São Paulo Grand Prix

Racing to a rhythm

SÃO PAULO GP REACTION
Brazil GP header portrait Sunday

Between the lakes at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Fernando and Lance concluded the São Paulo Grand Prix in P14 and P16. Keep reading to get their reactions.

  • In Saturday's Sprint, Fernando picked up three points, with Lance finishing just outside the points positions in P9.

  • Fernando and Lance began the 71-lap Grand Prix on Hard tyres from P11 and P14 respectively. A number of incidents affected the opening stages, and Lance was unfortunately impacted. By Lap 8, once the race was back underway, our drivers were running in P10 and P17.

  • At the end of Lap 28, Fernando pitted from P8. A lap later, Lance also came into the pits. Both drivers opted for the C3 tyre – this weekend's Medium compound.

  • Our duo switched to fresh Mediums during their second pitstops, with Fernando pitting at the end of Lap 46 and Lance on Lap 54.

  • Next up, the first part of the season's final triple-header kicks off on 21-23 November, when we'll be racing down the iconic Las Vegas Strip. Keep an eye on our website for full coverage.

THE LATEST FROM THE TRACK

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
  • Position

    4TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:10.606 (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    26

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    330.3

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
  • Postion

    15TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:11.070 (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    31

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    328.4

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
Today was a good boost for the team and a positive way to start the race weekend.

"It feels great to be back here at Interlagos. This circuit has always been very special to me.

"The car felt good in FP1, and to reach SQ3 this afternoon and finish P5 is a strong result. Today was a good boost for the team and a positive way to start the race weekend. Hopefully we can keep this level of performance tomorrow, but you never know what can happen here."

  • SQ3

    1:09.496 – 5th (SOFT)

  • SQ2

    1:09.330 – 1st (MEDIUM)

  • SQ1

    1:10.011 – 3rd (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    12

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    328.6

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
It's a lot of fun to drive here and we got some nice laps in today.

"I love coming back to this track. There is so much passion for the sport in Brazil and the fans are amazing. It's just a lot of fun to drive here and we got some nice laps in today.

"The car was feeling good and we will be starting the Sprint tomorrow morning from P7. It's still early in the weekend and we will see how the rest of the weekend goes.

"Hopefully we can fight for some points tomorrow and there could be some rain so anything is possible."

  • SQ3

    1:09.671 – 7th (SOFT)

  • SQ2

    1:09.647 – 7th (MEDIUM)

  • SQ1

    1:10.326 – 13th (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    15

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    328.9

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
  • Position

    6th

  • Started

    5th

  • Points

    3

  • Fastest lap

    1:13.226 (Lap 11)

  • Tyres

    Medium-Soft

  • Laps

    24

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    329.2

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
  • Position

    9th

  • Started

    7th

  • Fastest lap

    1:13.197 (Lap 13)

  • Tyres

    Medium-Soft

  • Laps

    24

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    334.9

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
We are in the fight for points tomorrow if we execute a clean race.

"It was a bit of a mixed day for us. The Sprint went well this morning and we scored some good points.

"We were a little unlucky with the Red Flag when everyone changed to Mediums. Without that, I think we could have done even better.

"In Qualifying, it was more difficult because the Soft tyres didn't give me the confidence to really push. We are P11 though so we are in the fight for points tomorrow if we execute a clean race. Let's see what we can do."

  • Q1

    1:10.181 – 12TH (SOFT)

  • Q2

    1:10.001 – 11TH (SOFT)

  • Laps

    15

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    335.6

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
Hopefully some opportunities come up ahead of us so we can make up some positions.

"We qualified in P14 today: Q1 was feeling okay, I managed to get a clean lap in at the end and the car balance was feeling good. In Q2 I struggled with grip and just wasn't feeling the level of grip that I had in Q1.

"We will have to look into it and understand why so we can fight back tomorrow. It's another day and hopefully some opportunities come up ahead of us so we can make up some positions."

  • Q1

    1:10.041 – 8TH (SOFT)

  • Q2

    1:10.161 – 14TH (SOFT)

  • Laps

    15

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    335.1

Mike Krack
MikeKrack
The target tomorrow is to progress and compete for points.

"The short Interlagos layout always creates tight grids and close racing.

"Yesterday we executed the sessions well and scored three important points in the damp Sprint today.

"This afternoon's Qualifying session was exceptionally close with the entire grid covered by a second in Q1. Lance and Fernando progressed to Q2, but it was a tricky session, especially with the gusty conditions, and we were just a few hundredths shy of making Q3.

"The target tomorrow is to progress and compete for points. We will work hard tonight and take any opportunities in the race."

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
We will look ahead to Las Vegas and focus on finishing off the season strong.

"It wasn't a good day out there today. We took a risk starting on the Hard tyre and, unfortunately, it didn't pay off.

"To finish P14 is disappointing, especially after a strong Sprint yesterday. There weren't many opportunities with the pace we had, so we just tried to maximise what was possible.

"Now we will look ahead to Las Vegas and focus on finishing off the season strong in the final three races."

  • Position

    14th

  • Starting position

    11th

  • Fastest lap

    1:13.312 (LAP 48) (MEDIUM)

  • Tyres

    Hard-Medium-Medium

  • Laps

    71

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    334.7

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
We go again in Las Vegas in two weeks' time and will see what we can do there.

"Not the most positive weekend for us at Interlagos.

"We looked more competitive in the Sprint and less so in Qualifying and the race today.

"The incident with Yuki [Tsunoda] ended our chances in the race: we tried to come back, but just lost too much time there. The Hard tyre wasn't working well for us either, but in the end it was down to a lack of car pace.

"We go again in Las Vegas in two weeks' time and will see what we can do there."

  • Position

    16th

  • Starting position

    14th

  • Fastest lap

    1:13.094 (LAP 56) (MEDIUM)

  • Tyres

    Hard-Medium-Medium

  • Laps

    71

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    334.8

Mike Krack
MikeKrack
We tried to do things differently with the strategy, but we were missing the pace to challenge the cars ahead of us.

"We knew it would not be easy today and we lacked the pace to compete for points. We tried to do things differently with the strategy – with long opening stints on the Hard tyres – but we were missing the pace to challenge the cars ahead of us.

"Lance's race was impacted badly by the contact from Yuki [Tsunoda] on Lap 6, which dropped him to the back of the field.

"We had tried to build a tyre advantage offset for the final stages of the race, but most of the grid stopped twice and there were not many opportunities.

"We face a close battle in the Championship and we will use the next couple of weeks to regroup before Las Vegas later this month."

To an older generation, the São Paulo Grand Prix, or Brazilian Grand Prix as it was once known, was an exciting, early season round of the World Championship, one at which the season still held untold promise and the pecking order was still being divined. For the last 20 years, however, it's been firmly an end-of-season event: Championships on the line and tension in the air. Interlagos is the perfect track for that sort of drama. It's a place where things happen – roared on by a large, boisterous and intimately knowledgeable crowd.

Our only visit to South America is to one of motorsport's real strongholds. Brazil in general, but São Paulo in particular has been a production line of great racing drivers, and there's a real sense of history coming into the track, past buildings adorned with murals commemorating the great and the good. It's a special place for a race.

It's a light weekend so far as the schedule goes, with support races limited to local F4 and Porsches, but it's a busy week for F1 with the Sprint format in play. The team failed to score in Mexico, but with a lot of points on offer this weekend, and very little separating sixth from ninth in the 2025 Constructors' Championship, everyone is eager to get back on track at a circuit where results hang in the balance all the way to the chequered flag.

TRACK INSIGHTS

Autódromo José Carlos Pace

Brazil track header portrait
It's very cool because of the elevation changes and the history that it has. You need to be adapting all the time to the track conditions, and that makes it quite challenging.
Felipe Drugovich – Test & Reserve Driver
Track map
  • Sectors
  • Turns
  • DRS
  • Circuit length (km)
    4.309
  • Number of corners
    15
  • Race distance (km)
    305.879
Session Times
FP1
Fri7NOV
SQ
Fri7NOV
SPR
Sat8NOV
Quali
Sat8NOV
Race
Sun9NOV
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