Sao Paulo GP 2026 Preview: Interlagos Session Times | Formula Dream
Sao Paulo GP 2026 Preview: Interlagos Times, and the Fight for Second
Kimi Antonelli is already champion, but Interlagos can still settle the constructors' title, and five drivers are 40 points apart for second. Session times, what is at stake, and what Interlagos usually produces.
The drivers' title went to Kimi Antonelli in Mexico City, but the Sao Paulo Grand Prix still has two things to settle. Mercedes can clinch the constructors' championship at Interlagos, and five drivers are separated by 40 points in the fight for second.
The Sao Paulo Grand Prix is round 20 of 23, on Sunday 8 November. It is a standard weekend with no sprint: three practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday and 71 laps of the 4.309 km Interlagos circuit on Sunday.
Sao Paulo is three hours behind UTC and the UK is on GMT, the same as UTC. US Eastern is on EST, five hours behind UTC, after the clocks changed on 1 November.
The constructors' title can be won on Sunday
Mercedes lead Ferrari by 630 points to 504, a gap of 126. After Sao Paulo there are three races left, worth up to 129 points to a team that finishes first and second in all of them.
So Mercedes are constructors' champions on Sunday night if they outscore Ferrari by four points or more at Interlagos. One more point than Ferrari is not enough, and even if the two teams score the same, the title waits until Las Vegas.
Recent form makes that harder than the gap suggests. Ferrari have outscored Mercedes on each of the four weekends since Baku: by nine points at Sepang, 17 in Singapore, one in Austin and seven in Mexico City, where Lewis Hamilton was second and Charles Leclerc fourth. Mercedes last finished a weekend four or more points clear of Ferrari in Baku itself.
Five drivers, 40 points, one second place
Antonelli's 380 points are out of reach, but the next five places are not settled at all:
Drivers' championship after round 19, the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Pos
Driver
Team
Points
2
MaxVerstappen
Red BullRBR
261
3
LewisHamilton
FerrariFER
259
4
GeorgeRussell
MercedesMER
250
5
CharlesLeclerc
FerrariFER
245
6
LandoNorris
McLarenMCL
221
Verstappen is the driver moving: wins at Sepang, Singapore and Mexico City, and third in Austin, 98 points from four weekends. He had not won a Grand Prix in the first 15 rounds. Hamilton is two points behind him after taking his first pole of 2026 in Mexico and finishing second.
Russell has the furthest to climb back. He scored 12 points across Austin and Mexico, eighth in Texas and sixth in Mexico after a 10 second penalty for tipping Isack Hadjar into a spin on the first lap.
Interlagos has history for both front runners. Verstappen won here from 17th on the grid in the rain in 2024, and Hamilton from tenth in 2021. Lando Norris won from pole last year.
A home race for Bortoleto, and an empty seat at Haas
Gabriel Bortoleto arrives at his home Grand Prix after his best weekend in weeks, eighth in Mexico City from 13th on the grid, worth four points for Audi.
He may not be the only Brazilian on the grid. Haas replaced Esteban Ocon with its reserve driver, Ryo Hirakawa, for the rest of the Mexico City weekend without explaining why, and Hirakawa scored a point on debut. As of 2 November Haas had not named its driver for Sao Paulo. Hirakawa has a clash with the final round of the World Endurance Championship, Jack Doohan is due to join as reserve, and Rafael Camara, the Brazilian who replaces Ocon in 2027, has been reported as a possible early debut. We will update this page when Haas confirms.
What Interlagos usually produces
Fifteen Formula 1 races have been held at Interlagos since 2010, and pole won nine of them. The other six include two of the drives of the era, Verstappen's from 17th and Hamilton's from tenth, which is why nobody at Interlagos treats Saturday as the end of the story.
Rain is the reason as often as not. The circuit sits on a hill at the start of the Sao Paulo wet season, and a safety car came out in six of the seven races there since 2018, with red flags in 2023 and 2024. Every winner, grid slot and safety car is in our Sao Paulo Grand Prix winners, measured, and how the lap works, from the Senna S to the long climb to the line, is in Interlagos explained.
Follow the weekend as it happens
At Interlagos the weekend often turns on something announced before the race: a grid penalty, a power unit change, an FIA document about the weather. On Sunday it can turn on a single radio call about tyres when the rain arrives.
The Formula Dream app puts all of that in one place. It collects every FIA document as the stewards publish it, plays driver radio during each session with the transcript beside the audio, and carries live timing in beta, the standings and the full weekend timeline. Download Formula Dream for iOS and Android before Friday's first practice.
Frequently asked questions
What time is the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix?
Sunday 8 November at 14:00 in Sao Paulo, which is 17:00 UTC and UK time, 12:00 US Eastern and 22:30 in India.
Is the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix a sprint weekend?
No. All six sprints of 2026 have been run. Interlagos has three practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
Can Mercedes win the constructors' championship in Brazil?
Yes. They lead Ferrari by 126 points, and they clinch the title on Sunday if they outscore Ferrari by four points or more at Interlagos.
Every F1 constructors' champion, 1958 to 2025, and why Mercedes can add 2026 this weekend
All 68 Formula 1 constructors' championships from Vanwall in 1958 to McLaren in 2025: the team, its wins, its points and the round it was settled. Mercedes lead the 2026 table by 126 points and can win the title at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
