Brilliant Brazil

Brazil is a huge country and Sao Paulo is situated in the South and East of the country, a 14 hour flight from Mexico City. The Brazilian Grand Prix (Grande Premio do Brasil) is being held at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Interlagos. The city of Sao Paulo has a population of a 22.5 million people and is massive. The city boasts a very good metro and rail system that transported us to and from the circuit. We had been warned that when attending the race we should not wear any race shirts, caps, jewellery, watches etc or anything of value due to the, apparently, dangerous walk from the Metro, past the Favella, to the circuit itself. There were armed hold-ups of the drivers in previous years and lots of talk of imminent danger for anyone walking to and from the race. This was not our experience. We found that the metro was very easy, modern, clean, cheap and well policed throughout the weekend. The walk to the circuit was extremely well policed and we felt totally safe. We were walking beside the Favella and the people there were doing what we have witnessed at most other races, namely trying to make a dollar selling beer, water, caps and shirts. It was totally safe. The people were friendly and not hassling at all. It was a fun vibe and we felt 100% safe.

In anticipation of death or at least being robbed on a daily basis, as per information given, we wore no jewellery, watches or merchandise and bought the expensive tickets to something called the Orange Tree Club (hospitality grandstand). This turned out to be inspired! The views from this particular part of the racetrack were amazing. We were situated directly beside the pit entry but facing inwards. This gave us a view of a huge amount of the track from Turn 6 right through to Turn 10 and when we stood we could see the cars coming into the pit-lane. The noise and action was fantastic, (and we got free food and drink all weekend!!)

It was the last sprint weekend of the season, which meant that there is little time for the teams to get the cars set up for the race with only one practise session. Friday saw the Practise session and the qualifiers for the main race. Max took P1 and Leclerc took P2. Aston Martin were the surprise package in the main qualifiers managing P3 for Stroll and P4 for Alonso. What is going on? Stroll in P3??!! Will he crash into Verstappen and take him out at the start? One can only hope! Mercedes were okay with Hamilton making P5 and Russel P8 (after a penalty). McLaren were not looking too great with Lando on P6 and Piastri P10. The Alpine were where they always seem to be on P14 and P15. No other real surprises here and Sergeant P20! The main race is going to be amazing with the Aston’s mixing it up at the front. Go Alonso and Lance! Q3 was cut short (33 seconds) by a huge thunderstorm which hit with such ferocity that the big flags were torn off the flag poles and a grandstand had it’s roof destroyed. Luckily, no-one was hurt in that one. It was dramatic stuff with lots of wind, lightening and really loud thunder and a tonne of water. Day turned into night very quickly. We were delighted to be in our hospitality tent to drink beer and watch the storm!

Saturday was Sprint Shootout (Sprint Qualifiers) and then the Sprint (race) itself. The Shootout threw in some big hits with Ocon hitting Alonso in dramatic fashion. Both cars had to retire. Ocon seemed to lose control after hitting the kerb on a fast lap, hitting Alonso who was on a very slow lap! The Sprint itself was exciting stuff with Norris starting on P1 followed by Max, Sergio (so happy about that) and the two Mercedes. The Ferrari’s were looking a bit dodgy in P7 and P9. Yuki was looking good on P6 and Ricciardo P9. Glad to see the Alpha Tauri team up there. Piastri made up the top ten on P10. Hang on. Where are Aston Martin? Remember Alonso was taken out by Ocon and ended up P15 and Stroll P17.

The Sprint had loads of action, with Norris losing P1 to Max on the first corner. Seems Norris was a bit late in trying to defend the line there. Russell and Hamilton both managed to overtake Perez, Hamilton with a fantastic move on the outside! Can Mercedes do it? No, they can’t. As the race progressed the Mercedes lost speed and their tyres degraded too quickly and their straight line speed was far too slow. Luckily it is a short race! The rest of the race witnessed lots of overtaking and some amazing results. Max won the race with Norris second and Perez third. Russell was fourth and Hamilton 7th. Yuki come in 6th after sailing past Hamilton and Daniel Riccardio just missed the points on P9 but was close to overtaking Sainz. Good job Alpha Tauri – not just a fashion brand after all! Ferrari were P5 (Leclerc) and P8 (Sainz). The 24 lap race was very exciting with lots of action and, in my view, ended the discussion of whether the Sprints should be on the race calendar or not. The weekend was so much more entertaining with the Sprint action.

After all that excitement, what can the main race offer? Reminder that Max is P1 Leclerc P2 followed by Stroll & Alonso – yes Stroll (refer above). Well, it gave a lot more than we bargained for! It all began, as all races do, with the opening Formation lap. We were all watching and cheering when Leclerc seemed to lose control and slammed into the wall right in front of us! All hell broke loose. What is going on? Can Ferrari not even complete a slow Formation lap without crashing? The Ferrari fans were beside themselves. Some even reversed their jackets in disgust, other just swore – a lot! We did not see that coming at all. Poor Leclerc suffered a hydraulic failure which led to the loss of control. What else is the guy going to have to put up with? I think the universe is trying to tell him something, like take up music or move to another team. This is just unbelievable! After the initial shock/laughter, we all felt incredibly sad for him.

Back to the race. The race starts without Leclerc, and the door is open for the Aston Martins. Can they do it? After the lights go out Max zooms off with Norris on his tail and a trail of disaster behind. Even before the first corner Hulkenberg hit Albon’s rear tyre and Albon then smacked into Magnussen’s side pod. Albon and Magnussen went off the track and bits of car went everywhere. Piastri was hit with debris but he and Hulkenberg carried on. The red flag was called and a restart ensued. Mercedes were looking good at this point with Hamilton on 3rd and Russell on 6th with Alonso and Stroll in the Astons ahead of Russell. However, Alonso snuck past Hamilton and the Mercedes began to falter as they became slow and sluggish. Even Gasly’s Alpine passed them!! Things are not good in the state of Toto. The rest of the race witnessed some great overtaking and Norris got close but could not get past Max. We got the feeling that Max was running at 90% and whenever he needed he just took off. The RB19 and Max are just too good. Predictably, Max went on to win with a very commendable Norris second. Alonso and Checo had a magnificent battle, overtaking each other on the last few laps with a photo finish giving Alonso a place on the podium. Great stuff. Stroll came in 5th and all credit to him as he has been under a massive amount of criticism and speculation. Maybe he has answered these – for now! Yuki came in 9th and the second Alpine of Ocon came in 10th. Russell had to retire along with both the Alfa Romeo’s – what is it with them? as well as the cars from the initial crash.

Overall, it was an amazing weekend in Sao Paulo. The weather was mental with the most spectacular thunderstorm, the view we had was tremendous, the racing was excellent and threw up some spectacular moments – thanks to Ferrari engineering, McLaren and Aston giving the RB19’s a run for their money and Alonso showing that he is still a force to be reckoned with. And once again, we were surrounded by passionate fans and made lots of Brazilian friends!