When Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October, 2009Where Autodromo Carlos Pace, Interlagos, BrazilRound 16 of 17

Standings AT&T Williams 34.5pts (6th), N Rosberg 34.5pts (7th), K Nakajima 0pts (17th)Brazil’s Hot TopicsWill a São Paulo shower influence the race?Will any of the contenders sew up a Championship?What next for the driver market?

Race DataPractice 1: 10:00 - 11:30FridayPractice 2: 14:00 - 15:30Practice 3: 11:00 – 12:00SaturdayQualifying: 14:00 - 15:00Sunday Race: 14:00Lap Distance 4.309kmLaps 71Distance 305.909kmsInterlagos, São Paulo, Brazil

The third anti-clockwise circuit of the campaign, after Istanbul Park and Singapore, Interlagos features a long,long uphill left-hander that places a tremendous strain on drivers’ necks – and tyres. In ordinary circumstances,this is yet another two-stop race: McLaren gambled on a three-stop strategy when trying to revive LewisHamilton’s title hopes in 2007 and the Englishman dropped more than half a minute to the pace-setting Ferraris.Hamilton and many others subsequently made unscheduled third stops in 2008 because of a torrential downpour,almost a daily occurrence at this time of year in São Paulo.

Talking technicalCar dynamicsAverage turn angle indicates the average angle of a circuit’s corners expressed in degrees. The higher theaverage turn angle, the more acute the corners in the circuit’s configuration and the greater propensity forundersteer to compromise lap time. Average turn angle at Interlagos is 1220 - which is above average as thesecond sector of the lap comprises a mix of long, high speed corners.The end of straight (EOS) speed at Interlagos was 305kp/h in 2008. The Brazilian track ranks as having the 8thhighest EOS speed on the 2009 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimisethe downforce/drag ratio. Meanwhile, Interlagos also has the 7th highest average lap speed of any of the trackson the calendar.

Pitlane & refuelling strategyThe pitlane length and profile contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss atInterlagos is approximately 21.0 seconds, which is the 8th most penalising pitlane in the Championship. Tocomplete a normalised distance of 5km around Interlagos requires 2.29kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kgper 5km across all circuits this season, ranking the circuit as the 3rd least demanding in terms of fuelconsumption.

Safety carAnother key contributor to the determination of race strategy is the likelihood of safety car deployments, whichare influenced by weather considerations, the availability of clear run-off areas that allow racing to continue whilerecovery takes place and the circuit profile, especially the character of the entry and exit into turn one at the startof the race. There have been eight safety car deployments since 2000, so the circuit’s character is very likely toinduce a safety car period.

Temperature, pressure & humidityAs an example, it is a long observed tradition that drivers arriving at Interlagos complain about a lack of grip andan absence of engine power. Having become acquainted with a baseline of engine and aerodynamicperformance during the season, the climb to 750 metres above sea level for one of the final races can, courtesyof the reduction in air density, rob a Formula One car of engine power, aerodynamic performance and cooling.The losses can come close to double digit percentages and thus have a very real impact on car performance.Air density is a factor of the prevailing ambient temperature, which varies most significantly by season, airpressure which is closely linked to altitude and, to a much smaller degree, by humidity. Thus if races are run atthe same time each year, the factor that tends to have the greatest bearing on air density is elevation. Interlagosis 750m above sea level and has the lowest average pressure (927 mbar) of any race venue in the 2009Championship. As a consequence, the circuit’s ambient characteristics will have the largest reduction of enginepower of any race this year.What the drivers say

Thoughts on the Japanese Grand PrixNico “It was a strange weekend in Japan. The weather on Friday made things quite tricky as we didn’t havemuch time to prepare the car, then all the incidents during qualifying made for an interesting session as well.What happened in Q2 obviously affected qualifying for me, but then I benefitted from all of the grid penalties. Inthe end, I started from 7th and ended the race in P5, collecting more points which I was pleased about afterSingapore.”Kazuki “Japan was just disappointing for me really. I really went there hoping to score points as I was backhome at Suzuka in front of my home fans but it wasn’t to be.”

What we did after JapanKazuki “Work didn’t stop when the race finished for me. I went straight back to Tokyo on the Monday for adriver appearance for AT&T in the evening, then I had another event on Tuesday for Accenture. Marketingduties ended on Wednesday and I have spent the week in Japan with my friends and family as I get to see solittle of them during the season. I’ll travel straight to Brazil from here, so it’s been a long trip!”Nico ”I went straight back to Monaco after Japan. As it was a back-to-back with Singapore, it was a long tripaway so it was nice to get back home. I’m heading out to Brazil a little earlier, on Monday, as I have a driver dayfor Allianz in Brazil on Tuesday.”

About BrazilKazuki “Brazil is very different to Japan so it’ll be a complete change going there next week! I like it though.The fans are always amazing; they’re really passionate about Formula One, so it’s nice to experience theatmosphere. On Wednesday I’m with AT&T, so hopefully I’ll get to experience some proper Brazilian culture withthem before the weekend begins.”Nico “I love Brazil. It’s such a vibrant country and São Paulo is cool. It’s normally the last race of the year sothere are a few parties, but I imagine it will be different this year now it’s not the last race on the calendar. Eitherway, it’s a great place to have a race so I’m looking forward to it.”

Interlagos from a technical perspectiveKazuki “Interlagos is a fairly challenging track because it’s so bumpy and goes in an anti-clockwise direction,but it’s really exciting to drive. There are some good overtaking opportunities, which is good because the grid willno doubt be tight because of the shorter lap time and it’s important to qualify well. We’ll have to do lots of workon Friday to find the right set-up and achieve a strong mechanical balance to cope with the track’s layout, but I’mlooking forward to it.”

Nico “Interlagos is a really fun track to drive as it has a bit of everything – gradient changes, a complete mixof corners and it runs in an anti-clockwise direction which presents a different challenge for the drivers,especially for our neck muscles. Last year wasn’t so great for us because of the rain at the start of the racewhich left us towards the rear of the field, so I really hope we go there and do well this time.”Sam Michael’s Brazilian Jottings