Brazil GP 2011 - Interlagos (25-27 November) Last Race of 2011 Season

Race Date:	27 Nov 2011
Circuit Name:	Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace
Number of Laps:	71
Circuit Length:	4.309 km
Race Distance:	305.909 km
Lap Record:	1:11.473 - JP Montoya (2004)

FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO PETROBRAS DO BRASIL 2011

FRI 25 NOVEMBER 2011
PRACTICE 1	RESULTS
PRACTICE 2	RESULTS

SAT 26 NOVEMBER 2011
PRACTICE 3	RESULTS
QUALIFYING	RESULTS

SUN 27 NOVEMBER 2011
RACE	RESULTS

All Times are GMT (-2)

Circuit Preview;

The Brazilian Grand Prix (Portuguese: Grande Prêmio do Brasil) is a Formula One championship race which occurs at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos, a district in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

History

A Brazilian Grand Prix was first held at Interlagos in 1972, although it was not part of the Formula One World Championship. The following year, however, the race was first included in the official calendar. In 1978 the Brazilian Grand Prix moved to Jacarepaguá in Rio de Janeiro, briefly returning to Interlagos for the next two seasons before becoming the sole host from 1981 onwards, due to safety concerns with the 5-mile Interlagos circuit. In 1990 the Grand Prix returned to a shortened Interlagos, where it has stayed since. The 2004 eventmarked the first time since the race's admission to the Formula One Championship calendar that it was not one of the first three rounds of the season. In 2005, for the first time, the Brazilian GP decided the World Championship, won by Fernando Alonso. On November 2, 2008, Felipe Massa became the latest home winner of the Brazilian GP; his victory in the last race of the 2008 season was still not enough to secure the championship as he lost to Lewis Hamilton by a single point.

The Interlagos circuit has created some of the most exciting and memorable races in recent Formula One history, and is regarded as one of the most challenging and exciting circuits on the F1 calendar. Along with Spa-Francorchamps, it is rare in that the circuit in its modern form is one of the few with a lengthy history in the sport not considered to have lost much of its mystique or challenge in its adaptation for the modern, much more safety-conscious era of 21st century Formula One.

Particularly memorable recent Brazilian Grands Prix include the 2003 race, which saw a maiden Grand Prix victory, highly unexpectedly, and amidst chaotic and unusual circumstances, for Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella. Heavy rain before and during the race produced problems with tyre selection which caught out many teams, which allowed the weak Minardi team to have a real chance for victory the only time ever, because they were the only team who prepared to the rainfall, but their drivers were also soon out. And treacherous track conditions caused multiple drivers to spin out of the race, including then-reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher, ending a remarkable run of race finishes dating back to the German Grand Prix 2001. Amidst this, a number of drivers, including McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen and David Coulthard, led the race, and, when a heavy accident involving Renault's Fernando Alonso blocked the circuit and brought out the red flag, confusion reigned. Fisichella led the race at the time, having just overtaken Räikkönen; however, it was the Finn who was declared the race winner under the count back rule, which stipulates that the race result in such circumstances is taken from the running order two laps prior to the race being stopped. This decision was overturned days later in the FIA Court of Appeal in Paris after new evidence came to light which proved that Fisichella had crossed the finish line in the lead for a second timebefore Alonso's accident, and therefore was the rightful winner.

The 2001 Grand Prix was notable for marking the explosive arrival of Juan Pablo Montoya onto the Formula One scene. The Colombian driver stunningly muscled his way past Michael Schumacher early on and led easily until an incident in which Arrows' Jos Verstappen ran into the back of his Williams-BMW and ended his race. Montoya did eventually lay to rest the ghost of this event by winning the 2004 race in his final Grand Prix for Williams before moving to McLaren, holding off his future team-mate Kimi Räikkönen to take a hard-fought victory. The 2001 race is also notable for two brothers, Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher, sharing a row on the starting grid for the first time.

Autódromo José Carlos Pace, the venue for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

At the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso became the youngest ever Formula One World Champion at the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, his third place behind winner Juan Pablo Montoya and championship rival Kimi Räikkönen enough to clinch the title with two races remaining.

For 2006 the Brazilian Grand Prix, as in 2004, was moved to the prestigious position of hosting the final round of the season, in what was Michael Schumacher's first farewell to Formula One, before his return for the 2010 Formula One season. Starting from 10th position on the grid, Schumacher did an astonishing job on his last race. He fell to 19th position on the ninth lap due to a flat tyre caused by a minor collision with Giancarlo Fisichella when the former was trying to overturn the latter. After pitting for a new tyre he returned to the race, just in front of leader Massa, so almost being overlapped, passing several drivers to take the chequered flag in fourth place, after a dazzling passing manoeuvre on Kimi Räikkönen. His performance was not enough to give 'Schumi' his eighth trophy, as Fernando Alonso, who needed only one point to become World Champion again, finished in second place. Brazilian Felipe Massa took pole position and led the race from start to finish for the second victory of his career and celebrations from his Brazilian supporters.

In March 2008, the mayor of São Paulo announced that he had signed a new deal with Bernie Ecclestone to continue the holding of the Brazilian Grand Prix. This deal allows the Brazilian race to be on the calendar until 2015. With this, Interlagos is set for major improvements in its pit and paddock facilities.

In the final race of the 2008 season at the Brazilian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton became the youngest Formula One world champion, to that point in Formula One history. After adopting a conservative strategy without risks for most of the race to secure at least 5th place, and the title, a late-race rain shower caused unexpected trouble. First, Hamilton was pushed down to 5th place by German Toyota driver Timo Glock who didn't enter the pits for intermediates like most other front runners. With just 3 laps to go, Sebastian Vettel then also overtook the Briton on the track which meant he would end up with equal points to Massa, but with one victory less. While everybody was focussing on the battle between these two (Vettel managed to stay in front in the end), against all expectations both were able to overtake Glock, who had lost all grip with his dry weather tyres, in the very last corner before the finishing straight. This meant that, while the McLaren driver's title rival Felipe Massa won the race in his Ferrari, Hamilton ultimately grabbed the fifth place he needed to become champion. Renault's Fernando Alonso, the previous youngest champion, was second ahead of Massa's team-mate Kimi Räikkönen and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.

Winners

2010 Brazil GP;

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	71	1:33:11.803	2	25
2	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	71	+4.243	3	18
3	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	71	+6.807	5	15
4	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+14.634	4	12
5	1	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+15.593	11	10
6	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	71	+35.320	13	8
7	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	71	+43.456	8	6
8	10	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	70	+1 Lap	1	4
9	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	70	+1 Lap	7	2
10	23	Kamui Kobayashi	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	70	+1 Lap	12	1
11	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	70	+1 Lap	14
12	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	70	+1 Lap	22
13	16	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	70	+1 Lap	19
14	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	70	+1 Lap	6
15	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+1 Lap	9
16	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	70	+1 Lap	10
17	22	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	70	+1 Lap	15
18	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Cosworth	69	+2 Laps	20
19	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Cosworth	69	+2 Laps	18
20	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	69	+2 Laps	17
21	21	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	69	+2 Laps	24
22	20	Christian Klien	HRT-Cosworth	65	+6 Laps	23
NC	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin-Cosworth	62	+9 Laps	21
Ret	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	49	Accident	16

2010 Highlights;



Repeat winners (drivers)

Embolded drivers are still competing in the Formula One championship
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.

# Wins	Driver	Years Won
6	Alain Prost	1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990
4	Carlos Reutemann	1972, 1977, 1978, 1981
	Michael Schumacher	1994, 1995, 2000, 2002
2	Emerson Fittipaldi	1973, 1974
	Nelson Piquet	1983, 1986
	Nigel Mansell	1989, 1992
	Ayrton Senna	1991, 1993
	Mika Häkkinen	1998, 1999
	Juan Pablo Montoya	2004, 2005
	Felipe Massa	2006, 2008

Repeat winners (constructors)

Embolded constructors are still competing in the Formula One championship
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.

Number of wins	Constructor	Years Won
11	McLaren	1974, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005
10	Ferrari	1976, 1977, 1978, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008
6	Williams	1981, 1986, 1992, 1996, 1997, 2004
3	Brabham	1972, 1975, 1983
2	Red Bull	2009, 2010
	Benetton	1994, 1995
	Renault	1980, 1982