Guide to 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend as F1 heads to Brazil to wrap up their latest triple-header.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli arrives in Sao Paulo having wrapped up the title in Mexico, whilst Red Bull’s Max Verstappen heads Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Charles Leclerc in their scrap for the vice-champion honour.
Across in the constructors’ standings, Mercedes need to just outscore Ferrari by three points or more to wrap up their ninth F1 constructors’ title.
Brazil fans meanwhile will have two homegrown drivers to support as Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto competes in his home event for a second season, whilst F2 title leader – Rafael Camara makes his F1 bow at Haas in place of Esteban Ocon who has left the team.
Now, here is everything that you need to know ahead of 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Track Guide
Laps: 71
Race Distance: 305.909km
Tyre Compounds: C3, C4 & C5
Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (GMT) |
| Friday 6 November | FP1 | 3:30pm |
| Friday 6 November | FP2 | 7:00pm |
| Saturday 7 November | FP3 | 2:30pm |
| Saturday 7 November | Qualifying | 6:00pm |
| Sunday 8 November | Race | 5:00pm |
Five Key Pointers
- With Friday Practice forecast to be the definitively only dry day of the weekend, teams face an interesting decision as to how they approach the sessions especially with uncertainty over the forecast
- Mercedes and Ferrari will be favourites coming into this weekend but Red Bull can’t be underestimated if they have a clean weekend.
- With several slow and medium speed corners, it will be crucial to ensure that cars are set up to maximise traction but they will need to find balance for maximising straight line speed too.
- There is potential for two-stop strategies after Pirelli opted to go a step softer than recent years and brought the C5 tyre instead of the C2 tyre compound.
- This is F1’s first visit to Sao Paulo since 2019 to not feature the sprint weekend format which will be of benefit to Camara who will have three practice sessions to get up to speed.
Last Time Out
McLaren’s Lando Norris dominated the Sao Paulo GP weekend in 2025 as he took pole and victory in both the sprint and main race.
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