German Car Forum

Circuit Map




About the Brazilian GP

Length 4.309 km
Laps 71 (305.909 Km)
Last Year
1. F. Massa
2. F. Alonso
3. K. Raikkonen
Record Lap J. Montoya - 1'11''473 (2004, Williams)
Record Pole R. Barrichello - 1'10''646 (2004, Ferrari)
Last Year Pole F. Massa - 1'12''368 (Ferrari)

Previous winners
Year Driver
2008 F. Massa (Ferrari)
2007 K. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2006 F. Massa (Ferrari)
2005 J-P. Montoya (McLaren)
2004 J. Montoya (Williams)
2003 G. Fisichella (Jordan)
2002 M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2001 D. Coulthard (McLaren)
2000 M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1999 M. Hakkinen (Mclaren)
1998 M. Hakkinen (Mclaren)
1997 J. Villeneuve (Williams)
1996 D. Hill (Williams)
1995 M. Schumacher (Benetton)
1994 M. Schumacher (Benetton)
1993 A. Senna (McLaren)
1992 N. Mansell (Williams)
1991 A. Senna (McLaren)
1990 A. Prost (Ferrari)
1989 N. Mansell (Ferrari)
1988 A. Prost (McLaren)

FP 1

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:12.463 29
2. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:12.874 + 0.411 32
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:12.932 + 0.469 27
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:12.989 + 0.526 25
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:13.048 + 0.585 25
6. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:13.067 + 0.604 21
7. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:13.141 + 0.678 29
8. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:13.147 + 0.684 23
09. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:13.232 + 0.769 23
10. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:13.321 + 0.858 24
11. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:13.326 + 0.863 26
12. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:13.464 + 1.001 28
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:13.503 + 1.040 24
14. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:13.563 + 1.100 24
15. Fisichella Ferrari (B) 1:13.619 + 1.156 23
16. Alonso Renault (B) 1:13.787 + 1.324 28
17. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:13.829 + 1.366 26
18. Kobayashi Toyota (B) 1:14.029 + 1.566 27
19. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:14.040 + 1.577 38
20. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:14.173 + 1.710 23

FP 2

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Alonso Renault (B) 1:12.314 27
2. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:12.357 + 0.043 45
3. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:12.459 + 0.145 38
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:12.514 + 0.200 41
5. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:12.523 + 0.209 45
6. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:12.605 + 0.291 37
7. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:12.611 + 0.297 45
8. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:12.633 + 0.319 42
9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:12.720 + 0.406 35
10. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:12.749 + 0.435 39
11. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:12.806 + 0.492 27
12. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:12.862 + 0.548 39
13. Kobayashi Toyota (B) 1:12.869 + 0.555 40
14. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:12.929 + 0.615 41
15. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:12.948 + 0.634 38
16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:12.950 + 0.636 36
17. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:12.992 + 0.678 39
18. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:13.026 + 0.712 42
19. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:13.041 + 0.727 40
20. Fisichella Ferrari (B) 1:13.275 + 0.961 38

Q & A with Robert Kubica

By Jonathan Noble

Q. So are you happy that your future is now clear and sorted?

Robert Kubica: Yeah. I am very happy to be part of Renault next year and looking forward to the new challenge for sure. I think it will be a big challenge because in the end there are many things going on at Renault, with difficult times in the last few months, but I believe we can do a good job for next year and in the future, and try to be part of a kind of 'new' team.
Q. What were the factors that made you choose Renault over Toyota or BMW?
RK: There were many. In the decision you are trying to evaluate many factors and get as much information as you can have. One of the most important was that in the end, Renault has won world championships a few years ago so they know what it takes to win, and also the way they are thinking about racing, their mentality, I like it a lot. This is what I was looking for. I am very happy.
Q. Was it a clear straightforward decision, or was there a lot of debate about what to do?
RK: You know, as I said, Renault has had a difficult few past months. So there were some unsettled moments for me about the future, but once they decided to continue I believe they are looking forward to be back on top. Once I was sure that the future is guaranteed for the team, then the decision was quite easy.
Q. Have you spoken to Fernando about the decision?
RK: Not really. Not lately.
Q. Was potentially being a free agent for 2011 important for you too?
RK: I never said that I will be free for 2011, so I don't know where it is coming from.
Q. So you are locked in at Renault longer than just next year?
RK: I don't know! Maybe yes, maybe not. I never talked about contracts in F1, so I will keep it quiet for myself.
Q. Are you interested in what is happening about the new boss at Renault. Are you talking to the team about the plans?
RK: Well, to be honest, I am still a BMW driver and I have two races to go. I believe that whoever is taking the decision has enough experience and they know how to do their job. I am a racing driver. I will be very happy to help develop the car and maybe to make some suggestions about what I think about next year's regulations from the driver point of view. But on the management side and boss side, it is not my job. But I have 100 percent belief and I am convinced that who is taking the decision will take the right decision.
Q. Would you rather have a strong team-mate next year?
RK: I think there are a few names who are quite experienced that Renault is looking at for next year. I will not try to have any influence on my team-mate for next year. To be honest, I will welcome all these drivers whose names I have heard. I think all of them can do a good job. I have my personal preferences but this is only because of private personal relationships, but, as I said, I will not have any influence and I will leave it to the people who are deciding.
Q. Will the team consult you on that decision?
RK: I know some names that Renault is taking into consideration. I will be happy to welcome each of these names. The team and myself are looking for a strong driver to have a good team, and I hope Renault will choose the best one.
Q. Who is your personal preference?
RK: I keep that for myself. I will tell you once he is chosen whether it is him or not.
Q. With BMW not continuing in F1, will you get permission to start working with Renault as soon as the current season is finished?
RK: This year is very limited the driver's job because in the end you have no testing. Of course the situation would look differently if there were tests, but I think it depends what job you are thinking about.
Q. Like going to the factory, working with the engineers...
RK: I think BMW will have nothing against it. In the end, they are not any more in F1 so I don't think it will be a problem. I would be surprised if there was a problem.
Q. The last two years have been a bit of a struggle for Renault. What did they say to you to convince you to join them?
RK: Out of the few teams I was talking to, the words they were saying were all the same - because they are trying to convince. To be honest, they didn't have to convince me because in the end nobody can have a guarantee of how the car will be performing next year or in the future. It is more a feeling and your personal opinion on the team. Of course they can give you some technical guarantees on the key people and things like this, but I was very happy about meeting with the engineers, with Bob Bell, and I think they didn't really have to convince me. We had a nice chat and I liked the way they looked in the past and for the future.
Q. Do you take away from BMW Sauber just the happy memories, like of your win, or frustrations that maybe the title could have been there last year?
RK: Last year is quite a difficult topic, and I still believe we could have handled it better. Unfortunately we missed the chance. It was not that we missed it in the last two races. The whole process started much earlier, with no development really. We struggled with development and there were not really a lot of new parts that were giving what we were expecting. So we lost ground to the top teams much earlier than only the last races. This year, is I think a big disappointment for everybody, but that is how it is. Next year I hope that we will have a much better season and we will work hard to improve every race and every moment.
Q. Are you concerned about the future of BMW Sauber?
RK: Yeah, for sure, it is not an easy situation for all the guys here who are working with me and will still work with me at the next two races at BMW Sauber. I think they have everything, and once they have the investors they have really everything to be part of F1. Still now, they are not on the grid so I think it is a very delicate moment and delicate time for them. It is a difficult situation. I hope they will be on the grid because there is a lot of passion and a lot of people enjoy coming to the races because of F1, not because of nice hotels and seeing different cities. I don't have enough information. What I can say is they look quite confident but I don't have enough information. I think Mario [Theissen] is a better person to ask.
Q. Now that we've had the first full season with the package of rules, how do you sum it up? Do you feel good about them?
RK: It depends. For sure F1 now is very competitive. All teams are very close together as they have never been before. In the past, if you were three tenths off the fastest car, or you were finishing eight seconds behind the race winner, then most probably you would finish second. There were races where I finished, I think in Spa, eight or nine seconds behind the winner and I was fourth. I think in Suzuka in free practice there were 15 cars within half a second – and that is a track like Suzuka. I don't know how big an influence the rules did have, but for sure it was big – and I think it is better.
It is much more difficult for the drivers and the teams – it is really difficult because to extract always the maximum and not to do any mistakes – and it is also difficult to predict where you will be. I think that is why you can see, especially this year, some cars are very quick on one track and then they go to another track and are out in Q2. These are cars that were starting on the front row at the race before. So, there are so many factors that have a big influence on car performance, on the driver and everything – it is mixing a lot the grid this year. It is positive, for the fans, and much more difficult for the teams and drivers – but even more fun.
What I honestly don't like is this wide front wing, where we have seen a lot of damages, a lot of wings going off in the first corner and the first lap. This is not good for overtaking. It is not good for the show, but that is how it is.
Q. And a bit weird do you not think that the man who is likely to win the championship did so in the first seven races?
RK: Yeah. But, you know, in the first five or six races, Brawn had a bigger advantage over every other team – especially in the first three races. But nevertheless, Jenson used it as best as possible. He created a big gap which I think will be enough to win the championship, but of course lately he is struggling a bit compared to his team-mate. But I am driving a different car, I am not in his team, so it is difficult for me to judge.
Q. Had you known earlier that BMW was going to quit F1, would that have changed your plans for finding a race seat in 2010?
RK: I think it might be that there will be some more chances, but I am happy where I end up. I am happy where I end up, because at Renault I had contacts with them for quite a long time – not just this year – to join the team. So it looks like the team believed I can do a good job, and I like the way they are approaching racing. Still, in the last 10 years, only three teams has won the championship and Renault is one. So I think I end up in good hands, I hope so at least.
Q. Considering it is one of the three winning teams for the last 10 years, why did you sign a contract for one year?
RK: Who said I signed a contract for one year?
Q. The team only announced an agreement for 2010…
RK: It was the same with BMW. And I was here.
Q. So it is not a one-year contract?
RK: No.
Q. Do you believe like Felipe Massa that Fernando Alonso knew about what took place in Singapore 2008?
RK: I don't want to enter into this subject. I think everybody can draw their opinion, but unless you don't have the facts it is better to keep your opinion to yourself. This is my way of seeing it, of thinking.

lolo christ, this has to be one of the worst quali ever, 72 min so far and still no Q2, pussies.
Edit: still nothing, tragic.

FP 3

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.182 + 9
2. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.832 + 0.650 7
3. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1:24.122 + 0.940 6
4. Alonso Renault (B) 1:24.125 + 0.943 5
5. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:24.149 + 0.967 4
6. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:24.389 + 1.207 5
7. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:24.443 + 1.261 5
8. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:24.859 + 1.677 5
9. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:24.867 + 1.685 5
10. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:25.440 + 2.258 5
11. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:25.508 + 2.326 4
12. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:25.685 + 2.503 5
13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:26.224 + 3.042 6
14. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1:26.530 + 3.348 4
15. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:27.047 + 3.865 4
16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:27.341 + 4.159 4
17. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:27.798 + 4.616 4
18. Fisichella Ferrari (B) 1:29.285 + 6.103 4
19. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:29.895 + 6.713 3
20. Kobayashi Toyota (B) 1:30.259 + 7.077 4


Qual.

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:24.100 1:21.659 1:19.576
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:24.722 1:20.803 1:19.668
3. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:24.447 1:20.753 1:19.912
4. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:24.621 1:20.635 1:20.097
5. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:23.047 1:21.378 1:20.168
6. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:24.591 1:20.701 1:20.250
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.828 1:20.368 1:20.326
8. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:23.072 1:21.147 1:20.631
9. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.161 1:20.427 1:20.674
10. Alonso Renault (B) 1:24.842 1:21.657 1:21.422
11. Kobayashi Toyota (B) 1:24.335 1:21.960
12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:24.773 1:22.231
13. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:24.394 1:22.477
14. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:24.297 1:22.504
15. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:24.645
16. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:25.009
17. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:25.052
18. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:25.192
19. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:25.515
20. Fisichella Ferrari (B) 1:40.703

SAO PAULO FORECAST
Today Hi 19°C / 67°F Showers Lo 18°C / 64°F
Tomorrow Hi 24°C / 75°F Showers Lo 17°C / 63°F

Verscheisstung, Vettel in the back :/

Hopefully he'll make it exciting still.

If predictions are true and rain pours down during tomorrows race, the Brazilian GP will be a lottery just like last years. Don't rule Vettel out as Red Bull will be in a position to gamble while Brawn will play it incredibly safe. Ask Lewis Hamilton who had a nightmare for a race last year.

Hi guys i am in brazil at the gp it dnt look like it goin to rain today..lovely place sau paulo..

Lucky B****d

Well this will be interesting since most cars were on the wet track setup, except for Vettel, and possibly Webber.

And Kubica.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Brazilian Grand Prix
Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil;
71 laps; 305.909km;
Weather: Dry.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1h32:23.081
2. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 7.626
3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 18.944
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) + 19.652
5. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) + 29.005
6. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 33.340
7. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 35.991
8. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) + 45.454
9. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 48.499
10. Kobayashi Toyota (B) + 1:03.324
11. Fisichella Ferrari (B) + 1:10.665
12. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes (B) + 1:11.388
13. Grosjean Renault (B) + 1 lap
14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:13.733

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 31
Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 28
Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 22
Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1
Trulli Toyota (B) 1
Alonso Renault (B) 1

congrats to jason ...

World Championship standings, round 16:

Drivers:
1. Button 89
2. Vettel 74
3. Barrichello 72
4. Webber 61.5
5. Hamilton 49
6. Raikkonen 48
7. Rosberg 34.5
8. Trulli 30.5
9. Alonso 26
10. Glock 24
11. Kovalainen 22
12. Massa 22
13. Kubica 17
14. Heidfeld 15
15. Fisichella 8
16. Sutil 5
17. Buemi 5
18. Bourdais 2

Constructors:
1. Brawn-Mercedes 161
2. Red Bull-Renault 135.5
3. McLaren-Mercedes 71
4. Ferrari 70
5. Toyota 54.5
6. Williams-Toyota 34.5
7. BMW Sauber 32
8. Renault 26
9. Force India-Mercedes 13
10. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7

Awesome overtaking.
Awesome aggressive Japanese rookie.
Awesome champion drive by Button.
Awesome Brazilian GP.


Best race of the year

Indeed^^

One of the best first laps ever. Wet grass rules!

Big applause to Ross Brawn for leading such a great team. He took one hell of a calculated risk he took by adopting an abandoned team that no one had interest in buying. Now he's engraved in history books as one of the greatest team principles of all times.

He didn't need the honda case to be considered the best and for instance, his team wasn't in that bad shape luw, as for the race it self, i would say Kudos to Kobayashi, Button and Kubica.

In F1, let alone business, nothing is ever guaranteed. Despite Brawn GP's astonishing performance this year, the Honda team had a poor track record with nothing that could possibly convince anyone that the team would even be in contention for the championship. Sure initial testing can give indications but those are very premature and early -- who knows were the car will stand against the competition.

Brawn did blow all other cars off the track at the start of the season but now in the second half, they are far from the fairytale start they had in the beginning. If fellow teams would have had a speedier development Button might not have been a championship today. So by all means took a major risk putting his own money into a team with a very uncertain future.

Button is most certainly going to be driving for Brawn next year. Other drivers I predict to be watching F1 from their telly next year are Fissi and Grojean. Heidfeld is dependable and will be looked at by new teams. I'm strongly impressed by Kobayashi who delivered an unexpected result for driver who has finished 16th in two GP2 seasons. He drove the car with confidence and managed to defend very well against some very experienced drivers. I think he might be Toyota's golden nugget.

He didn't put a penny Luw, he's got the team for free, a 100 mill from the japs and the money from the sponsort that came after, besides you have to consider that the brawn BGP01 is the most expensive F1 car ever, it has been in developpement since 2007, using the biggest facilities of the paddock and overseen by the cream of the cream of the technical guys that progressively joined Honda from all teams (mainly BMW - Ferrari and Macca), i am not saying that Ross had an easy task to do, not at all, what he did remains remarkable, but let's not fall into the fairy tail of goliath versus david. What Ross really did is to make all the pieces of the puzzles stick together when he joined Honda and maintaining the core skeleton of it when he had to decrease the size during the Brawn GP era. A great job but no miracle.

Yeah the car was expensive no doubt. As a whole he saw an amazing opportunity, the seized it and won. Let see how Brawn GP will fare next year with potentially Nice Rosberg and Mercedes engine as well as branding.

Mclaren should look into starting their own engine programme as I'm sure they are a bit bummed about the lack of exclusivity running a Mercedes engine. The probably didn't mind Force India using the engine but when the underdog teams running the same engine rise, then it becomes a problem. Red Bull seem to be very interested in changing engine supplier and Mercedes look rather tempting. From a constructors point of view, the car with most or best advantages wins. And Mclaren can't possibly be too keen on losing a big one like having one of the best engines on the grid.

Of course, even Helmut marko from redbull said at Interlagos that their N1 option is the Merc engine but that Macca are still vetoing it, the redbull threat is no longer regarded as a one shot, latest rumors even says that the F2010 will be very inspired by the RB car cause unlike the Brawn it offered a much bigger scope of developpement, so Mclaren are right to block things but at the same time Mercedes has every right to be pissed about it, so what will macca do in 2013 ? the year that Merc will take control of brawn and the year that will see new concept engine arrive. I personnaly think that it's still too early to make a wise choice.

Here's a flashback taking us to the end of 2008 when Ross was in search of a buyer. It's remarkable how confident he is in the car and very much confirms what shonguiz mentioned, they began working on the car as far back as in 2007. No wonder they dominated the first races of this year's season.


BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Honda buyer would get a great team - Brawn