Official F1 Journal Track Guide- Interlargos Sprint Weekend

Welcome 1 and all to arguably the best Grand Prix Weekend of the year. This Track, the races we have seen since it joined the calendar and the on and off track drama we have seen at Interlargos can only be rivaled by the likes of Silverstone, Montreal and Monza. This weekend is the last Sprint of the year and the 3rd in a row at this circuit. Its  track that we see unlikely pole sitters such as both HAAS drivers Hulkenberg in the Williams in 2010 and just last year Magnussen. 
We at F1 Journal couldn't be more excited for this weekend!!!!

Race Stats

Laps- Sprint- 24 
          Race- 71
Circuit Length- 4.309 km
Race Distance- Sprint- 103.416 km
                          Race- 305.879 km
Corners- 15      10 Left      5 Right
DRS Zones- 2
       Activation 1- Exit Turn 2
         Deployment 1- Exit Turn 3
        Activation 2- Exit Turn 13
          Deployment 2- Start/Finish Straight 
Downforce Level- Medium/High 
Tyre Degradation- Medium/High 
Time @ Full Throttle- 64%
Time Lost in Pitlane- 21 seconds
Gear Changers- 36 per lap/2556 per race
Pole Side- Right 
Tyre Compounds- 
       Hard           Medium        Soft 
        C2                C3              C4 
Minimum Starting Tyre Pressures- 
           Front          Rear 
          23.0psi      21.0psi 
Maximum Starting Tyre Camber-
          Front          Rear
         -3.25º        -2.00º
​ 

Weekend Schedule

Track Stats 

Times Held- 39
First Time Held- 1973 
Finishing Percentage-64%
Pole Record- 1.07.281 HAM 2018
Lap Record- 1.10.450 BOT 2018
Winners-25
Pole Sitters-24
Podium Finishers-48 
Most Driver Poles- 3 SEN,HAK, BAR, MAS & HAM
Most Team Poles- 9 Mclaren  
Most Driver Wins- 4 SCH 
Most Team Wins- 9 Ferrari
Most Driver Podiums- 10 SCH  
Most Team Podiums- 28  Ferrari 
Most Fastest Laps(Driver)- 5 SCH
Most Fastest Laps(Team)- 8 Mclaren
Most Consecutive Wins(Driver)- 2 HAK, SCH, FIT, MON & ROS
Most Consecutive Wins (Team)- 3 Ferrari, Benetton
Mclaren, Redbull & Mercedes
Times Won From Pole- 17/39
Times Won from Front Row-30/39
Lowest Starting Position to Win- 10th HAM 2021
Smallest Win Margin- 0.588secs SCH 2002
Largest Win Margin- + 1 lap SCH 1994
Most Cars to Finish- 23 2010
Least Cars to Finish- 7 1977
Safety Cars- 13 of the last 21 races
Red Flags- 1974, 1997, 2003 & 2016

Random Facts 

• This weekend  Interlargos becomes only the 7th track to host 40 Gran Prix 
• Brazil becomes the 11th nation to host 50 Grand Prix the weekend 
• 2530 racing laps have been completed at Interlargos 
• 898 Cars Entered
  867 Cars Qualified
  862 Cars Started 
  555 Cars finished
  ​= 64% Finish Rate
  
• Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton & Vettel have all won title here 
  
• Both HAAS drivers have taken Pole here, Hulk in 2010 in the Williams & K-Mag here in 2022 
  
• 2018 was the first time in the races history that there wasn't a Brazilian driver racing at the Brazillian Grand Prix 
  
• 2 Drivers have finished on the Podium here without finishing the race- Heinz-Harold Frentzen ran out of fuel on the last lap of the 1999 GP but was still classified 3rd  & Alonso in 2003 when he had a huge crash at the end of the race and because the stewards took the result from 2 lap prior to the Red Flag, he still finished 3rd. 
• Senna took 5 poles at his home Grand Prix before finally winning it in 1991

Previous Results

2019

Qualifying-
                1 VER 1.07.508
                  2 VET 1.07.631
                   3 HAM 1.07.699
Race- 
         1 VER(3 stop)
          2 GAS (2 stop)
           3 SAI (1 stop)
Fastest Lap- 1.10.698 BOT L43

2021

Qualifying-
               DQ HAM 1.07.934
                   1 VER 1.08.372
                     2 BOT 1.08.469
                      3 PER 1.08.483
Sprint-
          1 BOT
            2 VER 
              3 SAI
Race- 
          1 HAM (4 stop)
             2 VER (4 stop)
              3 BOT (4 stop)
​Fastest Lap- 1.11.010 PER L71
        

2022

Qualifying- 
                1 MAG 1.11.674
                  2 VER 1.11.887
                   3 RUS 1.12.059
Sprint-
          1 RUS
           2 SAI
            3 HAM
Race- 
          1 RUS (2 stop)
            2 HAM (2 stop)
             3 SAI (3 stop)
Fastest Lap- 1.13.785 RUS L61

Things to Look Out For!

• Mclaren!!! The team and the drivers despite having a monster resurgence of form in the 2nd half of the season have still not put together a perfect weekend, either being caught out by incidents in Qualifying, Driver mistakes or bad tyre calls in the race. But this weekend could be different. If they can get every session right we could see one of the Mclaren on both Pole and the top step of the Podium on Sunday.
• Mercedes- Finally they seem to have a handle on the car and improving its performance. Lewis Hamilton seems very happy with the car and if George Russell can not get a penalty or make a mistake in the race it really could be a 6 car 3 team fight for the whole of the Sprint Weekend 
  
• Logan Sargeant- Logan is under pressure, with his closest rival rumored to be taking his seat he needs a great result in both the Sprint & the Grand Prix to concrete his seat for 2024 
  
• Aston Martin- Can they make the car work, our opinion is unlikely but we can only hope to see them back to the form we saw at the start of the season 
  
• HAAS Drivers- Both Drivers have taken Pole here before by being the last man on track at the right moment and we could see both go well this weekend at Interlargos  

Joanna Blackmore 
​Writer @f1journal.co.uk