Your guide to the São Paulo GP - presented by OKX
“I’m excited to get on track at such an iconic circuit"
When we first step into the paddock at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, we're hit by history. Brazil is the birthplace of two of our most legendary drivers and has been home to some of our greatest triumphs.
When looking out over the track from the start-finish straight grandstands, you can see Ayrton Senna dragging his MP4/6 - stuck in sixth gear - over the finish line in 1991, and hear Martin Brundle’s famous line, “is that Glock?” as Hamilton overtook the Toyota driver to seal his first F1 title 15 years ago.
Those are just two of many celebrated moments from our history in South America’s largest country, and Lando and Oscar will be looking to make more memories this weekend in São Paulo. We’ve asked them for their thoughts ahead of the race, along with Team Principal Andrea Stella. There are also some tips on how to spend your time in São Paulo and what to wear, a guide to the circuit and reminder of what happened last time out.
Critical info
| Round | 20 |
| Where | Autódromo José Carlos Pace |
| When | 3 - 5 November |
| Lights out | 17:00 MTC / 14:00 local |
| Follow | The website and the McLaren App for LIVE commentary and team radio |
“Brazil, let’s go! It’s the end of the triple header and the final Sprint weekend of the season. There’s so much history and heritage at this race, particularly with McLaren and Senna. I always enjoy coming here, so hopefully it’s another opportunity for us to score some good points.
“The car had great pace in Mexico, allowing me to gain 12 places, which I’m pretty happy with. We know what we’re capable of, we just have to go out there and do it.”
“I’m looking forward to racing in Brazil. It’s a Sprint weekend, which I enjoy, and it gives us more chances for points. I’ve never raced here before, so I’m excited to get on track at such an iconic circuit.
“The last few races have been reassuring, especially considering where we were at the start of the season. Mexico was slightly tougher for me with the damage, but I’ve debriefed with the team, and I’ll take the learnings into this weekend as we aim for more points.”
Land of the Drizzle
The Autódromo José Carlos Pace is both short and high at the same time.
At 4.309km, the track is one of the shortest on the calendar, but it’s also 800m above sea level, making it the second highest after Mexico City. That means that the team will face many of the same challenges as they did last time out, including less downforce and grip, and a greater demand on turbo and cooling, albeit on a less drastic scale.
Previously known as Interlagos, the original layout of the now-named Autódromo José Carlos Pace was 8km long when it was opened in 1940, but it’s nearly halved in size since, without compromising on quality. The run from the start line to the Senna S turns when the lights go out is one of F1’s most iconic sights.
Being one of F1’s oldest tracks, banked corners are almost inevitable, and the Autódromo José Carlos Pace has them throughout the lap, but most notably at the final turn, which precedes one of F1’s nosiest straights and the track's best overtaking opportunity, Turn 1.
Nearly 68% of the lap is taken at full throttle, which when combined with the track's up-and-down nature, makes it feel like something of a rollercoaster ride. And there’s always a high chance of rain in São Paulo, with the city nicknamed “Land of the Drizzle”, and where there’s rain in F1, there’s quite often chaos.
The F1 Sprint explained
Given our success in Sprint races this year, we’d like to think you know the score by now, but just in case you missed Oscar’s P2 finish in the Sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix, or his victory in Qatar’s Sprint, we’ll run through this year’s all-new format, which you can read in full here.
The Sprint is now treated like a bite-sized grand prix weekend, with qualifying and the race squeezed into one day of action. It’s a standalone Saturday-based event that doesn’t affect the starting grid on Sunday.
Points are handed out to the top eight finishers: the winner gets eight points, and the driver in eighth gains one point.
Last time out
Lando fired through the field from 17th to fifth for his 11th successive top 10 finish – a personal record - at the Mexico City Grand Prix, with the race being hailed as one of his best in Formula 1. Meanwhile, Oscar managed to hang on to eighth despite taking damage at the start of the race.
The result was our seventh double points finish in the last 10 races and put us in fourth on 256 points in the Constructors’ Championship, 20 ahead of fifth-placed.
“After a strong race to end our weekend in Mexico with points finishes for both cars, we turn our attention to Brazil. We keep being encouraged with the performance of our car and hope to be competitive once again.
“The team remain focused as we come to the final race of the triple header. It’s been a very busy few weeks, but everyone continues to be motivated and perform at the highest level. With the final Sprint event of the season, there’s a bigger prospect to score points and we aim to maximise our opportunities across the weekend.”
Stat pack
• We are the most successful team in the race’s history, with 12 victories
• Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi won McLaren’s first Brazilian Grand Prix
• Brazilian Ayrton Senna won his home race twice for McLaren
• Alain Prost won the Brazilian Grand Prix four times for McLaren
• Mika Häkkinen (1998, 1999), David Coulthard (2001), Juan Pablo Montoya (2005) and Jenson Button (2012) have also all won in Brazil for McLaren
• Lewis Hamilton secured his first F1 World Championship at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix
• Carlos Sainz’s first F1 podium was with McLaren at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in 2019
• Lando has scored points in two of his three races at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Brazil from the archives
Set your alarms
| Free Practice 1 | 10:30 ET / 14:30 GMT / 01:30 AET |
| Qualifying | 14:00 ET / 18:00 GMT / 05:00 AET |
| Sprint Shootout | 10:00 ET / 14:00 GMT / 01:00 AET |
| Sprint | 14:30 ET / 18:30 GMT / 05:30 AET |
| Race | 12:00 ET / 17:00 GMT / 04:00 AET |
Setting the scene
Now, you might not think that a place nicknamed “Land of the Drizzle” would be top of your places to visit, but Brazil’s largest city is full of culture and natural beauty, from the lively shop and restaurant-lined Paulista Avenua to the stunning foliage-filled Ibirapuera Park. And when it isn’t raining, the weather in November is nice and warm, without being overly humid.
Throughout your stay, you’re sure to encounter stunning street art and amazing food. Brazil’s barbecued meat is famous, so you’ll definitely want to sample some Picanha, but we’d also recommend trying Feijoada, a pork and black bean-based stew.
McLAREN Hoodies
The Fit: Autumn vibes
There are several indicators that tell us Autumn is in full swing: you feel the temperature drop, see the leaves bronze, spell the pumpkin-spiced lattes, and you get to watch the São Paulo Grand Prix.
When the cars leave the pit-lane for free practice at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, that’s when you know it’s finally time to open up your winter wardrobe and dust off your hoodies and gilets. But that still doesn’t help you shake that longing for summer and the warmer weather, they don’t feel quite right, they don’t feel McLaren enough…
So, you decide to venture over to the McLaren store, and you select the snuggest-looking McLaren hoodie and gilet you can find. When they arrive, you pull them on, and it feels like a hug from Lando and Oscar. Now it's Autumn. You snuggle onto the sofa, grab your latte, and turn up the São Paulo Grand Prix.
