teams this weekend.

The circuit named in honour of José Carlos Pace presents several overtaking opportunities, but other random factors, such as a high chance of a Safety Car and extremely changeable weather, make the outcome of the Grand Prix uncertain and hard to predict. Usually, the fastest strategy is a two-stop, favouring the use of the softer compounds.

The Interlagos circuit has hosted 40 Grands Prix, but only the last three have been named after the Paulista city. The previous 37 went by the name of the Brazilian Grand Prix, a race which was also held ten times at Rio de Janeiro’s Jacarepaguà circuit.

2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the tragic death of Ayrton Senna and, as was the case at Imola back in May, events and tributes were held at Interlagos.

FRIDAY

In the only free practice session of the weekend, only the Soft and Medium compound tires were used, aside from the usual scrubbing-in of Hards by both Aston Martin drivers. The teams focused mainly on finding the best setup, with some conducting long runs, albeit with varying levels of fuel on board.

From one session to the next, temperatures changed considerably, particularly on the track. The air temperature reached 31°C in FP but dropped to 21°C by the end of SQ, while the track temperature fell sharply from a peak of 57°C at 12:15 to 36°C at 16:30. This was largely due to cloud cover, which prevented the sun from heating the new track surface during the grid-deciding session as it had done during free practice.

In the fifth Sprint Qualifying of the season, Oscar Piastri was quickest, breaking the 1:09 barrier with a 1:08.899, beating teammate Lando Norris by just 0.029 seconds. It’s the second time the Australian has been fastest in Sprint Qualifying, following last year at Lusail (Qatar), where he went on to win the “short” race. Oliver Bearman, standing in for a sick Kevin Magnussen, got the Haas into SQ3.

SATURDAY

The Sprint Race was run in the dry, with all drivers opting for the Medium compound and only Gasly (Alpine) and Lawson (Racing Bulls) going with a new set of the C4. The 24 laps were run at quite a fast pace which tested the tires on a track surface where temperatures, while not reaching the very high figures seen in Friday’s free practice, still exceeded the 40 °C mark.

McLaren finished first and second in Saturday’s Sprint race, the only Formula 1 track action of the day, as in the afternoon, heavy rain meant qualifying could not take place and it was due to be held Sunday morning. Over the 24 race laps, Lando Norris took the win ahead of Oscar Piastri after the team issued team orders. Charles Leclerc inheriting third place from Max Verstappen, who was given a 5 second Virtual Safety Car-related penalty, dropping him to fourth.

SUNDAY

Track action began at 7:30 AM local time with qualifying, rescheduled from Saturday due to adverse weather conditions. Once again, rain played a significant role, preventing any drivers from using dry-weather tires. Extreme wet conditions affected the first part of qualifying, before the intermediate tires came into play. The session, which lasted nearly an hour and 45 minutes, was interrupted no fewer than five times by crashes, as the intensity of the rain fluctuated throughout.

Following a similar tribute at the Imola Grand Prix, the São Paulo Grand Prix offered another opportunity to honor Ayrton Senna in the thirtieth anniversary year of his tragic passing, with Lewis Hamilton driving Senna’s 1990 championship-winning McLaren-Honda MP4/5B around the Interlagos circuit.

The race was rescheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. Despite a red flag near the halfway point due to heavy rain that significantly reduced visibility, the event proceeded with only a few Safety Car appearances. Over 69 laps (the race distance was shortened by two laps due to two aborted starts), the Intermediate tire was the primary choice. Only five drivers – Pérez, Lawson, Tsunoda, Zhou, and Hülkenberg – also used the Extreme tires when the rain intensified. However, the red flag reset conditions, and for the restart, the Intermediate tire proved best suited to the track. In total, there were 33 tire changes.

Max Verstappen took one of the best wins of his career, climbing from 17th on the grid to cross the finish line in first place. This victory marks the Dutchman’s 62nd win and his eighth of the season, matching his Red Bull team’s eighth win of the year and bringing their total to 121, with eight of those wins at the Interlagos circuit.

Joining him on the podium were both Alpine drivers, with Esteban Ocon in second and Pierre Gasly in third. The last time two French drivers finished in the top three was at the 1997 Spanish Grand Prix, when Olivier Panis (Prost-Mugen Honda) placed second, and Jean Alesi (Benetton-Renault) was third, both behind another French speaker, Jacques Villeneuve (Williams-Renault). This race was also a double points finish for VCARB, with Yuki Tsunoda taking P7 and Liam Lawson P9.

Out of the 1,121 races in F1 history, only five have been won from P17 or lower on the grid.

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Excerpts of this article provided by Pirelli S.p.A.