Brazilian Grand Prix
| Autódromo José Carlos Pace | |
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| Race information | |
|---|---|
| Number of times held | 44 |
| First held | 1972 |
| Most wins (drivers) |  Alain Prost (6) |
| Most wins (constructors) |  McLaren (12) |
| Circuit length | 4.309 km (2.677 mi) |
| Race length | 305.909 km (190.067 mi) |
| Laps | 71 |
| Last race (2016) | |
| Pole position | |
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| Podium | |
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| Fastest lap | |
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The Brazilian Grand Prix (Portuguese: Grande Prêmio do Brasil) is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos neighborhood, Socorro district, São Paulo.
Motor racing started in Brazil before World War II, with races on the 7.9-mile Gavea circuit in Rio de Janeiro starting in 1934. In 1936 construction began on Brazil's first permanent autodrome in the São Paulo neighborhood of Interlagos and was finished in 1940. Brazil held Grands Prix during the early parts of WWII at Interlagos and Gavea; and stock car type-touring car racing continued in Brazil where it became popular. Interlagos quickly gained a reputation as being a tough and demanding circuit with many challenging corners, elevation changes, a rough surface, and little room for error.
Grand Prix racing was rare in Brazil only until the emergence of São Paulo native Emerson Fittipaldi in Formula One. In 1970, he won his first championship Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in the United States; and São Paulo city officials saw in Fittipaldi a sporting hero equivalent to football star Pelé. They then set about refurbishing Interlagos to modern standards.
A Brazilian Grand Prix was first held in 1972 at Interlagos, although it was not part of the Formula One World Championship. Typical of European motorsports at the time, this race was done as a test to convince the FIA if the Interlagos circuit and its organizers could capably hold a Grand Prix. Like most major circuits used for Grands Prix in Latin America such as the Hermanos Rodríguez Autodrome in Mexico City and the Almirante Brown Autodrome in Buenos Aires, Interlagos was (and still is) located in the confines of a sprawling urban neighborhood in a very large city. The following year, however, the race was first included in the official calendar, and it was won by defending world champion and São Paulo native Emerson Fittipaldi. In 1974, Fittipaldi won again in rain soaked conditions, and the year after, another São Paulo native, Carlos Pace, won the race in his Brabham, followed by Fittipaldi. 1977 was won by Reutemann, but the drivers began complaining about Interlagos's very rough surface, and the event was then relocated for a year to the new Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro.
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