18/11/2011
NEWS STORY
The final race of the 2011 Formula One season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, takes place at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo on Sunday 27 November. Located in Interlagos, the historic 4.309 km circuit is the highest of the year at 800m above sea level, and one of only five anti-clockwise tracks on this year's calendar.
The Safety Car has been deployed in seven of the last ten races in Interlagos, on a total of 11 occasions. Interlagos is the shortest permanent circuit on the calendar with the shortest lap time of any circuit. DRS can be used over 59% of the lap in practice and qualifying: only Montreal, Spa and Monza have higher values.
Michael Schumacher: "The final race of the season is approaching fast and I am looking forward to the weekend in Brazil. There is always a really good atmosphere at the Interlagos track and it's one of the traditional venues for Formula One to end the season. We have enjoyed some good results finishing in the top six over the last few races, and I would love to continue this trend in Brazil and bring the season to a positive end. The team have worked very hard to improve our performance with the car that we have available to us and it would be a fitting reward for them."
Nico Rosberg: "I'm really looking forward to going to Brazil next week. The Interlagos track is amazing to drive, and in the last weeks we have made some steps forward without having any big updates on the car, so it should be a good weekend. I would love to give the season a nice ending; our engineers, the boys in the garage and everybody at our factories in Brackley and Brixworth deserve a good result at our last race. The stronger qualifying and race pace in Abu Dhabi makes me confident that we can push and try to catch one of the cars from the top three teams at Interlagos. Our Mercedes engine power and the top speed in the car will be good for getting up the hill on the long start-finish straight."
Ross Brawn, Team Principal: "The Brazilian Grand Prix weekend is always a lively and vibrant event, and Interlagos is a fitting venue for the final race of this year's Formula One season. Although our focus at the factory has been on 2012 for some time now, at the race track we are continuing to work hard with this year's car and make improvements. We are determined to end the season on a high and continue the run of top six results that we have enjoyed recently, which is the upper limit of the potential of the current car. Interlagos is a very unique track which presents some unusual challenges; the high altitude location, the bumpy surface and the challenging layout all test both the drivers and engineers."
Norbert Haug, Vice-President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "Brazil is a great venue for a Formula One season finale: our sport has a proud history in the country, and the atmosphere and dedicated spectators at Interlagos are fantastic. The circuit layout usually delivers exciting and unpredictable races. Interlagos is the second shortest circuit of the year and, coupled with a relatively high average speed, this normally makes for an intense race. The 71 laps around an anti-clockwise layout are challenging for the drivers, and the circuit requires good aerodynamic and mechanical performance in the second sector, and efficient aerodynamics and good engine performance in the first and third sectors. Seven of the last ten Brazilian Grands Prix have featured Safety Car deployments, so we must factor this probability into our strategies - and even more so with the increase in wheel-to-wheel action this year, thanks to DRS and the Pirelli tyres. In Abu Dhabi, we saw for the first time ever six Mercedes-Benz powered cars finish in the top ten - including in first and third places. Good results for Mercedes GP Petronas and our partner teams are our target at the final round of the season."
To experience the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in more detail click here