Sunday’s Brazilian F1 Grand Prix will be the 45th edition of the race and Brendon Hartley’s third for Toro Rosso. The 4.3 kilometre track, named in memory of Jose Carlos Pace, rises to 786 metres above sea level and Toro Rosso engineers will have to deal with the rarified air and its effect on cooling and downforce.
A good car here generates a high level of aerodynamic downforce and has good traction out of the corners, particularly essential in the sinuous parts of the track. Interlagos and its ‘old-skool’ feel is very popular with the drivers, who have to deal with 15 corners – 5 right handers and 10 left handers – while it’s short length means they have to tackle it 71 times to complete the 305.9 km race distance.
“I’m very happy to be heading to Brazil with Toro Rosso,” commented Hartley. “With the help of the team I made big progress in Mexico and I’m confident that, with a little bit more luck than last time out, we can fight for points.
“I’m starting to feel at home in the F1 paddock and Sao Paulo is a track I enjoyed and know quite well from when I raced there back in 2014 for the final round of the FIA WEC Championship. So, all in all, I definitely look forward to my third race weekend in Formula 1 and what will be my fifth race weekend in a row!”
Weather can have an impact and the Interlagos track does not boast particularly good drainage, which means anything could happen in these conditions. If the track is wet, then the STR12 will be shod with intermediate or full wet Pirelli Cinturato tyres. For dry conditions, Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley will be able to pick from 1 set each of White Medium tyres, 4 of the Yellow Soft and 8 of the Red Supersoft.
Comments