Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Preview

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Brazil joined Formula 1’s schedule in 1973, at Interlagos, and after a spell at Rio de Janeiro’s Jacarepagua in the 1980s, São Paulo re-established itself as the host location in 1990. Since 2004 it has had a late-season date, with several drivers crowned World Champion, including famous denouements to the title-winning campaigns of Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and Sebastian Vettel in 2012 respectively. Last year’s comeback event, after 2020’s Covid-enforced absence, brought the revised name of the São Paulo Grand Prix after a revised agreement was reached, securing Interlagos’ Formula 1 future through the 2025 season. Interlagos takes its name from the district of São Paulo located between the man-made reservoirs of Guarapiranga and Billinges – directly translating as ‘between lakes’ – and is formally known as the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, as an homage to the late Brazilian Formula 1 icon, who claimed his sole win at the track in 1975. The circuit, one of Formula 1’s most compact, features two lengthy full-throttle sections joined together by a series of undulating long-radius turns. F1 Sprint will return for its third appearance of the season, and for the second successive year at Interlagos, following its debut in 2021. That means there will be only one practice session prior to Friday’s qualifying, with the result of Saturday’s Sprint setting the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. Haas F1 Team enters the penultimate round of the season eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, on 36 points. Guenther Steiner – Team Principal Formula 1 returns to Brazil for the São Paulo Grand Prix, Round 21 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. We know this is a track drivers and fans love, so what is it about the Autódromo José Carlos Pace that is so special? “This is one of those classic tracks that just has a good flow in it and there are always people there, whatever happens. Everyone likes to go there to race and normally there is a good race.” Pietro Fittipaldi, Haas F1 Team’s very own Brazilian, has of course contested a couple of Formula 1 races for the team back in 2020 and took part in FP1 in Mexico and will do so again in Abu Dhabi this season. How important do you think it is for Formula 1 to have a Brazilian competing full-time again and do you think having ‘national’ drivers makes an impact on race weekends – such as the return of the Dutch Grand Prix with Max Verstappen now a two-time winner on home soil? “We always welcome back Pietro driving but unfortunately, he’s not driving in Brazil this year because it’s a Sprint weekend but he will be back in the car again in Abu Dhabi. In Mexico, he couldn’t drive for long because the car had an issue. Always having a national hero driving a race in their home country brings a lot of passion out of fans, especially in Brazil. Here, the fans are very passionate even without having a full-time driver in the sport at the moment.” It will be the third and final Sprint event of the season, with six set to feature on the 2023 calendar. How do you think the team has fared at Sprint weekends this year and are there any changes that could be made, in your opinion, to improve the format for competing teams? “This year in Austria we scored points in both the Sprint and in the main race so for sure, I liked that. It’s a race like any other but it’s shorter and with eight drivers rather than 10 scoring points. I’m in favor of more Sprints as it makes the overall race weekend interesting by having qualifying on Friday. What I’d like even more is having qualifying for the Sprint on Friday and qualifying for the main race on Saturday morning, as the free practice currently isn’t very meaningful for anyone. Then on Saturday afternoon you have the Sprint, followed by the main event on Sunday.” With just two races remaining in 2022, attention will soon turn to 2023 entries and the likes of car launches and pre-season testing. What can you share about the development of the VF-23 and the lessons learned from 2022 carrying over into next season with rules stability etc? “Everyone in our team is working flat out on 2023 now. Development is going to plan – I don’t know if others are on plan, or even better than planned but we’ll only find that out during testing. Last year, we started a little bit late because Simone Resta, our Technical Director, had to put a team together in January which took a couple of months. In the end we produced something that was a lot better than before, and I think the trend will continue. I’m very optimistic that we’ll have a good car for next year.”