Which F1 drivers do well at Sao Paulo Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton successful in Brazil

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The Sao Paulo Grand Prix has witnessed a host of Formula 1 drivers secure repeat race wins in Brazil, so F1 Oversteer has looked at the most successful drivers at Interlagos.

Sao Paulo is the traditional home of the Brazilian Grand Prix and additional funding from the local government saw F1 change the race’s name in 2021. Only with the 1978 race plus from 1981 to 1989 has Formula 1 left Sao Paulo with Rio de Janeiro briefly having the Brazilian GP.

Local government officials helped keep the race at Interlagos as Formula 1 returned to Brazil after Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 meet, thus resulting in the race becoming the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. A raft of the all-time repeat winners also had success at Interlagos.

Alain Prost is the most successful F1 driver of all time at the Brazilian Grand Prix

Yet Alain Prost is the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time at the Brazilian Grand Prix after dominating at Jacarepagua in Rio. The Frenchman won the Brazilian GP six times over his career in the pinnacle of motorsport, which yielded 51 wins in total, from 1980 to 1993.

Prost achieved the first five of his six Brazilian GP wins at Jacarepagua with victories driving for Renault and McLaren (4). He even won the first race back at Interlagos in 1990 driving a Ferrari as Formula 1 returned to Sao Paulo amid the rise of Prost’s arch-rival, Ayrton Senna.

READ MORE: Five unforgettable Sao Paulo GP from Senna’s painful win to Hamilton’s title

Senna never tasted success in Rio but, finally, won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos with McLaren in 1991 and 1993. He rewarded the Sao Paulo native’s passionate home fans at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace as it is officially called after the winner of the 1975 Brazilian GP.

The Brazilian Grand Prix has seen 15 repeat winners as a Formula 1 race

The Brazilian Grand Prix, before it was renamed the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in 2021, has often proved to be a happy hunting ground for Brazilian Formula 1 drivers since first appearing on the calendar as a championship round in 1973. F1 visited Sao Paulo in 1972 for a test event.

Sao Paulo native Emerson Fittipaldi also won the maiden two runnings of the Brazilian GP at Interlagos in 1973 and 1974 racing with Lotus and McLaren. He created a storybook start to the race’s history after being instrumental to Formula 1 finally visiting Brazil in its 24th year.

Pace further gifted Brazil a hat-trick of home wins to start the Brazilian GP record books. But their only hopes for a home win amongst the current F1 grid are Lewis Hamilton and Gabriel Bortoleto. Brazil gave Hamilton, who idolises Senna, honorary citizenship in November 2022.

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix has seen 11 F1 drivers secure repeat wins at Interlagos

While Prost is the most successful Formula 1 driver in the history of the Brazilian Grand Prix, he is far from the best in Sao Paulo with the Frenchman only winning one race at Interlagos. The first five of his six Brazilian GP wins came in Rio, before triumphing in Sao Paulo in 1990.

While Carlos Reutemann won twice in Sao Paulo, even he only won the Brazilian Grand Prix as a championship round at Interlagos once. His first win at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace came in the 1972 demonstration race, whilst later winning at Jacarepagua in 1978 and 1981.

Nelson Piquet Sr also delighted the home fans with two Brazilian GP wins in the three-time drivers’ champion’s career. But the Rio de Janeiro native only made the top step of a home podium in his hometown with victories at Jacarepagua in 1983 and once again come 1986.