2025 São Paulo Grand Prix – Preview

Round 21 of the 2025 Formula One World Championship takes place at Interlagos in São Paulo.

• Toto talks Brazil
• Fact File: São Paulo Grand Prix
• Stat Sheet: São Paulo Grand Prix

Toto Talks Brazil

Four races to go. Just one point now separates ourselves and Ferrari, with Red Bull only nine further back. We have had a couple of tough weekends but we are still in the fight for P2. Each one of these four events is going to be vital in the battle for second in the Constructors’ and, whilst our advantage over our rivals disappeared across Austin and Mexico, we can strike back in Brazil.

The penultimate Sprint weekend of the year means we have to be at our very best from the off. Interlagos is an old-school circuit with a bumpy surface, elevation changes, and a wide range of corners. Add in unpredictable weather and there is little margin for error. No matter what the weekend throws at us our aim is to hit the ground running, execute better than our competitors, and get back in front of our nearest rivals.

Fact File: São Paulo Grand Prix

• The Autódromo José Carlos Pace is the fourth-shortest track on the 2025 F1 calendar at just 4.309 km long, only behind Monaco, Zandvoort and Mexico.
• The São Paulo Grand Prix venue is situated 800 metres above sea level, the second-highest altitude on the F1 calendar behind Mexico City (which sits at 2,300m above sea level).
• Interlagos is a track of two extremes. The first and third sectors require a low-drag car for the long straights, but the middle sector is twisty, requiring high downforce. The second DRS zone means more focus is typically on higher downforce for the ultimate fastest lap, but a balance still needs to be found with being competitive on the straights during the race.
• There is 1.2 kilometres of driving at full throttle between the exit of Turn 12 and the braking zone for Turn One, with an elevation change of 33 metres.
• The biggest difference in elevation is from the start/finish straight to Turn 4 where there is a 40-metre drop in elevation.
• The long straight before the lap begins also requires some clever deployment of energy from the ERS to maximise performance towards the end of the out lap, as the drivers start their flying lap.
• Turn 1 is banked heavily towards the inside, unloading the front-left wheel and causing frequent lockups. However, because the tyre is unloaded, flat spots are less likely and time loss isn’t as high as you would expect, due to the steep banking and variety of corner lines drivers can take. The variety of lines is also what makes this corner well suited to overtaking.
• The uphill grid requires the drivers to find the balance between holding the car on the brakes as gently as possible, without rolling backwards.
• From Turn 10 to Turn 6 (around 3.5 km of distance) the left-hand front tyre does very little work and therefore cools down quickly, providing a tricky engineering challenge to keep the tyre in its temperature window.
• With long straights and a second DRS zone, Interlagos is one of the best tracks of the season for overtaking. However, it can be difficult for the defending car to manage its battery, as there aren’t many big braking zones to recover energy.
• The São Paulo Grand Prix is the fifth F1 Sprint of the 2025 season, with just Qatar left on the Sprint calendar this season.
• This will be the fifth consecutive year that the circuit has hosted a Sprint weekend. It is the only track to host the format since its inception during the 2021 season.
• Interlagos is a very flowing circuit with a lot of combined corner entries (where you are cornering and braking at the same time), meaning good stability is important. However, you also need a good front end for the low-speed middle sector.
• The braking energy level for Interlagos is the lowest of all the tracks on the 2025 schedule, at 2.11MJ.
• Track temperatures can reach some of the hottest of the season in Brazil, up to 60°C. And thunderstorms are common around this time of year, which can potentially spice up the weekend.
• Since 2021, the race around the circuit has been known as the São Paulo Grand Prix.
• Valtteri Bottas won the inaugural F1 Sprint race at Interlagos in 2021. A year later, George Russell won his first F1 Sprint race at the venue.
• A day later in 2022, George won his first F1 Grand Prix. He became the first driver to come through the Mercedes Junior Programme to win an F1 race for the Silver Arrows.
• The team has six wins overall at Interlagos. In addition to the three from Lewis Hamilton (2016, 2018 & 2021) and George, Nico Rosberg also won in São Paulo (2014 & 2015).

Stat Sheet: São Paulo Grand Prix