Autódromo José Carlos Pace

The latest layout of the track, first used in 1992

**Autódromo José Carlos Pace**, also known by its former name **Interlagos**, is a circuit located in São Paulo, Brazil. It was renamed after Carlos Pace, the Brazilian driver who died in a 1977 plane crash. It is the current home of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

## History

The land on which the circuit is located was originally bought in 1926 by property developers who wanted to build housing. Following difficulties partly due to the 1929 stock market crash, it was decided to build a racing circuit instead, construction started in 1938 and the track was inaugurated on 12 May 1940. The design was inspired by the tracks of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Roosevelt Raceway (1937 layout) in the United States, Brooklands in England, and Montlhéry in France.

The traditional name of the circuit (literally, "between lakes") comes from its location on the neighbourhood of Interlagos, a region between two large artificial lakes, Guarapiranga and Billings, which were built in the early 20th century to supply the city with water and electric power. The name of this region was suggested by the French architect and urban planner Alfred Agache after the Interlaken region located in Switzerland. It was renamed in 1985 from "Autódromo de Interlagos" to its current name to honor the Brazilian Formula One driver José Carlos Pace, who died in a plane crash in 1977.

Formula One started racing there in 1972, the first year being a non-championship race, won by Argentinean Carlos Reutemann. The first World Championship Brazilian Grand Prix was held at Interlagos in 1973, the race won by defending Formula One World Champion and São Paulo local Emerson Fittipaldi. Fittipaldi won the race again the following year in bad weather and Brazilian driver José Carlos Pace won his only race at Interlagos in 1975.

Due to safety concerns with the 7.960 km (4.946 mi) circuit, including the bumpy track surface and the inadequate barriers, deep ditches, and embankments, the last Formula One race held on the original Interlagos for a decade was in 1980, the race was nearly cancelled after protests by many Formula One drivers including defending world champion Jody Scheckter. The safety concerns were directed towards the track surface, which BBC commentator Murray Walker described as "appallingly bumpy". Most of the ground-effect cars of 1980 were designed in such a way that bumpy surfaces were barely tolerable for the drivers. These factors meant that Formula One would move back to the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro, hometown of established star Nelson Piquet and where the Brazilian Grand Prix was held in 1978. After Formula One moved away, the only major race being held at Interlagos was the Mil Milhas Brasil.

Formula One returned to the circuit in 1990 after it had been modified at a cost of $15 million. The ascendancy of another São Paulo local, Ayrton Senna, has also influenced the return of Formula One to Interlagos, and it has stayed there ever since. After much discussion, the 1992 race was the first held on a shortened layout that eliminated some fast sections of the track, but retained several of the characteristics of the old course. Interlagos remains one of the most popular tracks on the Formula One calendar among both fans and drivers.

## Grand Prix Winners at Interlagos

### By year

*A pink background represents an event that was not part of the Formula One World Championship.*

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Interlagos circuit history Archived 30 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine – Official Brazilian Grand Prix website
2. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Wolfe, Joel (2010), *Autos and Progress: The Brazilian search for Modernity*, New York City: Oxford UP, p. 234 (footnote 66), ISBN 978-0-19-517456-4
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"History - The Interlagos Race Track". www.autodromointerlagos.com/. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016.