Everything you need to know about next 2022 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix

The final two races of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship season are here and the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix also brings us the final Sprint weekend of the campaign. The two titles were already decided in favor of Red Bull and Max Verstappen, but there's still a fight for P2 in the World Drivers' Championship and for P2 in the World Constructors' Championship as well.

Current 2022 F1 Championship order

Max Verstappen has taken advantage of Red Bull's dominance to establish new single-season records for wins and points, with 14 and 416, respectively. Red Bull's Sergio Pérez is second in the WDC with 280 points, five ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc (275 points). Mercedes' pair of drivers, George Russell and Sir Lewis Hamilton, is currently fourth and fifth with 231 and 216 points, respectively. Meanwhile, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz is sixth with 212.

Red Bull has already won the WCC with 696 points, and Ferrari is following with 487. Mercedes remains third, but only 40 points behind the Maranello-based Scuderia.

Alpine (153 points with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso) is ahead of McLaren (146 points with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo) in the battle for fourth place in the World Constructors’ Championship. McLaren scored with its two drivers at Mexico for the first time since the Singapore GP, and Ocon finished eighth for Alpine, as Alonso retired with mechanical issues.

Alfa Romeo (Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou) is sixth in the WCC with 53 points after Bottas scored a point for the first time in the last 11 races. Aston Martin (49 points with Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll) had been catching Alfa Romeo in the last few events, but a scoreless outing at Mexico didn't help its cause.

Haas (36 points - Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher), AlphaTauri (35 points - Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda), and Williams (8 points with Alexander Albon, Nicholas Latifi and Nyck De Vries) round out the WCC positions.

2022 Sao Paulo GP Facts & Figures

The 2022 edition will be the second of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and the 49th Formula 1 World Championship race held in Brazil.

The first Formula 1 race at Brazil was won by Carlos Reutemann in 1972 for Brabham, but the event was not part of the World Championship.

The first Brazilian GP that was part of the Formula 1 World Championship calendar came in 1973, at Interlagos. Emerson Fittipaldi took two famous wins at home in 1973 and 1974, with Lotus and McLaren, respectively.

The GP was again won by a Brazilian in its third edition, with José Carlos Pace winning for Brabham at the track that is now named after him. Niki Lauda won in 1976 for Ferrari, while Reutemann won again at Brazil in 1977 and 1978, with the 1978 race celebrated at Rio de Janeiro’s Jacarepaguá Circuit, giving three straight wins at the country to Ferrari.

The event returned to the criticized, bumpy Interlagos for 1979 and 1980, with Jacques Laffite and Rene Arnoux winning.

The Brazilian Grand Prix moved from Sao Paulo to Rio for the events held between 1981 and 1989 due to safety concerns regarding the Interlagos asphalt, and the overall facilities. At Rio, Nelson Piquet’s home, the event was very popular, and it produced some controversial situations early.

Reutemann won in 1981 ahead of his teammate and reigning champion Alan Jones after ignoring team orders to let the Australian by. Then, Piquet won at home in 1982, but the Brazilian driver and second-placed finisher Keke Rosberg were disqualified due to the water-cooled brakes of their Brabham and Williams cars, respectively.

The disqualification came during a heated point of the war between the Federation Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) and the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA). FISA was a subcommittee of the FIA that was the governing body of F1 and motor racing.

The events of the 1982 Brazilian GP led to the boycott of the FOCA teams of the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix, won by Ferrari driver Didier Pironi ahead of Gilles Villeneuve, which started another war that ended with unfortunate situations.

Lotus driver Ayrton Senna of Brazil in action during the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix held on April 7, 1985 at the Jacarepagua circuit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Michael King/Getty Images)

Prost was named the 1982 winner for Renault, and he won again in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988 at Jacarepaguá with McLaren. Nelson Piquet won with Brabham BT52 at home in 1983 en route to his second F1 World Championship, and he repeated the GP success in 1986 for Honda.

The 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix was Ayrton Senna’s first race and first Pole Position for McLaren, but he was disqualified from the race due to a pre-race procedure in which he jumped into the spare car to start from the pits after the green flag was shown.

Nigel Mansell won for Ferrari in his debut race with the team in 1989, in what was the first victory of a car with a semi-automatic gearbox. The 1989 event was the final F1 race at Jacarepaguá before the circus returned to an updated, shortened Interlagos.

Prost won again at Brazil in the return to Sao Paulo in 1990, while Ayrton Senna took arguably his most emotional win in 1991. It was his first at home and Senna won that race after struggling with the gearbox in his car and holding Williams’ Riccardo Patrese off.

Senna repeated in a wet 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix, a year after Nigel Mansell dominated in 1992 at the wheel of the FW14B. Senna had a big fight with Michael Schumacher in 1994, but he spun in the late stages and the German won the race in what has been mentioned as the final battle between the two all-time greats, as Senna passed away two races later after an unfortunate crash.

Schumacher won again for Benetton in 1995, albeit after being excluded due to a fuel infraction and being reinstated later. Williams won in 1996 and 1997 with eventual champions Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.

The Drivers’ Champion had won in Brazil since 1994, and Mika Hakkinen continued the streak in 1998 and 1999, while Schumacher repeated the feat in 2000.

David Coulthard broke that streak when he won for McLaren in 2001. A big overtake by Juan Pablo Montoya on Schumacher into Turn 1 had given the Colombian the lead, but he crashed out of the race after backmarker Jos Verstappen took him out.

Michael Schumacher won in 2002, while Giancarlo Fisichella won a crazy, rain-affected 2003 event. Montoya then won in his final race for Williams in 2004, as the event was moved towards the end or the actual end of the calendar.

From 2005 to 2009, the World Drivers’ Championship was decided at Brazil, whether the race was the final of the year or not. Fernando Alonso sealed his two titles in 2005 and 2006, with the 2006 event being the last of the year, and Michael Schumacher’s final race with Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen won Ferrari’s most recent WDC after winning the 2007 race, beating McLaren-Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

Anthony and Lewis Hamilton after winning the 2008 F1 Drivers title

Hamilton won his first title in one of the most epic title-deciding races ever seen in F1 history. Felipe Massa won the race for Ferrari, and with Hamilton out of the needed places to win the title, the Brazilian was set to become a World Champion at his home GP. However, Hamilton, on wet-weather tyres, surpassed Timo Glock’s Toyota (equipped with dry tyres) into the last corner of the final lap of the final Grand Prix of the season.

Ultimately, Hamilton’s fifth place gave him a one-point edge over Massa and won McLaren’s most recent World Drivers’ title.

Jenson Button sealed his 2009 World Championship for Brawn GP in Brazil, with one race to spare.

The eventual champion won again in Brazil in 2010, with Sebastian Vettel winning for Red Bull. Mark Webber won in 2011 after Vettel’s car ran into mechanical trouble (gearbox) and the German allowed him through.

The 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix was another showdown for the World Drivers’ Championship. Sebastian Vettel entered the race with the lead over Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari, but the German’s race was dramatic, with an early crash almost ending his race, but he then recovered in tough weather conditions to finish in the needed places to beat the Spaniard, to did what he needed (finish in the podium) to have a chance.

Both were fighting to become a three-time World Champion, and it was Vettel who eventually did it for Red Bull, achieving his third consecutive title. Vettel won the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix to end his dominant 2013 campaign with his ninth consecutive win (an all-time record) and his then record-equalling 13th win of the year (equalling Michael Schumacher’s tally from 2004).

Mercedes dominated the event at the start of the hybrid era, with Nico Rosberg leading a couple of 1-2s in 2014 and 2015, and Hamilton doing so in 2016 on an extremely wet race which saw a great recovery by Max Verstappen’s Red Bull near the end to finish third.

Vettel won for Ferrari in 2017, while Lewis Hamilton won for Mercedes in 2018 after Max Verstappen’s crash with Esteban Ocon while the Dutchman was leading the race and the backmarker was trying to unlap himself on fresher tyres.

The Dutchman came back strong to win a crazy 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix from Pole Position for Red Bull-Honda, ahead of Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz, and after a good battle with Lewis Hamilton in the race.

Max Verstappen defending his position against Lewis Hamilton in Sao Paulo (2021)

Last season, Hamilton won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after starting the race in 10th place. The British legend had qualified on Pole Position on Friday, but he was disqualified due to a malfunction in the DRS of his car. Hamilton finished Saturday's Sprint in fifth place after a big recovery, but he had a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's race due to exceeding engine parts.

Still, Hamilton fought the entire grid and went on to win the race ahead of his title rival Verstappen, who had pushed him off the track in a previous overtaking attempt, before the Englishman completed the move on lap 59. That win has been widely regarded as one of Hamilton's best, and probably the greatest of his career.

Among drivers, Alain Prost dominated in Brazil during his time, winning six races with Renault, McLaren and Ferrari. Among teams, McLaren leads Ferrari 12 to 11 in terms of wins in Brazil.

Autódromo José Carlos Pace Track info

The Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has hosted the Brazilian Grand Prix 38 times, and one non-championship race. Jacarepaguá, in Rio de Janeiro, hosted the race 10 times.

Initially, the track was named Autódromo de Interlagos, due to it being located between two lakes, the Represa de Guarapiranga and Represa Billings. In 1985, the circuit was named Autódromo José Carlos Pace, in honor of the former Brazilian Grand Prix winner, who died in an airplane accident in 1977.

The original Interlagos was 7.960 km long and hosted the Brazilian Grand Prix from 1972 to 1978. The track then had some minor changes, with the circuit having a whopping 26 corners and the length varying from 7.960 km to 7.873 km.

As Formula 1 went to Rio from 1981 to 1989 and returned to Sao Paulo in 1990, the Autódromo José Carlos Pace was updated and shortened to 4.325 km and 15 corners. Since 1990, it has had some minor changes, and the current layout remains 15-corner long and is 4.309 km long.

The 2022 race will be run over a distance of 305.879 km and will have 71 laps.

The lap record at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace was established by Valtteri Bottas, driving for Mercedes in 2018, with a 1:10.540 min lap in the 2018 race. Lewis Hamilton established the outright Fastest Lap in Qualifying for the 2018 race, with a 1:07.281 min lap in the Mercedes W09.

2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - Tyres

The dry tyres for the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix will be the C2 as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow Medium, and C4 as P Zero Red soft.

Pirelli explained their choice to go with the medium option with a statement in a press release: “Interlagos will host the third and final F1 Sprint race of the season, after Imola and Spielberg. As a result, the Pirelli Pole Position Award will be given out on Friday after qualifying.

The Autodromo José Carlos Pace, named after the famous Brazilian driver of Italian origin, runs anti-clockwise and contains 15 corners, which place medium lateral demands on the tyres.

The Brazilian Grand Prix is well-known for plenty of overtaking and frequent appearances from the safety car. The weather is always another question mark, with torrential rain as well as high temperatures and sunshine seen in previous years.

The teams used varying strategies in 2021 but the drivers on the podium all stopped twice. Lewis Hamilton, the winner, finished the race on P Zero White hard ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas on the same compound.”

Pirelli's head of motorsport, Mario Isola, further explained Pirelli's plan for the weekend: "Formula 1 heads to Interlagos next weekend: the shortest lap of the year after Monaco and Mexico. It’s a historic track run anti-clockwise, which alternates some quick sections as well as medium-speed sequences of corners, such as the famous ‘Senna esses’.

There aren’t any big demands on the tyres in terms of traction and braking because it’s a very flowing layout, and the lack of slow corners means that the teams are able to control the degradation on the rear tyres. Brazil will host the “Sprint” also this year, the last of the season, and it will be particularly interesting with this car package to see what will happen on the track and, once again, the key role of the different strategies that can be used: in 2021 the grid on Saturday was equally split between drivers starting on the medium and the soft tyres.

Despite the short length of the track, there’s normally plenty of overtaking. Just think of Lewis Hamilton who was the protagonist of a comeback that brought him to victory from 10th place, using a two-stop strategy. So the new generation of cars and tyres seems set to provide us with another thrilling race this year.”

The minimum starting pressures for the tyres will be 24.0 PSI (front) and 22.0 PSI (rear).

2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - Weather Forecast

Friday, Nov 11th - FP1 & Qualifying
Conditions: Cloudy with a thunderstorm in parts of the area
Max. temperature: 23°C
Chance of rain: 49%

Saturday, Nov 12th - FP2 & Sprint
Conditions: Mostly cloudy
Max. temperature: 24°C
Chance of rain: 25%

Sunday, Nov 13th - Race
Conditions: Mostly cloudy with occasional rain and a thunderstorm
Max. temperature: 25°C
Chance of rain: 71%

Who will be on the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix podium?

The 2022 Formula 1 season has seen Red Bull win 16 out of the 20 events so far, and it is increasingly harder to pick another team other than Red Bull to win an event, unless crazy circumstances occur, such as a mechanical issue during the race. Even bad pit stops or spins from their drivers have not been enough to stop the Austrian squad from finding success in Grand Prix weekends so far.

Race winner Lewis Hamilton, second placed Max Verstappen and third placed Valtteri Bottas on the podium of the 2022 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace

Max Verstappen has won in Brazil before, as he won the 2019 edition of the Brazilian Grand Prix, and he is definitely the favorite to win the 2022 race. The Dutchman is the heavy favorite for the race, according to the oddsmakers, and Lewis Hamilton, who has finished second in the last two races, is also the second favorite, although he is a long way from Verstappen.

Red Bull has won a team-record nine races in a row (achieved for the second time). A 10th consecutive victory would put Red Bull's current winning streak in second place among the longest winning streaks from F1 constructors. McLaren leads with 11 straight wins in 1988, followed by 10 straight for Ferrari in 2002 and Mercedes (2015-2016, 2016, and 2018-2019).

The prediction for the Top 3 of the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix is 1. Max Verstappen, 2. Sergio Pérez, 3. Lewis Hamilton.

✅ Check out more posts with related topics: