Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Sao Paulo Grand Prix

  • R21 – Sao Paulo

    Lando Norris has further extended his championship lead after claiming victory in a gripping Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with the McLarn driver leading Mercdes’ Kimi Antonelli home while Max Verstappen put in a remarkable comeback to finish on the podium after starting from the pit lane.

    After making a good start from pole position, Norris continued to lead amid a hectic first few laps, with a Safety Car being deployed following a crash into the barriers for Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto at the Brazilian’s home race.

    A Virtual Safety Car was then deployed after the restart due to another incident in which Oscar Piastri locked up and hit Antonelli, sending the Mercedes into Charles Leclerc who was forced to retire his damaged Ferrari from the race.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Norris, P2: Antonelli, P3: Verstappen, P4: Russell, P5: Piastri, P6: Bearman, P7: Lawson, P8: Hadjar, P9: Hulkenberg and P10: Gasly.

    What a dominant weekend for Norris, P1 across all the sessions this weekend, no-one came close to challenging him. If he wins this championship it will be down to this weekend, as he excelled, whereas the other contenders had a lot of work to do.
    A bit of a meh result for Piastri, P5 not a great result at all, especially when his teammate done so well.

    What a result for Antonelli, his stepped up this weekend and as a result got his career best finish! He will be happy with this weekend and so will the team in the battle for P2 in the Constructors!
    As for his teammate, Russell finished 4th, a great result again this weekend, lots of points grabbed.

    P3 for Verstappen, what a drive for the Dutchman, from starting in the pitlane to finishing on the podium, a big championship drive and it could make all the difference in where he finishes at the end of the season.

    P6 for Bearman, a lovely drive from the Haas driver, two really good weekends in a row for the Brit. Very good for Haas in the constructors, they are two points away from Aston Martin and 12 points away from Racing Bulls in 6th.

    Talking of Racing Bulls, a double points finish for them! A really good showing from the team after a couple of rough race weekends in a row.

    A weekend to forget for Ferrari… Leclerc DNF as he got the repercussions from the Antonelli/Piastri fumble at the restart. Hamilton was a DNF too as he had some damage from early on in the race and retired in the pitlane.

    Now we only have three races left of the 2025 season and our next stop is Las Vegas! On the 20th to 22nd November…

  • R21 – Sao Paulo Sprint Qualifying

    Lando Norris put in an impressive lap to take pole position during Sprint Qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Brit beating Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri to seal P1.

    After setting a benchmark with his banker lap during SQ3, Norris went even quicker with his final effort of 1m 09.243, a time that proved unbeatable to his rivals. Antonelli was the closest challenger, the Silver Arrows racer 0.097s behind as he took the other spot on the front row.

    Despite showing good pace during Friday, Piastri had to settle for third, while George Russell added to a decent day for Mercedes in fourth.
    The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Antonelli, P3: Piastri, P4: Russell, P5: Alonso, P6: Verstappen, P7: Stroll, P8: Leclerc, P9: Hadjar and P10: Hulkenberg.

    A lovely result for Norris! Just what he would’ve wanted going into this weekend and the best place to start considering the ever changing weather at São Paulo. As for Piastri, a decent result in P3 still lots to play for!

    P2 for Antonelli!! Love to see it! The Mercedes is known for being good around this track so it’s not that surprising but a great result for the Italian! George Russell added to their great result with a P4! They will be looking to score big points and a few podiums this weekend.

    P5 for Alonso! I didn’t expect that going into this weekend, but with the past few cars I’ve mentioned, they’ve all got one thing in common… Mercedes Powertrains. So clearly they are doing very well, and have good performance at the minute.

    Not the best result for Verstappen but still in the fight, P6 for the Dutchman a little bit further back than his title contenders but anything can happen at São Paulo!

    Not the best day for the Ferrari’s, Leclerc P8 and Hamilton P11. It was said that they have set their car up differently to more focus on overall performance and not just one lap.

  • R21 – Tyre Selection

    A fortnight on from the previous round, Formula 1 returns to the American continent for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The Brazilian weekend features the penultimate Sprint, prior to the final one of the season in Qatar.

    The circuit named in honour of Brazilian racer Jose Carlos Pace is 4.309 kilometres long.
    The layout at Interlagos is interesting, with hints of an anti-clockwise oval circuit, which the drivers deal with 71 times in the race.

    It boasts 15 corners with relatively balanced lateral and longitudinal forces that do not put any undue strain on the tyres, as they are subjected to loads distributed equally between the front and rear axles.

    The combination of several straights and much twistier sections offers plenty of overtaking opportunities, although it also means there’s a higher risk of Safety Cars and incidents.

    At this time of the year, the weather and temperature can be very variable, with a risk of frequent rain and the inevitable use of wet weather tyres.

    This year’s compound selection for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix harks back to 2023, with the C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft), therefore one step harder than the trio used last year.

    Last year, the dry weather tyres were not required for the race, but when used on Friday and Saturday, they showed high levels of wear, as well as graining, especially on the rear axle.

    The circuit had been completely resurfaced, thus leaving a very smooth surface, less abrasive than in previous years, although still with plenty of bumps around the track.

    Last year, qualifying and the race both took place on Sunday, with bad weather forecast, the race director decided to run qualifying at 07.30 as well as bringing the Grand Prix start time forward to 12.30.
    Dry weather tyres were never used at any time during the day.

  • RW 21 – Brazil

    Max Verstappen has stormed to a remarkable victory in a frenetic Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Dutchman climbed through the field from an original starting position of P17 to score his first race win since June amid changing weather conditions and huge drama along the way – which saw Alpine score a double podium result.

    The chaos started before the event had even got under way after Lance Stroll spun off during the formation lap, leading to some confusion over the aborted start procedure as pole sitter Lando Norris led a number of cars away while others stayed on the grid.

    When the Grand Prix did begin, Russell enjoyed a stronger launch and led from Norris while Verstappen worked his way through the pack in the early stages.
    As the event unfolded amid changing levels of rainfall, a red flag was thrown on Lap 32 following a crash for Franco Colapinto in the Williams – shortly after Russell and Norris had lost out by pitting just as a Virtual Safety Car period ended.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Ocon, P3: Gasly, P4: Russell, P5: Leclerc, P6: Norris, P7: Tsunoda, P8: Piastri, P9: Lawson and P10: Hamilton.

    What a drive by Max Verstappen! P17 to First! The best result for the Dutchman, especially in him wanting to retain his title. He capitalised on the red flag whereas Norris and McLaren made the wrong strategy call… It was a proper champion drive from Max and this might be the race which changes it all!
    However, Perez finished P11 – so after all the red flags, yellow flags and safety cars he still didn’t get any points even though he started above Verstappen so he should’ve really got points…

    What a result for Alpine! P2 and P3 a double podium for the team, which is just wow they now have made a jump from ninth to sixth in the constructors’ standings! They now are in a fight for for P6 in the standings with Haas and RB.

    A good result for Russell, P4 for the Brit, obviously a podium would of been what they were aiming for but with everything which went on during the race they still finished a decent position.
    Not the best race for Hamilton, he finished P10, he really struggled with the car, which is a shame as I think everyone knows he loves the wet weather and Brazil in general.

    A bad result for McLaren, Lando finished sixth and lost a lot of ground to Verstappen in the Championship, he will now have a lot of work to do in these coming races to try and get the championship back in his court, but it’s not looking good…
    His teammate finished 8th after a penalty for causing a collision with Lawson, he crossed the line in 7th. This isn’t good for McLaren at all for the constructors’ they only have a 36 point lead from Ferrari and 49 to Red Bull in third. They need a couple of good races from both drivers to secure it.

    A double points finish for RB! Tsunoda 7th and Lawson 9th! Which is what they expected especially after their amazing qualifying session!

    Sainz and Colapinto both recorded retirements following their separate crashes, while Nico Hulkenberg was given a black flag just prior to the restart after the Haas driver received assistance from marshals when returning to the track following an earlier off.

    Now our next race is in a few weeks and it will be our final triple header of the 2024 season, we start of with Las Vegas on the 21st to 23rd for round 22!

    My emotions today have been a rollercoaster, with qualifying being really unlucky with that red flag. Starting P17, I knew that it was going to be a very tough race but we stayed out of trouble, we made the right calls, we stayed calm and we were fine. All of these things together of course made that result possible. I mean, unbelievable to win here from so far back.
    Verstappen on the win.

  • New start times for rescheduled Sao Paulo Grand Prix

    The FIA and Formula 1 have confirmed rescheduled timings for both qualifying and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix itself after Saturday’s qualifying session was postponed due to poor weather conditions.

    The session had been due to run at 1500 local time on Saturday afternoon at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, but the start of Q1 was postponed when torrential rain – along with thunder and lightning – arrived, resulting in pools of water forming on the track.

    With the session unable to take place on Saturday, it has now been confirmed that qualifying will take place today at the new time of 7:30 local time (10:30am GMT) and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix itself brought forwards to 12:30 local time (15:30pm GMT).

    Following the conditions in São Paulo today the decision was taken not to proceed with Qualifying due to poor visibility, standing water on the track and fading light. Safety is always the paramount consideration in such circumstances and while as much time as possible was given to allow conditions to improve they sadly did not. We have huge appreciation for all the fans that stayed at the circuit in hope of seeing cars on track today. Therefore the decision has been taken, after consultation with the stewards, to schedule Qualifying for 07:30 local time on Sunday morning ahead of the Grand Prix at 12:30 local. This will ensure we maximise the chances of providing the fans with a day of racing action, given the ongoing weather forecast for tomorrow afternoon, and both the FIA and Formula 1 believe this time change is necessary and the right thing to do for all our passionate fans. We thank everyone for their patience today including the fans, drivers, teams, marshals, circuit staff and media and hope to give everyone an exciting event on Sunday.
    An FIA and Formula 1 statement.

  • Magnussen out, Bearman in for Sao Paulo

    Haas have announced that Kevin Magnussen will not be returning to action for the rest of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend, meaning that Ollie Bearman will again race for the team.

    Prior to today’s action getting underway at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, the news came that Magnussen would not participate in the day’s running after feeling unwell, with Bearman stepping in for free practice, Sprint Qualifying and Saturday’s Sprint.

    However, in the hours after Sprint Qualifying, a further announcement was made that Magnussen would not return to compete in Saturday’s qualifying or Sunday’s Grand Prix.
    Bearman will continue his substitute duties for the remainder of the weekend.

    Despite receiving a call just hours before jumping in the car today, the Brit put in an eye-catching performance as he made his third stand in appearance of the season, having previously raced for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia and then getting behind the wheel for Haas in Azerbaijan after Magnussen was hit was a one-race ban.

    Bearman progressed to SQ3 of Friday’s Sprint Qualifying – outperforming team mate Nico Hulkenberg who qualified in P12.

  • RW 21 – Tyre Selection

    The Sao Paulo Grand Prix brings the curtain down on Formula 1’s long trip in the Americas, as we head to our final stop on the triple header.

    There is a common thread, that links all three of the tracks together, namely new asphalt. However, while in Austin and Mexico City only sections of the tracks had been resurfaced, in Sao Paulo all 4.309 kilometres has been renewed including the pit lane.

    Therefore, the track surface will be a completely unknown factor for drivers and teams this weekend. Complicating the puzzle further is the fact Pirelli have chosen to bring a softer trio of compounds than last year, they are: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft).

    On top of that it’s a Sprint weekend, so that there is only free practice session for teams to find the best set-up.

    At Interlagos, the lateral and longitudinal forces exerted on the tyres around the 15 corners of this anticlockwise track are medium to low intensity and well distributed across both axles.

    Usually the fastest strategy is a two-stop, favouring the use of the softer compounds. Last year, all bar one of the drivers chose to start on the Softs, but a red flag after the start allowed for a switch to Mediums.

    https://twitter.com/pirellisport/status/1851256011983630551?s=46&t=aXLQ2Py0qaT52rhG6u6Lig

  • F1 to race in Sao Paulo until 2030

    Formula 1 has announced that the Sao Paulo Grand Prix will remain on the F1 calendar until 2030 inclusive following a five-year extension.

    The Interlagos circuit, officially known as the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace after the 1975 race winner, has featured on the Formula 1 schedule for over 50 years and is one of the most iconic racetracks in the world.
    Featuring 15 corners over 4.3kms, the circuit’s design originally took inspiration from racetracks in the UK, the United States and France, but has since had part of the track, including the famous Senna ‘esses’ replicated at other venues.

    With its carnival atmosphere, Interlagos has been the scene for some of the most memorable moments in Formula 1 history including Ayrton Senna’s emotional home victory in 1991, Kimi Rakkonen clinching the World Championship in 2007 and Lewis Hamilton’s enthralling battle with Max Verstappen in 2021.

    The 2022 Grand Prix welcome 235,000 fans across a dramatic race weekend as George Russell won both the F1 Sprint and the Grand Prix, taking the top step of the podium for the first time in his F1 career. Kevin Magnussen also secured a shock first Pole Position of his career for the F1 Sprint, as Interlagos again delivered an entertaining weekend of racing action.

    The extension of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix follows recent significant investment by Sao Paulo Mayor Nunes’ administration, as the city looks to upgrade the Interlagos circuit into a venue suitable for hosting wider entertainment events, including music concerts.

    In addition, the Grand Prix continues to evolve under the leadership of the promoter MC Brazil Motorsport, backed by Mubadala, who have closely with the City of Sao Paulo to enhance the fan experience and have placed an increased focus on environmental, social and governance initiatives, including the upskilling of 100 women from vulnerable backgrounds to become qualified mechanics, all of whom graduated in a special ceremony at the circuit last week.

    I am delighted to announce we will be staying at Interlagos until 2030, and I can’t wait for many more years of the wonderful atmosphere that the Brazilian fans bring. Brazil has such a rich racing heritage, and this iconic circuit is a favourite of drivers and fans around the world. It embodies everything that is great about racing, and we look forward to seeing how it develops over the years to come to create an even better experience.

    Stefano Domenicali, President & CEO of Formula 1.

    The extension of the contract for the Formula 1 Grande Premio de Sao Paulo, broadcasted in approximately 180 countries, solidifies our city as a global leader in hosting major events with economic and social impact, generating jobs, revenue, and opportunities. Each year, we also advance our sustainability agenda, incorporating innovations to overcome challenges and bring more benefits to the city of Sao Paulo and Brazil.

    Ricardo Nunes, Mayor of Sao Paulo.

    It is a great honour to have the contract extension that ensures Sao Paulo’s place on the Formula 1 calendar. This is the recognition of the work we have been doing, with the crucial support of the Sao Paulo City Hall. Continuing to be a partner of Formula 1 is a matter of great pride. Now, we will immediately start planning for the years ahead so that we can have even better Grand Prix editions in the coming years.

    Alan Adler, CEO of Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

  • RND 21 – Sao Paulo Grand Prix

    Wow, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix never disappoints, we had drama before the race even started and it continued on into the race!

    Max Verstappen grabbed his 17th win this season, ahead of Lando Norris in P2 and Fernando Alonso who returned to the podium in P3!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Alonso, P4: Perez, P5: Stroll, P6: Sainz, P7: Gasly, P8: Hamilton, P9: Tsunoda and P10: Ocon.

    Charles Leclerc went off on the formation lap, after he lost the hydraulics which then forced him to retire before it even began…

    When the lights went out, we had drama, there was a heavy collision between Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen.
    Replays showed that Hulkenberg was squeezed and subsequently made contact with Albon, which ricocheted the Williams into the path of Magnussen. Piastri was also caught up in the incident, having suffered a broken rear wing. This then caused a red flag to be shown due to the extensive debris out on the track.

    A strong result from Aston Martin, from both drivers, this is what they needed for the fight in the Drivers’ and Teams’ Standings. Alonso had a great battle with Sergio Perez at the end of the race where they had a photo finish! The gap between the Spaniard and Mexican was less than a tenth of a second in the incredible finish.

    Talking about Perez, a really strong performance from him and a good haul of points aswell. This will help him in the fight with Hamilton as he only scored 4 points in the race.

    Talking of Hamilton, where did Mercedes pace go?? They certainly had pace in the first part of the race until Hamilton radioed his team about a steering issue with his front right tyre just after pitting. Russell was forced to retire his W14 from the race later on due to high and worsening oil temperature. The team won’t be happy with the result at all.

    Tsunoda points again! His loving life at the moment he currently has 13 points, he sits 14th in the Driver Standings. For the team themselves they grow a gap to Alfa Romeo in 9th with 5 points between them. But Alpha Tauri will be looking towards Williams who are only 7 points away in 7th.

    Next up for Round 22, we head to a brand new track for 2023 as it’s the Las Vegas Grand Prix!

  • RND 21 – Sao Paulo Sprint

    The last sprint race of the 2023 season is officially over, so let’s take a look at how it went.

    Max Verstappen charged ahead to another win after he took the lead from Lando Norris on Lap 1. Norris ended up second, and Sergio Perez rounded out the top three.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Perez, P4: Russell, P5: Leclerc, P6: Tsunoda, P7: Hamilton, P8: Sainz, P9: Ricciardo and P10: Piastri.

    Verstappen was on fire today, he knew what he wanted to do and got it done on lap one, which he then went on to be unchallenged even though Norris put a bit of pressure on at times.
    Perez also had a good result aswell finishing P3, this will add a few points to his tally for his fight against Hamilton.

    A great result from Norris aswell, which is needed for his fight in the Drivers’ Standings up against, Alonso and Leclerc. It also helps his team build a gap to Aston Martin’s as they failed to score in the sprint.

    More points for Tsunoda! AlphaTauri are on a roll lately, more points on the board, so they now have a 3 point gap to Alfa Romeo in 9th. They will hope to build on the points they’ve got so far as a 3 point gap won’t be enough with three races left…

    The Aston Martin’s had a shocker in sprint qualifying, which meant that they had to make up some ground in the Sprint race. Alonso worked his way from 15th to 11th and Stroll finished in 12th after starting 17th, it seems like they’ve got good pace in the race, so hopefully today we see them battling for podiums and get a big haul of points.

    Haas had a disappointing sprint, they started 11th and 12th, but they ended up finishing 16th and 18th, that’s not what the American team need, hopefully they have better luck today…

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Alonso, P4: Norris and P5: Leclerc.

    I feel like Aston Martin are finally back this weekend, so let’s hope they can turn it into a podium, but I have a feeling we will get a bit of a crazy race, maybe with a Safety Car appearance?

  • RND 21 – Sao Paulo Qualifying

    Another qualifying session done, where it ended early due to the weather rapidly changing and causing a red flag with no-one being able to improve their times.

    But Max Verstappen claimed pole position for Sunday’s race, he is joined on the front row by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and rounding out the top three is Lance Stroll!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Stroll, P4: Alonso, P5: Hamilton, P6: Russell, P7: Norris, P8: Sainz, P9: Perez and P10: Piastri.

    But three drivers have been hit with grid penalties after impeding incidents in the pit lane during qualifying. George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have all been hit with two place grid penalties.

    The new top 10 is: P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Stroll, P4: Alonso, P5: Hamilton, P6: Norris, P7: Sainz, P8: Russell, P9: Perez and P10: Piastri.

    A great result from both Aston Martin’s especially Stroll out qualifying Alonso, which doesn’t happen often but it was nice surprise! The team will be wanting to work on what they did today on Sunday and score some points this weekend.

    Hamilton out-qualifies Perez, which is a big step into their fight in P2 for the Drivers’ Championship. Perez will need to provide some good overtakes on Sunday and stay out of trouble as his in the middle of the pack in P9.

    Daniel Ricciardo struggled in qualifying as he was knocked out in Q1. Quite a shock compared to last weekend where he was in the top 5. He has a bit of work to do if he wants to get more points on the board.

    The Haas duo start 11th and 12th this gives them a good opportunity to score points as they are in that all important fight at the back of the grid where it involves 3 teams including themselves.

    Predictions for Sprint-

    My top five for the Sprint race are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Alonso, P3: Hamilton, P4: Leclerc and P5: Sainz.

    We may get a crazy race today, it’s not meant to rain so that won’t be a factor but its Interlagos so anything could possibly happen…

  • Sao Paulo Grand Prix

    Round 21 is here and it’s the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend, it is another sprint race this weekend, and we’ve had some great ones in previous years!

    Will Mercedes shine here again after taking the past two previous wins? Or can Max Verstappen make it another win and win number 17 this season?

    Or could we get a Ferrari winning? Or maybe a first time winner for McLaren? This weekend is all to play for!

    Who needs to shine?

    Sergio Perez, after crashing out on lap 1 of his home grand prix last week, he has a lot of work to do this weekend, as the gap between himself and Hamilton has lowered to 20 points, if Hamilton keeps going the way his going then he will earn P2 in the Drivers’ Championship. But Perez will not want that so he needs to get a wriggle on.

    Aston Martin, they’ve had a bit of a downfall from the beginning of the season. Now they sit 5th in the Constructors’, McLaren have managed to build a 20 point gap between the teams.
    Not only this, Alonso is among a group of drivers who could quite easily catch up to the Spanish driver as there isn’t much between each driver in the standings.

    Looking towards the back of the teams, Haas sit in 10th on 12 points, Alfa Romeo sit in 9th on 16 points and AlphaTauri sit in 8th on 16 points. This will be an interesting fight between six drivers all trying to get a few extra points.

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    My top five prediction for qualifying are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Leclerc, P4: Norris and P5: Russell.

    Obviously, we have a sprint this weekend and it’s always a crazy sprint and race here in Brazil so we could very much see a Safety Car or a Virtual Safety Car…

  • Sao Paulo Tyre Selection

    We are at our third race weekend of our triple header, and it’s also our last sprint weekend of the year as we are here in Brazil for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix!

    The tyres have been chosen for this weekend are: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft).

    Mercedes has won the most races at Interlagos since the Brazilian Grand Prix adopted the name of it’s host city, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell winning in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

    Interlagos has hosted 39 world championship grands prix in total, with Ferrari winning 10 times and Michael Schumacher being the most successful driver on four wins.

    Kevin Magnussen gave Haas its maiden pole position last year, making the most of his soft compound tyres in the rain at the start of Q3.
    It was also the Dane’s first pole, ahead of his eighth place in the sprint race the following day.

    The Interlagos circuit in the Brazilian city of São Paulo is well-known for providing thrilling races. The lap is only 4.309 kilometres long, making it one of the shortest of the year, with only Monaco and Mexico City being shorter. It’s also run anti-clockwise and situated on a hillside, which gives it a unique character. The drivers face a steep downhill section after the first corner, followed by a long climb uphill with several winding turns, and then a long straight leading back to the finish line. The track has 15 corners –  five right-handers and nine left-handers – with several direction changes. Interlagos has a bit of everything, featuring low as well as medium speed corners, and the cars running quite a high level of downforce. The forces acting on the tyres are reasonably balanced between lateral and longitudinal. The asphalt itself has a high level of roughness: typical of permanent tracks with a long history behind them. Degradation is mainly thermal, so the C2, C3, and C4 compounds have been chosen. A two-stopper is the most likely strategy, while a one-stopper would require plenty of tyre management; affecting race pace. The safety car has often featured during the grand prix, introducing another key variable, and we have also seen that weather conditions can vary rapidly and widely at this time of year as well. Interlagos will additionally host the final sprint round of the season, giving the teams and drivers another chance to assess tyre behaviour over long runs. Since sprint races came in for the 2021 season, Interlagos has always been one of them – a sure sign of how this track consistently delivers the sort of close racing that suits the sprint format.

    Mario Isola, Pirelli – Head of Motorsport.