Brazilian GP

[Scott]

Autódromo José Carlos Pace, formerly known as Interlagos is situated in São Paulo Brazil.  Celebrating 75 years this year, it's name is to honour the Brazilian F1 diver who died in a plane crash in 1977.  The circus left the Interlagos circuit after almost cancelling the 1977 race due to horrible track surface conditions and moved to Rio and then back to São Paulo in 1990 after a major makeover.

Alonso will remember almost being decapitated on pit entry in 2003 after hitting a wheel in the middle of the track from Mark Webbers crashed car while double yellows were waved in his face.  The results of that race were actually decided in a courtroom, and resulted in Fischella's only win with Jordan (and Jordan's last win in F1) and Alonso on the third step even though he was in the medical centre getting treated by the time the podium ceremony took place.

This weekend Pirelli are bringing the yellow and white tires and are 'suggesting' a 2-3 stop race.  Hamilton has the sniffles or a hangover...not sure which, and at the moment there is no rain expected on Sunday, so maybe it is Nico's race to lose again.

Alain Prost won the race 6 times, so maybe Lewis will notice that there are still plenty of records to be broken in F1, in some cases he is nowhere near breaking them and in fact just winning the Brazilian GP once is a nut he is yet to crack.

I hope to be around for chat for the race, so look forward to any of you joining us.  Ian's going to bring some new recipes, Dare some new cocktail mixes and Jeri her latest karaoke finds.  Should be fun 

Attachment pulled from Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autódromo_José_Carlos_Pace

[Scott]

And here's a race edit of last year's race just for some fun...

[Monty]

Thanks for the great notes Scott. I had forgotten the Alonso incident. Let's hope Riciardo's new Renault engine gives him wings (he will need them after a 10place grid penalty). An lets hope both McLarens finish - preferably with Button ahead of Alonso and in the points!

[F1fanaticBD]

One of the few races that run anti-clock wise, and I always felt this put some extra-strain resulting some pretty atrocious races I have ever seen quite for some time. Its a shame there will not be rain in the Sunday, because it really mix things up, but after two rain-hit weekend we might enjoy the sun a bit in the horizon of Sao Paolo on Sunday.

I doubt the Mclaren will be able to finish at all, this track plays havoc with the engines, and the long straight of the start-finish line will not be merciful to any of the teams.

Hope to join the gang in the race chat 

[J.Clark]

Thanks Scott - 

I am really looking forward to this race.

[Irisado]

I love this track.  It holds so many memories for me of great passes, incidents, drama, and some very big accidents.  Particular highlights for me are the 1996 race where Hill won in very treacherous conditions, lapping Schumacher's third placed Ferrari in the process, the 2001 race when Coulthard pulled that pass on Schumacher while they were lapping Marques' Minardi, as well as Montoya being rammed by Verstappen's Arrows while lapping the Dutchman and losing an almost certain victory in the same race, the 2003 race (Fisichella's win for Jordan), 2008 (Massa and Ferrari thinking they'd won), and 2012 (Vettel's unbelievably and unjustly lucky race).  Let's hope for something equally good this year.

[Scott]

Hamilton has the sniffles or a hangover...not sure which

LOL, I was just joking, but lookie lookie, it turned out he DID have a hangover...

As for his little accident, now they say he actually hit THREE parked cars after his foot slipped off the clutch and brake (and we have to assume he hit the gas pedal as a result??).  The Pagani must be a mess.

As for the official in Monaco - "He was tested for alcohol but the result was negative." -  I'm going to call bull$hit on that official statement.  This was certainly dealt with behind closed doors and been sorted out quietly and expensively.  No way an accident like that happens with a sober driver.

My speculation about Lewis defending against people who are out to make a buck off his misfortune is that there are some cell phone videos for sale and my gut tells me Lewis will buy them. 

Some children never grow up... 

http://www.pitpass.com/55160/Hamilton-admits-partying-left-him-run-down

[Scott]

FP1 & 2

Thanks BBC for the screen grabs...

[Irisado]

I really thought that Hamilton would get pole this time, but it's five in a row for Rosberg.  I have a feeling that Hamilton may beat him in the race though.

If it doesn't rain, there will be no challenge to the Mercedes team.  Vettel will probably finish third, and there will be a scrap between Bottas and Raikkonen over who takes fourth, I'm sure of it.  I wonder if they'll make contact this time?

Massa seems strangely off the pace, Red Bull don't have enough power (the upgraded engine is worse than the old one apparently), and McLaren, well it has been another disaster up to now.  Hulkenburg is the dark horse for me, especially if it rains.

[cosworth151]

It looks like less than a 30% chance of rain for the race. Pity, it would have really spiced things up. Now, the race will probably be decided by Lewis beating Nico through Turn 1, lap 1.

Look at it from Lewis's side. It's not his fault that the Zonda doesn't react the same way his Merc W06 F1 car does at that particular spot on the Monaco circuit street.

[Monty]

Yet another boring race. The only overtakes were due to different tyre strategies. Yes Verstappen pulled off some great moves but he was driving a much faster car at the times he overtook. Hamilton was clearly faster than Rosberg but the track and the aero effect made overtaking impossible. I let myself expect so much before each race only to feel completely let down at the end!

[cosworth151]

And the FIA managed to find a way to make it even worse. They waited until after the race was over to exclude Massa for something that happened before the race started.

[F1fanaticBD]

Well it was always going to end up in that way, as there are some fundamental changes brought in the race track in Interlagos, like they probably resurfaced the track, taking away the vibration that used to make drivers life miserable. Also as the development of the teams has stalled, they all have a certain pace, hence there was no competition between the teams, therefore there was hardly racing, for me at times it felt like I am watching practice session where all teams are putting their timed laps.

[J.Clark]

More-or-less a snoozer . . .

All of it was fairly predictable.

Williams have indicated that they have two separate sources that challenge the temperature measurement of the FIA.  They will appeal.  Win or lose on the appeal, there will be little to no impact on either championship.  I suppose Massa could lose a spot in the driver's standing depending upon the results from the final race, but that is about it.  Williams need only finish the last race with one car in the points to secure their spot.

[Irisado]

That was so dull.  I'm still tired two days after the race, as it sapped all my energy watching a lifeless parade.  The only overtaking was either DRS induced or down to different tyre strategies, so no matter how good Verstappen's moves were, they were not that genuine.

Passing is possible at Interlagos.  We've seen more in the past during both wet and dry races, so something was definitely going on this year.  A combination of tyres and aerodynamics working against overtaking.  This is what the FIA and the Teams still need to fix, and not fiddle around the edges with gimmicks like DRS.