Every Sao Paulo and Brazilian Grand Prix winner since 2010, measured: pole usually wins at Interlagos, except when it really does not
Fifteen Formula 1 races have been held at Interlagos since 2010. Pole won nine of them. The other six include Max Verstappen's win from seventeenth in the rain in 2024 and Lewis Hamilton's from tenth in 2021. Every winner, grid slot and safety car, measured.
In 2024, Max Verstappen started the Sao Paulo Grand Prix seventeenth, in the rain, and won by nearly twenty seconds. His engineer called it "a world champion's drive".
Interlagos does not usually work like that. Of the fifteen races held there since 2010, nine were won from pole. But the six that were not include two of the great drives of the era: Verstappen's in 2024, and Lewis Hamilton's from tenth in 2021. Since 2018 there have also been two red flags, and a safety car in six of seven races. The next one is on Sunday 8 November 2026.
Every radio message from the recent races is in our Sao Paulo Grand Prix radio archive, with the audio and a transcript coloured by who is speaking. The 2024 race, below, is all here.
Every winner since 2010
Year
Winner
Team
Started
Pole
2010
Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull
2nd
Hulkenberg
2011
Mark Webber
Red Bull
2nd
Vettel
2012
Jenson Button
McLaren
2nd
Hamilton
2013
Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull
Pole
Vettel
2014
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes
Pole
Rosberg
2015
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes
Pole
Rosberg
2016
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
Pole
Hamilton
2017
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
2nd
Bottas
2018
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
Pole
Hamilton
2019
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
Pole
Verstappen
2021
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
10th
Bottas
2022
George Russell
Mercedes
Pole
Russell
2023
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
Pole
Verstappen
2024
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
17th
Norris
2025
Lando Norris
McLaren
Pole
Norris
Called the Brazilian Grand Prix until 2019, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix since 2021. No race was held in 2020.
The numbers
9 of 15 races won from pole.
Most wins since 2010: Vettel, Hamilton and Verstappen, three each.
Lowest winning grid slot: 17th, Verstappen in 2024, then 10th, Hamilton in 2021.
Biggest podium climb: Carlos Sainz, 20th to 3rd in 2019, his first Formula 1 podium.
2 red flags since 2018, in 2023 and 2024.
A safety car in 6 of the 7 races since 2018. Only 2018 had no safety car and no virtual safety car.
Fewest finishers since 2010: 14, in 2023.
The safety cars
Year
Safety car deployments
Virtual safety cars
Red flag
2018
0
0
No
2019
2
0
No
2021
1
2
No
2022
2
1
No
2023
1
0
Yes
2024
2
1
Yes
2025
1
1
No
Counted from race control messages, which exist from 2018. A restart behind the safety car after a red flag appears as a deployment.
Interlagos sits on a hill in Sao Paulo at the start of the wet season, and rain arriving mid-weekend is close to expected. It is also short and busy, so the field stays bunched and a single incident can close every gap. Why the circuit races like that is in Interlagos explained.
2021: Hamilton from tenth
Hamilton's 2021 weekend began with a disqualification from qualifying for a rear wing that failed a DRS check. He started the sprint last and finished fifth, then took a five-place penalty for a new engine, so he lined up tenth for the Grand Prix. He passed Verstappen on lap 59 and won, cutting the championship gap with three races to go.
2024: Verstappen from seventeenth
Verstappen took a five-place penalty for a new engine and qualified twelfth, so he started seventeenth. The race ran in heavy rain, with a red flag after Franco Colapinto crashed, and Verstappen came through the field to win by nearly twenty seconds. His engineer:
"Max, that was amazing. 17th to 1st, that was a world champion's drive." Behind him, Alpine finished second and third, Esteban Ocon from fourth and Pierre Gasly from thirteenth. Gasly on the radio:
"we should never give up, it's never over, nobody would have predicted it, but we made it happen." Gasly's 2026, with his first pole, is measured in Pierre Gasly's 2026.
2025: Norris from pole
Lando Norris won from pole in 2025, with Kimi Antonelli second for Mercedes. Verstappen started from the back after his team changed his car's setup, and finished third.
Winners, grid positions, poles and finishers come from Formula 1's official timing data via FastF1, and reflect the final classification after any penalties. The table starts in 2010; Interlagos has held the Brazilian Grand Prix since 1990, and in the 1970s.
Safety cars, virtual safety cars and red flags are counted from race control messages, which are available from 2018 only.
Quotes are taken only from lines where the speaker label and the words agree.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix?
Lando Norris, from pole, for McLaren. Kimi Antonelli was second and Max Verstappen third.
What is the lowest grid position to win at Interlagos?
Since 2010, seventeenth: Max Verstappen in 2024. Lewis Hamilton won from tenth in 2021.
Is there always a safety car at Interlagos?
Almost. Six of the seven races from 2018 to 2025 had a full safety car, and two had red flags. Only 2018 ran clean.
Why is it called the Sao Paulo Grand Prix?
The race was renamed from the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2021. It is held at the same circuit, Interlagos, officially the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.
Sources
Winners, grid positions, poles, finishers and race control messages from 2018: Formula 1 timing data via FastF1
Every radio message quoted: our own team radio archive
Follow Sao Paulo live
When rain arrives at Interlagos, the race changes on the radio first.
The Formula Dream app plays live driver radio as it is broadcast, transcript beside the audio, and collects every FIA document of the weekend as it is published, including the penalties that set the grid. There is also a live timing Dashboard, currently in beta, with flag and safety car alerts.
Free, no subscription, no ads, independent. Not affiliated with Formula 1.
Nineteen Chinese Grands Prix have been held in Shanghai since 2004. Lewis Hamilton won six, pole won twelve, and in 2026 Kimi Antonelli took the first win of his career there, at 19, with Hamilton on the podium for Ferrari for the first time. Every winner, grid slot and safety car, measured.
Max VerstappenRed Bull · São Paulo Grand Prix 2024 · Race · 15:03:16 local
EngineerMax, that was amazing. 17th to 1st, that was a world champion's drive. You were absolutely a class of your own today. Yeah, mate, that was, you almost put 2016 into the shade there. That was absolutely masterful. Fantastic. Well done, everyone. Never give up.
DriverWhat
Engineera day. Emotions left and right. Unbelievable. And that is how we silence them. Exactly. Yeah, enjoy this in-lap, mate. It's been a little while since we've done this, but that was a masterclass. It's been a while, but we're good at it.
