By Mark Gero
With four races remaining in the formula one world championship, this weekends race goes back to the Southern Hemisphere to the classic circuit at Interlagos, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the event that bears the same name.
The battle for the title comes down to three drivers: two who have never won the world championship and one who has won four already and is looking for a small chance of winning a fifth.
Lando Norris and his McLaren are leading the championship by only one point, ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri, who began to falter following his crash in Baku a couple of months ago. Piastri up to the last race in Mexico, had the lead since April following the race in Saudi Arabia. Many thought through the season races in Europe, that Piastri could easily win the title. But things do not always go as planned, and Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen started to close in, especially the Dutchman, who just before the race in Mexico City, started to win the last two grands prix in Singapore and the United States.
But this weekend could be a challenge as the rain, which is normally associated with the race, will occur all three days of this event. This could make things change in the order of the grid, in which different names will be up on the front. Last year’s race was a good example of what can happen when rain hits the circuit on race day. Alpine had a poor season and good strategy kept Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly to finish second and third, respectively. But what could be a repeat of this year as well, Verstappen, in the same race last year, started near the back of the grid, came up to win the race in what could be the best win of his career so far.
With Piastri, Norris and Verstappen going for the championship, Sao Paulo could be a game changer, and anything can happen not only here, but the last three races of the calendar.
This track is one of the shortest on the schedule, and its 71 laps will make it interesting on how long the possible rain could affect the tyres that they are running. It is obvious that wets will be used if the race gets to the point where the rain will not stop, especially where it can get heavy enough to put out a red flag to stop the race.
On problem that the circuit has had was the runoff area with the rain. The circuit can get very wet, and draining the water off from parts of the circuit is a problem, as was shown last season, when many drivers hydroplaned and spun.
But no matter what happens this weekend, for the fans, it could be an interesting race, which is just one part of what could continue for the next few weeks of the season.
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