Five unforgettable Sao Paulo Grand Prix from Ayrton Senna’s painful win to Lewis Hamilton’s title

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The Sao Paulo Grand Prix is a staple of Formula 1 with Brazilian fans often witnessing history as its made, so F1 Oversteer has looked at five of its most unforgettable races.

Ever since 1972, Formula 1 has visited Sao Paulo to stage races although the maiden running of the Brazilian Grand Prix was a demonstration race. It was not before 1973, when Emerson Fittipaldi won for Lotus, that the Interlagos event became a part of the world championship.

F1 also took the Brazilian GP to Jacarepagua in Rio de Janeiro for the 1978 meeting and also between 1981 and 1989. The race then returned to Interlagos in 1990 and has stayed at the track between two large artificial lakes since, with only Covid-19 stopping F1 visiting in 2020.

Increased funding from the local government to prevent the race from returning to Rio even saw Formula 1 rename the round as the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for its return to Brazil in 2021. The local government previously only supported Interlagos for renovation work to the track.

Interlagos giving Formula 1 its first home in Brazil and a permanent home in Sao Paulo since 1990 has further ensured the track officially called the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace has held many unforgettable Grands Prix. So, with that in mind, F1 Oversteer takes a look at its best…

Emerson Fittipaldi delivered a storybook start to the Brazilian Grand Prix in 1973

While neighbours Argentina already had a rich association with F1, having staged Grand Prix since 1953 plus Juan Manuel Fangio winning five drivers’ titles from 1951 to 1957, Brazil did not have the same track record before Sao Paulo native Fittipaldi burst on the scene in 1970.

Fittipaldi winning the 1972 drivers’ championship then left Formula 1 with no choice but to stage the Brazilian Grand Prix, after proving its potential with a demonstration race in 1972. It would even deliver a storybook start as Fittipaldi won the first championship edition, too.

F1 visited Brazil on the back of the 1973 Argentine Grand Prix for round two of that season’s 15 races. Fittipaldi arrived home in great form, too, after winning in Buenos Aires. But Lotus teammate Ronnie Peterson sealed pole, 0.2 seconds up on Fittipaldi and 1.5s over the field.

Yet it only took Fittipaldi – who received a presidential welcome and a security detail at Sao Paulo – moments to make his way past Peterson at the start. It was even the last the Swede, who retired on Lap 5 of 40, saw of his teammate as Fittipaldi won by 13.5s to Jackie Stewart.

Starting his season with back-to-back wins and becoming the first winner of the Brazilian GP as a championship race – having already become Brazil’s first Grand Prix winner and drivers’ champion – was not enough for Fittipaldi to defend his title, though, as Stewart won it back.

Ayrton Senna won the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix despite finishing the race with one gear

While Fittipaldi became a favourite son of Brazil and helped to get F1 to the South American country, Ayrton Senna surpassed even what his fellow Sao Paulo native achieved. The three-time champion also produced a truly unforgettable Brazilian Grand Prix with his win in 1991.

Senna winning races that season was not a huge surprise as he secured seven in 16 races to secure what would be his final drivers’ title. But the manner of his performance secured the race its spot in F1 history after finishing the 1991 Brazilian GP with only sixth gear working.

His 1:16.392 in qualifying saw Senna smash McLaren teammate Gerhard Berger by over a second and claim pole position ahead of Williams pair Riccardo Patrese and Nigel Mansell. The win was then almost in the bag already after fending off Mansell during the early laps.

But as the home crowd waited to celebrate their hero’s victory, disaster struck for Senna as the gearbox in his MP4/5B started to fail. He had built a lead of more than 36 seconds over Patrese. Yet the Italian could smell blood and started to gain four seconds a lap on average.

With rain also in the air, Senna frantically pleaded for the 1991 Brazilian GP to be brought to an early finish. But his pleas fell on deaf ears, so Senna dug in and fought through immense pain and muscle spasms in his shoulders plus neck to win and set the crowd absolutely wild.

Senna felt “an obligation to win in Brazil”, even if it left him completely exhausted and barely able to lift the trophy on the podium. He had only finished on the podium with second place in 1986 before, along with retiring in 1984 and 1985. Senna also won at home again in 1993.

Giancarlo Fisichella won the 2003 Brazilian GP but Kimi Raikkonen topped the podium

When it rains in Sao Paulo while Formula 1 is in town, the Brazilian Grand Prix often delivers unforgettable races. And that was the case in 2003, even if Giancarlo Fisichella only secured the first win of the Italian’s Formula 1 career a few days after at the FIA’s Paris headquarters.

Every indication pointed to Fisichella enduring a career of ‘what if?’ moments when he lined up on the 2003 Brazilian GP grid for his 103rd Grand Prix start. But torrential rain before the race forced a delayed start to what became a truly legendary Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Such was the intensity of the rain that a river formed at Turn 3 and caused six cars including those of Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya to crash. Fernando Alonso even had a huge crash on Lap 56 when the Spaniard struck the debris from Mark Webber’s accident.

Alonso and Webber scattering debris over the road at Arquibancadas forced an early end to the 2003 Brazilian GP. But the drama was not over as Kimi Raikkonen was declared the race winner, despite Fisichella overtaking the Finn a few laps earlier after catching the McLaren.

Despite McLaren having a much faster car than the Jordan team for whom Fisichella raced, the Italian found time where Raikkonen could not and slipped down his inside at Mergulho. But when the race stopped after the two huge crashes, the timing board only listed Lap 55.

A failure with the timing system failed to detect that Fisichella had started Lap 56 before the red flag was out. So, as F1’s rules based the end order on the positions from two laps earlier, Raikkonen was wrongly named the winner of the 2003 Brazilian GP after leading on Lap 53.

Team owner Eddie Jordan was incensed by the ruling at Interlagos after believing Fisichella had won the 2003 Brazilian GP. The FIA also agreed when it published the finishing order a few days later with the Italian cited as the winner, sealing the last win by Jordan Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa won the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix but Lewis Hamilton stole the drivers’ title

Tears of joy hastily turned to tears of disappear for Ferrari at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix as home favourite Felipe Massa won the race, only for McLaren rival Lewis Hamilton to win the drivers’ title at the Sao Paulo native’s expense right at the very end of the season-finale race.

Hamilton endured his own heartbreak at Interlagos just 12 months before when his gearbox issue saw Raikkonen win the title by a point. It seemed like history may repeat itself, as well, when increasing rain levels forced McLaren to bring Hamilton in and fit intermediate tyres.

It had not been a perfect race for Hamilton but he only needed a top-five finish to secure his first championship no matter what pole-sitter Massa achieved in the Brazilian GP. The Ferrari racer and his teammate Raikkonen plus Renault’s Alonso largely had Hamilton beat for pace.

Sebastian Vettel also kept Hamilton under increasing pressure and slipped past the Briton on L69 when the champion-elect ran wide. To make matters worse, Timo Glock staying out as the rain intensified meant the mistake put Hamilton out of a title position with two laps left.

READ MORE: The best moments of Lewis Hamilton’s career in Formula 1

But, as the rain continued to get worse, Glock struggled for grip and lost all pace on the final lap. Hamilton would seize his chance into Juncao – the final real corner at Interlagos – to get back into a title-winning position and spark Martin Brundle’s iconic question, ‘Is that Glock?’

Moving past the German meant Hamilton won the 2008 title by a point and as news arrived at Ferrari, a Scuderia mechanic headbutted their garage wall. Massa, meanwhile, showed his class and pride as he stood atop the Brazilian’s home rostrum after missing out on the title.

Sebastian Vettel beat Fernando Alonso to the 2012 drivers’ title at the Brazilian Grand Prix

Ferrari endured yet further misfortune in a drivers’ championship fight at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix as Vettel beat Alonso to the championship by three points after an unforgettable race in Sao Paulo. While it ended well for the Red Bull racer, his day had started disastrously.

Vettel’s race started to unravel the moment the lights went out as he fell from fourth on the grid to seventh place and Alonso shot from P5 into P2 by Turn 1. Raikkonen would then only just avoid smashing through the German’s rear upon locking up at Descida da Lago (Turn 4).

Yet Vettel was still not safe as Bruno Senna, the nephew of Formula 1 icon Ayrton Senna, put the Red Bull racer in a spin as he dived down the inside at T4. The pair even collided again to destroy the left-hand side of Vettel’s RB8 whilst he rolled down the hill and fell to last place.

Having substantial damage did not stop Vettel from charging back through the field to finish the 2012 Brazilian GP in P6, however. He was a man on a mission to claim the place to deny Alonso the title as the Ferrari driver failed to catch Jenson Button before the rain intensified.

Alonso knew he needed to pass McLaren’s Button to win the 2012 race after Schumacher let Vettel through into P6. The Sao Paulo showcase was the seven-time F1 champion’s final race of Schumacher’s second stint on the grid, so he handed the German F1 baton over to Vettel.