Adam Rosales, who lastly ticked Brazil off his F1 bucket record final 12 months, shares his expertise and suggestions after attending the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix.
Interlagos is a particular place. I do know I’ve stated this about different circuits however Interlagos is old style in the most effective methods potential. It’s proper in the course of a residential neighborhood (just like Indianapolis motor speedway), however inside the fourth most populated metropolis on the planet.
Grandstand D
I purchased my 3-day ticket immediately from the circuit (by way of Eventim) for Grandstand D, which value approx. $660 USD. Grandstand D is a coated grandstand that’s situated on the surface of Flip 1 and in addition has views of the Senna S curves. In widespread with the Mexico Metropolis Grand Prix, you might be restricted to your ticketed part at Interlagos. It’s a bit disappointing not to have the ability to discover different elements of the circuit, however right here I used to be fortunate to be in the course of a first-rate sector with numerous observe motion. The view from Grandstand D permits you to see a part of the pit lane and beginning line, and all the way in which down the hill to Flip 3. I used to be in a position to witness a number of drivers making errors into each Flip 1 and Flip 3. Among the impacts had been brutal, like when Albon hit the wall at Flip 1. It felt like the entire grandstand shook. It was LOUD and I used to be so shut that I might see him raging within the cockpit of his Williams.
One distinctive side of Grandstand D (and apparently all grandstands at Interlagos, other than M) is that there isn’t any reserved seating. This was stunning, particularly at such a excessive worth level. Though there are sufficient seats for everyone, it pays to reach early and declare your spot. I used to be there round 9am each day and managed to search out nice seats. Travelling solo helped. I launched myself to followers seated close by and everybody was pleasant. We took turns taking care of one another’s seats throughout meals, drink and loo runs. I did see a couple of seat arguments in different elements of the grandstand, nevertheless. There have been even a few drunken fights (seemingly the results of the ‘free beer’ being served, extra on that beneath), however followers round them had been fast to close them down. Safety was on the scene rapidly, too. The safety presence was excessive and I felt protected on the observe all weekend.
The observe motion right here is unimaginable. It’s simply top-of-the-line locations on the calendar to observe an F1 race, and final 12 months was particularly motion packed. From the dash to qualifying after which Max Verstappen’s epic drive throughout the race itself, there was no scarcity of motion. The heavy rain throughout qualifying and the race additionally contributed to numerous driver errors. One other spotlight was seeing Lewis Hamilton get behind the wheel of Ayrton Senna’s McLaren MP4/5B from the 1990 F1 season. The sound was completely epic, even at slower speeds. It was raining, however Hamilton nonetheless bought on the throttle laborious out of Flip 3 and the sound echoed fantastically as he made his manner down the straight to Flip 4.
The gang was full of life and remained passionate all through the weekend, regardless of the inevitable rain showers. Fortunately, Grandstand D was coated. For instance, throughout one of many crimson flag intervals there was a man that determined he was going to run ‘laps’ backwards and forwards on the backside of the grandstand. Folks close by started cheering him on and earlier than lengthy, the entire grandstand was concerned. It was hilarious!
Grandstand D has TVs on the backside of the stand that present the dwell feed and you might additionally see a bigger display on the backside of the hill by Flip 2. The audio is in Portuguese, however with the protecting above the stand and automobiles on observe it was typically tough to listen to the commentary above the noise. Heavy rain on Saturday afternoon noticed qualifying postponed till Sunday morning at 7:30am. Gates opened earlier at 7am. I arrived on the circuit at 6:30am, however didn’t make it inside till 7:45am because of the lengthy entry strains. I used to be fortunate as my part of the circuit wasn’t very huge. Many followers in different elements of the circuit ended up lacking out on qualifying altogether as a consequence of enormous entry delays. The organizers did their greatest to alter the schedule at brief discover, however there have been inevitable delays getting everybody by the gates at such an early hour.
Meals & Drink
The Grandstand D ticket worth included foods and drinks. It wasn’t horrible, however it wasn’t nice both. Subsequent time, I’d relatively get a less expensive ticket and purchase my very own foods and drinks. Beer was included within the free drinks, however was purported to be restricted to 2 drinks per individual. This rule appeared to be selectively enforced, although, as I noticed a number of individuals being given 4-5 cups of beer whereas I used to be denied each beer and water on a number of events. The ‘free beer’ additionally contributed to essentially lengthy strains. There have been no water refill stations, so that you needed to be part of the lengthy queue even when you solely needed water. Between on-track classes, it was tedious and annoying to should queue up for 20-Half-hour every time. When it was raining or there was an energetic F1 session, you might get served fairly rapidly. Not having all-inclusive foods and drinks would seemingly have helped ease the strains, and in addition reduce down on a number of the drunken fights within the grandstand.
Meals choices included a rotating menu of breakfast breads, pao de quijo (baked cheese rolls), pastries and smaller snacks within the morning and for lunch, sizzling canine and burgers. Vegan choices had been obtainable as properly. (Examine the menu right here.) Strains shaped for the non-vegan choices at peak instances whereas the vegan choices had been sitting on the serving space and straightforward to acquire. Sandwiches, chips, ice cream and different snacks had been additionally served and included with the price of the ticket.
Group & Security
Talking actually, one of many principal causes I hadn’t attended the São Paulo Grand Prix earlier than was as a consequence of security issues. You hear quite a lot of tales within the media about how unsafe Brazil is and the way the groups have been victims of robberies and muggings up to now. For me, the protection ranges in Brazil had been just like the race in Mexico Metropolis. There was a big safety and police presence round Interlagos, and barricades had been arrange in strategic areas to information followers to and from the Autódromo metro station. There was a continuing stream of individuals strolling and the realm was lined with distributors promoting bootleg merchandise, souvenirs and meals/drinks. I usually take pleasure in shopping for a few of this bootleg merch as items for associates or household. It’s a good suggestion to hold a bit of money for these transactions, although some distributors did have card readers.
Though the vibes had been good and all people was in constructive spirits, I nonetheless stored my guard up and didn’t use my cellphone an excessive amount of on the road. I didn’t see something sketchy myself. Some followers I spoke to on Sunday talked about that they needed to stroll away from the circuit and into the native neighborhoods in an effort to request an Uber, which might be dangerous. The organizers encourage followers to make use of the Metro to get to and from the circuit.
The group on the entry gates to Interlagos might be improved. For instance, lots of people from Grandstand G had been caught in line on the entrance gate for a number of hours on Sunday morning. My very own expertise on the entrance gates was that many followers had been unable to scan their tickets from their smartphones.There would typically be two or three failed makes an attempt to scan earlier than the gate worker requested for his or her cellphone and adjusted it in a sure manner for the ticket to scan. It will assist if all people had a paper or bodily ticket. I all the time print mine and preserve it in a ziploc bag by the weekend due to this actual situation. This prevents any injury and in addition retains it dry when it rains, which it did so much this weekend.
Safety was a easy bag examine. The record of prohibited gadgets was communicated upfront on the circuit web site, so it was a reasonably streamlined course of. As soon as contained in the circuit, you’re restricted to your part so there isn’t an entire lot to discover. A brand new fan zone was launched finally 12 months’s race, and entry was included with some tickets, like Grandstands G & R. I didn’t buy entry, however I heard it was pretty normal with driver interviews within the morning and concert events within the night. The entry for Grandstand G was shared with the fan zone, which in all probability exacerbated the entry points on Sunday morning for this part. No matter what part you might be in, I’d advocate arriving early every day. When you don’t wish to cope with huge queues, goal to reach no less than two hours earlier than the primary F1 session.
Attending to Interlagos
The race promoter provides two principal choices to get to the circuit, an categorical bus or the metro (the metro additionally has an categorical possibility). Visitors in São Paulo is notoriously unhealthy and you may count on prolonged delays close to the circuit when touring by street. Driving estimates from Google Maps can grow to be very unreliable when there’s site visitors delays, however you possibly can count on a one-way journey from central areas of São Paulo to take 1-2 hours and even longer on race weekend. The categorical buses departed from 4 devoted areas inside the metropolis and solely value 4.40 BRL ($0.70 USD). I used to be planning to make use of the categorical buses, however modified my thoughts after arriving within the metropolis and seeing how unhealthy the site visitors was.
I opted for the metro as an alternative. Trains on the common Esmeralda Line 9 depart each jiffy, and it solely takes about thirty minutes from Pinheiros station, for instance. This service is crowded and you might be unlikely to get a seat with out some luck. The circuit additionally organizes an categorical metro from two stations, and this was the service I made a decision to make use of. The categorical metro begins at Pinheiros and solely stops as soon as at Morumbi-Claro earlier than arriving on the Autódromo. Journey time was about twenty minutes from Pinheiros. Trains do grow to be fairly crowded, however I used to be capable of finding a seat every day by strolling in the direction of the tip of the practice.
The categorical service requires a separate ticket, which prices 30 BRL (just below $5 USD). At Pinheiros, there was a devoted entrance with employees readily available to be sure you had the right categorical ticket. After verifying my ticket with the employees, I used to be given a wristband, which is used to hurry issues up on the return journey. The categorical trains ran on a platform that was sectioned off from the others and was just for categorical ticket holders, and free water bottles had been obtainable.
When getting back from the Autodromo station on the finish of every day, I used to be in a position to take a selected entrance on the facet that bypassed a majority of the followers utilizing the common metro trains. After exhibiting my wristband, I used to be guided by a facet corridor and up a ‘personal’ escalator to a devoted ready space on the platform. It was crowded and the traditional trains additionally stopped at this part of the platform. I might have taken one in every of these, however opted to avoid wasting time and look forward to the subsequent categorical metro.
Having the categorical ticket seemingly saved me no less than an hour of ready outdoors the station, and I undoubtedly advocate shopping for these tickets on race weekend. Relying on the place you resolve to remain in São Paulo, it shouldn’t be too tough to take an Uber, bus or metro to one of many ‘categorical’ stations. I stayed in Jardim Paulista and I took an Uber to and from Pinheiros station, which took about twenty minutes within the morning and a bit longer on the finish of the day.
Rio de Janeiro
My spouse and I additionally visited Rio de Janeiro. It was our first time in Brazil (and South America) and we needed to discover Rio. We stayed in an Airbnb subsequent to Copacabana seashore for the primary few days after which moved to a pleasant resort, Copacabana Palace, for the final two nights to have a good time my spouse’s birthday. The Airbnb we stayed in ignored the seashore and price $260 USD per night time. Not low cost, however it was spacious (2 mattress / 2 bathtub) and it had a superb view. Having learn varied on-line guides and seen some YouTube movies, we had been initially a bit nervous about strolling across the space. But it surely felt completely protected. We did after all train precautions corresponding to retaining our belongings tucked away and never utilizing our smartphones within the open on the road.
Realizing I’m from the states, somebody in contrast Rio to Miami and São Paulo to New York Metropolis, which felt fairly correct. Rio may be very vacationer pleasant and provides numerous outside actions like forest hikes, paragliding or simply hanging out on the seashore. We booked a forest hike by Viator to expertise some nature, and it was nice. The native vegetation is gorgeous on this a part of the world, and we additionally noticed some lemurs and monkeys. When you don’t need such a strenuous exercise, the BioPark of Rio (botanical backyard) is one other nice approach to expertise Brazil’s stunning nature. The realm close by was additionally residence to loads of cool beachside bars and eating places. An area pal that I met at Zandvoort additionally advisable Boteco Boa Praça, which was excellent. Protected space, good drinks and really tasty meals. The close by sidewalk was lined with distributors and we purchased some handcrafted jewellery to help the native artists and produce again as items.
After three nights on the AirbnB, we moved to Copacabana Palace and had a really good keep. The employees was pleasant and welcoming, and the on-site eating places had been wonderful. The resort additionally had devoted employees on the seashore providing chairs and umbrellas, who had been additionally joyful to control your stuff when you needed to go for a swim. Food and drinks stalls had been additionally situated alongside the seashore, making it simple to take pleasure in a few caipirinhas. Copacabana Seaside is just not probably the most stress-free seashore we’ve ever been to, nevertheless, as we had been always being interrupted by distributors providing drinks, fruit, massages and even hair braiding providers. We ended up spending extra time on the resort’s pool, however it was nonetheless cool to expertise Copacabana Seaside.
São Paulo
We flew from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo. There are a ton of every day flights between the 2 cities, however it’s value remembering that each cities have two principal airports. São Paulo is a large metropolis. I actually didn’t understand how huge it could really feel. When arriving by air, it looks like it goes on perpetually and in each path. I can see how one can evaluate São Paulo’s intense site visitors and crowded downtown intersections to New York Metropolis. Getting round is pretty low cost with Uber, however the metro is even cheaper and doesn’t get delayed by site visitors jams. I solely took the metro to and from the circuit however it was clear and environment friendly. We by no means felt unsafe exploring the town, however caught to extra upmarket areas corresponding to Paulista, Itaim Bibi and Pinheiros.
Osteria Generale – Jardim Paulista is advisable for unbelievable Italian meals. Our dinner there was top-of-the-line of all the journey. Being busy on the observe more often than not, I didn’t actually get to discover São Paulo as a lot as I’d have preferred. My spouse and I did handle to go to Beco de Batman on Monday morning after the race. That is an space that showcases native artists and options cool wall murals. I discovered some actually cool items and clothes in a few of these. It’s undoubtedly value a visit to wander the alleyways and take a look at the big murals.
In comparison with Rio, São Paulo is usually a bit harder for individuals who don’t converse any Portuguese. It undoubtedly helps to be taught some fundamental phrases. Most locals perceive Spanish, which is my first language, however they’ll reply in Portuguese. Both manner, I managed to get by with Spanish and a few fundamental Portuguese phrases.
Last Ideas
Experiencing System 1 in Brazil had been on my bucket record for years and I’m actually joyful I used to be lastly in a position to make it occur. I undoubtedly advocate this race and visiting Brazil. The individuals we met in each cities had been actually welcoming and good. The race itself is such a enjoyable expertise. The gang is unbelievable, costs are affordable and entry to the circuit by way of the categorical metro is comparatively simple. Interlagos by no means disappoints in relation to thrilling racing and it undoubtedly created some particular reminiscences for me final 12 months. Attempt to give your self a bit of extra time to discover earlier than or after race weekend, even when you keep in São Paulo. I can’t wait to return to Brazil, and I’ve already bought my journey deliberate for the 2025 São Paulo Grand Prix.
Value Abstract
Return Flight: Austin – São Paulo = 56,000 Delta Skymiles plus $40 USD
Return Flight: São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro = $170 USD
3-Day Race Ticket: Grandstand D = 3,880 BRL ($650 USD)
3-Evening Keep: Airbnb at Copacabana Seaside = $860 USD
3-Evening Keep: Copacabana Palace Resort = 7,300 BRL ($1,460 USD)
5-Evening Keep: Airbnb in São Paulo = $523 USD
