Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace · São Paulo
71 laps · 4.309 km per lap · Pirelli C2 Hard / C3 Medium / C4 Soft
Interlagos is one of only a handful of circuits run counter-clockwise, and its compact, undulating layout packed into a relatively small footprint has produced some of the most dramatic races in Formula 1 history. The lap opens with the iconic Senna S — the downhill Turn 1-2 combination named for the circuit's most famous son — before flowing through a lap that rewards both bravery and precision.
Sitting at moderate altitude and known for genuinely unpredictable weather, Interlagos can shift from bone dry to torrential rain within a single session, a factor that has decided championships as often as pure pace has.
The circuit's above-average overtaking score, driven by the long pit straight into Turn 1 and a genuine passing opportunity at the Bico de Pato hairpin, keeps races here close and unpredictable even before weather is factored in.
Pirelli nominates the C2 Hard, C3 Medium and C4 Soft for Interlagos. Moderate degradation and the ever-present chance of a wet session mean tyre strategy here is as much about weather contingency planning as compound selection.
Durable enough to anchor a one-stop race in dry conditions, forming the backbone of most straightforward strategies when the weather cooperates.
A common starting tyre and the anchor of two-stop plans, offering a clear pace advantage over the Hard while managing a competitive stint length.
Q3 runners start on the Soft under the usual rules. Its shorter life is a real factor, though the circuit's strong overtaking score makes recovering from an early stop more realistic than at a tighter circuit.
Interlagos has a well-earned reputation for producing chaotic, rain-affected races that scramble the usual competitive order. A sudden downpour can turn a comfortable strategy into a desperate scramble for Intermediates, and teams that read the radar correctly often gain more than any dry-weather strategic edge could deliver.
This unpredictability makes flexibility the most valuable asset at Interlagos — a rigid strategy locked in before the race can be undone in minutes by a genuine Brazilian downpour, while a team ready to react to changing conditions can convert a difficult weekend into a strong result.
The standard dry-weather plan: start on the Medium, pit once for the Hard, and use the Senna S and Bico de Pato to defend or attack as the race develops.
A pace-focused alternative in dry conditions, using consistently fresher tyres to attack through the circuit's genuine overtaking chances.
Given Interlagos's history of sudden rain, most race engineers run an explicit weather override alongside the primary strategy: switch to Intermediates the moment rain intensity crosses a threshold, regardless of the planned pit lap.
The long pit straight is Interlagos's clearest deployment zone, and a well-charged battery there sets up the circuit's best overtaking chance into Turn 1.
The Senna S and the flowing sequence that follows offer limited harvesting given the sustained speed through them, so most meaningful energy recovery happens under braking into the Bico de Pato hairpin and the final corner before the main straight.
A one-stop is 1.9 s faster than the best two-stop in clean air.
Close call — race events can easily swing it.
One-stop pit window: lap 28–37 of 71
Single car, no traffic, track position or Safety Car — so PITWALL shows stop count and timing but no compound order: in 2026 the model prefers finishing on softs, while teams mostly ran medium → hard. Model circuit-1. How the model is calibrated →
The 2026 race is on 2026-11-08; its strategy data appears here afterwards.
Build your strategy for Interlagos in PITWALL. Attack through the Senna S, watch the radar for Brazil's famous rain, and see if your strategy can handle the chaos.
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