page_title: Sport in Brazil
section_title: Motorsport Formula 1
hierarchical_section_title: Sport in Brazil / Motorsport Formula 1
caption_attribution_description: Ayrton Senna in 1988
context_page_description: Sports in Brazil are those that are widely practiced and popular in the country, as well as others which originated there or have some cultural significance. Brazilians are heavily involved in sports. Association football is the most popular sport in Brazil. Other than football, sports like volleyball, mixed martial arts, basketball, tennis, and motor sports, especially Formula One, enjoy high levels of popularity.
context_section_description: Brazil has produced three Formula One world champions: Emerson Fittipaldi (1972 and 1974), Nelson Piquet (1981, 1983 and 1987), and Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990 and 1991). In total, Brazil has 101 Formula One race wins (as of the 2009 Italian Grand Prix), distributed between Senna (41), Piquet (23), Fittipaldi (14), Felipe Massa (11), Rubens Barrichello (11), and José Carlos Pace (1).
  In 1994, Brazil declared three days of national mourning after three time World Champion Ayrton Senna died during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. 
  There were two Brazilian drivers in the 2016 lineup, Felipe Massa of Williams and Felipe Nasr of Sauber.
  The Brazilian Grand Prix has been on the Formula One calendar since 1972, currently held in October or November. Two circuits have been host to the race: Jacarepagua and Interlagos. The first one, located in Rio de Janeiro, hosted the 1978 race, and then between 1981 and 1989. From 1972 to 1977, in 1979 and 1980, and since 1990, the Brazilian Grand Prix takes place at the Interlagos circuit, in São Paulo.
  The only Formula One constructor to ever be based in Brazil is Fittipaldi Automotive.
  Brazil is also home to notable drivers in American Championship Car Racing. Emerson Fittipaldi was 1989 CART champion, Gil de Ferran was 2000 CART and 2001 CART champion, Cristiano da Matta was 2002 CART champion and Tony Kanaan was 2004 IndyCar champion, whereas Brazilians have won the Indianapolis 500 race 7 times: Emerson Fittipaldi (1989 and 1993), Hélio Castroneves (2001, 2002, and 2009), Gil de Ferran (2003) and Tony Kanaan (2013). The CART race, the Rio 400 at Jacarepagua in the late 1990s, whereas the IndyCar Series currently hosts São Paulo Indy 300 street race since 2010.
  In the sports car racing scene, Raul Boesel won the 1987 World Sportscar Championship and got close to winning the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours, when he was second, and Ricardo Zonta won the 1998 FIA GT Championship. Boesel was part of the winning team at the 1988 Daytona 24 Hours, a race which was also won by fellow Brazilians Christian Fittipaldi (twice, in 2004 and 2014), Oswaldo Negri (2012), Kanaan (2015) and Pipo Derani (2016). Fittipaldi also won the United SportsCar Championship in 2014 and 2015, alongside Portuguese team-mate João Barbosa. Also the Mil Milhas Brasil, an endurance race, has the longest history in the Brazilian racing events.
  Nelson Piquet Jr. was the inaugural Formula E champion in 2014-15.
  The popularity of auto racing is rising, with the Stock Car Brasil and Fórmula Truck being broadcast nationally. The South American Formula Three series was mostly held in Brazil until 2013, and developed several South American circuit drivers. In 2014 it was succeeded by a revived Brazilian Formula Three Championship.
  In motorcycle racing, the most prominent Brazilian racer in MotoGP as of now is Alex Barros, who is the most experienced racer of all time in the category, with 276 race starts and seven wins. The Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix was held four times between 1987 and 1992, followed by the Rio de Janeiro motorcycle Grand Prix which was held nine times between 1995 and 2004.
caption: Senna won his first world title in 1988 driving that season's dominant McLaren MP4/4.
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