São Paulo 2026 GP preview
Weekend schedule
All timezonesTimes shown in circuit-local time (GMT-3).
- FP1Fri12:30
- FP2Fri16:00
- FP3Sat11:30
- QualifyingSat15:00
- RaceSun14:00
A forecast appears here once the weekend is inside the forecast window.
The circuit
Full circuit guide →Autódromo José Carlos Pace · 4.309 km · 15 corners · anticlockwise
Historic moments
2024 · Verstappen wins from 17th in the rain
Saturday's qualifying was washed out and rerun on Sunday morning, where five red flags left Max Verstappen 17th on the grid with an engine penalty on top. He picked his way through the field in standing water to win going away - the first winner from 17th or lower since Räikkönen at Suzuka in 2005 - and all but sealed a fourth straight title.
2012 · Vettel's title-clinching recovery drive
Sebastian Vettel spun to the back of the field on the opening lap of the rain-soaked 2012 season finale after contact at Turn 4, then fought back through the field to finish sixth. It was enough to beat Fernando Alonso to the championship by three points, in what is often called F1's last great old-school title decider.
What makes it different
- One of only a handful of anticlockwise rounds, which loads the drivers’ necks the opposite way to most of the season.
- Sits about 800 m above sea level, enough thin air to cost measurable power without the extremes of Mexico City.
- The lap is short and the final sector is uphill and flat out, so a car within a second at the line has a real run at the leader - part of why it produces so many late passes.
- The circuit opened in 1940 as a dirt track, but Formula 1 did not hold a championship race there until 1973, when home favourite Emerson Fittipaldi won.
Home race
Home race for Gabriel Bortoleto.
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