It wasn’t just the F1 drivers who faced difficulties because of the rain this Sunday (3) at the Interlagos race track, during the São Paulo GP. Fans present at the event reported queues and problems.
The Heineken Village sector, located in the middle of the circuit, between Bico de Pato, Dive, Junção and Subida do Café, was covered by mud and puddles of water.
Images of the public trying to protect themselves from the intense rain, which also fell on Saturday (2) during the sprint race and caused the postponement of the qualifying session, were published on social media. Some fans even went under trash can lids to protect themselves. In addition to the mud, the public faced long queues to collect tickets at the box office.
To enter the different gates of the race track, there were also many queues. In stand G, accessed through the same gate as the fan zone, spectators reported problems separating the sectors.
In the suites, which are close to Ferradura, guests had to leave the outside, as the roof was soaked.
This Sunday, with the rescheduling of the qualifying session for 7:30 am, queues were already forming around the racetrack at 5 am. Many fans stayed outside.
When contacted by the report, the GP São Paulo organization stated that “after opening the gates, we had localized problems in managing the large flow of people. But, even in the morning,
the situation has been normalized.”
Fan area
Flags of Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay marked the GP São Paulo fan zone. The space, a new addition to the event’s program, was set up in the Ayrton Senna kart track area, and offered simulators, pit stop challenges, as well as interviews with motorsport personalities and chats with current drivers in the category.
On Friday (1), a video shown on the big screens with the opening song of F1 in a samba version announced: it was the start of the 21st stage of the 2024 season. In the morning, Alex Albon, Franco Colapinto, Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Felipe Drugovich, Valteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou took the stage to participate in Driver’s Engagement.
At the end of the afternoon, a sea of red t-shirts and caps took over the fan zone at the kart track. Posters asked for autographs and displayed phrases written in Italian, such as “forza Ferrari”.
Fans were waiting for the Italian team duo Chales Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Throughout the interview program that preceded the chat with the ferraristas, Alessandro Alunni Bravi, managing director of the Swiss Kick Sauber, tried to win over the public and greeted those present with “ciao ragazzi”.
Afterwards, screams were heard calling for the hiring of Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, F3 champion in 2023, his debut year. “He’s one of the most impressive rookies,” Bravi said.
Also taking the stage was Emerson Fittipaldi, two-time F1 world champion and McLaren ambassador. The former driver, happy with the team’s qualifying result in Sprint, recalled one of his most memorable moments in the sport: when he entered the pit straight, in Interlagos, and saw the fans rise from the stands and cheer with the victory at home. –an achievement that turned 50 in January.
When asked about advice for the new generation competing at the race track, he didn’t hesitate to say “speed up”.
Then, it was Leclerc and Sainz’s turn, who tried some words in Portuguese, such as “good night”, “thank you”, “coxinha” and “brigadeiro”. Excited fans cried and, in the end, competed for the cap thrown by the Spaniard.
On Saturday morning, many people were still waiting in line to enter the fan zone when Max Verstappen and Sergio Peréz started the Driver’s Engagement program, followed by the Haas and Alpine drivers.
Around noon, another crowd gathered in front of the stage. This time, the wait was for the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion and honorary Brazilian citizen.
Once again, many posters were seen in the audience. On the grid, one of them said: “Lewis, your autograph on my cap is like carrying it, along with Senna, with me always.” Hamilton and Russell broke protocol and went down to the audience to sign autographs.
The poster is by Nikoly Silva, 23, who traveled from Almirante Tamandaré, in the metropolitan region of Curitiba (PR) to the capital of São Paulo and arrived at 6 am to see the idol. “At the Canadian GP in 2017, I was mesmerized by Lewis’ genuine reaction when he received Senna’s helmet. I brought my two passions together,” he told Sheet.
Ayrton Senna, whose death turns 30 in 2024, was not only honored by Nikoly. Even with the rain that led to the cancellation of the Grand Prix classification, Alok, this Saturday’s attraction, projected the driver’s signature and face with drones in the sky during the show at the kart track.
“The phrase that moved the most today: before we felt Ayrton in the sky, today we saw him in the sky”, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
