São PauloGrand Prix

Officially named Autódromo José Carlos Pace, but better known as Interlagos, this circuit is often voted as one of the best race tracks on the calendar. Named after former Brazilian racing driver José Carlos Pace, it’s a short but sweet circuit at only 4.309km long, but a lap here boasts a little bit of everything.

The layout flows very well, with some high-speed sections and a mix of medium speed corners such as the iconic ‘Senna esses’ at the start of the lap. There’s also camber changes, with several banked corners, and it is actually the second-highest circuit we race at after Mexico City in terms of altitude at almost 782 metres above sea level.

Downforce is high here, but tyre stress, traction and braking is about average. It’s also an anti-clockwise circuit like we saw in Austin at the start of this triple-header, but generally they’re not too common. Lewis and George will also experience their fair share of elevation change over a lap, with the highest point of the circuit being just shy of Turn 1 but then drops as they go through the esses and down long straight down to Turn 4 – one of the best overtaking spots. Just before Turn 5 is where the circuit reaches its lowest point, with a difference of 43 metres from the start of the lap, and sees the grid then climb back up again ready to do it all over again.

The slipstream effect down the start-finish straight also makes it a great place to try an overtake, something Lewis demonstrated very well when he climbed up an outstanding 15 places during the 2021 Sprint here.