I'm back from São Paulo, where we had a great weekend at the races!

Just for reference, here are the other reports from the other 3 races I attended there:

2002, VIP lounge, courtesy of Petrobras.
2003, Grandstand A, lots of rain, Alonso crashing right in front of us!
2006, Grandstand G, Massa win!

So, fast-forward to 2009, another title decider. Grandstand A again (the best spot to get the complete Interlagos experience, to have fun and for a great viewing point too, imo).

I went to São Paulo with a group

Saturday

10:30 - 20min ride from the hotel to the track, it was cold and rainy, typical SP morning. Final practice was supposed to start at 11:00 but the rain was pouring down and it wasn´t till 11:45 that they allowed the cars out. Ít was very exciting, but messy! As it turned out, we only got a bit of action as Grosjean smashed his car again and brought a red flag. Very little can be said about the practice session per se, but it felt a bit of a let-down listening to the cars go round sounding half-throttle-like.

After the red-flag we decided to go check the official stores, but the prices were simply outrageous, for example R$250,00 (about US$150,00 for a lame Brawn T-shirt??). The rain stopped briefly, but came back stronger after 10 mins. We were soaked!



Taken from the car. Nice bridge.


Greyish morning. Typical São Paulo. Rain non-stop!


From Grandstand A one can see the whole infield and main straight!


Romain's red flag

The rain came back nastier 30 mins before the qualifying. Honestly, I was almost on my limit, having had a nasty cold just a couple days before. I was a bit worried about not being able to be there on Sunday if the wheather continued like that!

I kept listening to the radio, with many gossip coming from the paddock: Piquet, saying he was there "looking for a job for his son" and later telling it was going to be a "very difficult task". Then Campos saying it was negotiating with both Piquet and Senna, and many there believed the team could sign both! Di Grassi also was there, talking to everybody but hoping to get the 2nd Renault seat.

Q1 finally started and brought some surprises, as Lewis and Kova dropped out. Fisico also (not that susprising though). The conditions were really bad and we could notice the drivers tip-toing around the infield.


And here's Molive, with his old-fashion but very handy sony pocket radio!

Q2 was taking forever to start, we didnt even know if it was going to happen at all, but, when it did, it didnt take long for another red-flag for acquaplanning.

After that, we wainted for about 1 hour, and finally decided it was best to leave the circuit and go back to the hotel. Partying hard the night before (we got back at 6 am!) was now taking its toll big time. So, we finished watching the qualies from the hotel room!

It was great to see that RB would start from pole, it promised to be a great race!

(back with Sunday's part a bit later)

Nice report. Look forward to PT2.

Grandstand A looks to be a great place to watch from. How much were the tickets?

+1 Thanks for sharing.

The A is my favourite, and for about US380,00 its the 2nd best price (the "cheap" seats are the G, for US$200,00).

Half of our group went for the Senna S stands, for about US$1,350, a bit too pricey for me.

Think that works just a bit more than I paid for my seat at Stowe for the BGP. You must have some rich mates.

IT guys, some are top execs at IBM and CA.

Sunday

Woke-up at 5am That’s what it takes to get a decent seat @ A. It was still dark, and, guess what? Raining heavily!
Since we had only 3hours sleep, it was VERY difficult to be convinced to wake-up and go. The only thing that made me actually do it was Rubinho’s pole!
When we were having breakfast, the rain eased, and we decided to take the cab. When we arrived at the circuit the sun was already out and it was obvious we would have a dry morning at least!
The queue was not long, and in 15mins we were inside and seated in my fave spot, under a tree, right in the middle of the stand.

At 9 am we had support races (F3 Sudam, Porshe Light and Porshe Cup) and also a Porshe Ride (for about $400,00/lap!).


Yuppies and their toys.


Drivers parading the track (while I listened to their live interviews in my radio).

The driver parade and the warm-up (installation laps) were good to prepare us for what was coming-up. By that time (around 13:30) I had about half-dozen beers, but the adrenaline of the start made me sober like I had only drank coffee!


Pace car


Lewis before the race


Go Rubinho!

As for the race, oh well, the first lap was mayhem and rest was very eventful (that’s why I don’t have any pics from the race itself, I prefer to watch it!)

At the end of the day, we were happy with the result. Everybody applauded Jenson for his WDC, event though it meant yet another “almost” for Rubinho. Some people, who probably don’t know shit about racing, started to leave the track before the race was over, when Rubinho pitted for the punctured tire, but the great majority stayed to see yet another Englishman crowned WDC in Interlagos.

We left the track at about 4pm, and after a quick stop at Burger King we were headed to the airport to take the 2hour flight home. I was completely wasted but happy to be there to witness yet another great battle for F1 glory!

Are you not allocated a seat number when you book a grandstand seat?

At Silverstone if your booked into a grandstand then you also have a seat number, so no need to rush. The only problem is that you can't pick where in the stand you will be when you are booking.

In Australia you get an allocated seat as well - and you can book the seat you want when booking

Wow! That hill looks way steep which TV can't show.

They've tried it, didn't work.
There might even be a law about it somewhere, but good luck with that.

Yes, there are numbers painted in the floor, but no one uses them. There's no allocated seat in any grandstand (event the pricey ones), so the only option is to get there really early. Two of our friends got there late, and, as we had saved their seats, we were royally payed in beer rounds and food for our "service".

Law about it?. Do you mean in Brazil they are legally not allowed to allocate a seat?

That's rough.

One of the great pleasures of having a grandstand seat is watching the GA (General Access) areas start to fill up at around 5 or 6 am, and being able to go back to sleep for a few hours.

No offense intended Molive. Love the pics and wish I was there.

pictures from a friend:

streets around the track:


FP3:



Sunday's Porsche race:



Emerson:


Massa:


The champ:



The winner:


Rubens:


Podium:

"Go Rubinho!.....Oooooops, sorry Jenson ... "

So that's why some people were giving RB the "salute"?

Every stadium, concert hall, etc, must have numbered seats. Its called the Statute of the Fan (or something like that), but looks like it doesnt apply (or is ignored by) to autodromes.

Maybe mate....they don't know that Jenson has a red T bar and Rubens has a yellow one. Or, maybe they did.

Never heard of anything like that here. For most events seats are allocated if for no other reason than to preserve good order.

Its actually very civilized (as in, most people respect who got there early).

One of the many "songs" people sing on the stands goes like this: "sleeped till laaate? had a nice breakfaaaast? now enjoy staaanding-uuuup..."

Nice pics mate, even in the rain it looks like it would have rocked.

Nice shots!

Ya know...THIS is the kind of thread I look forward to...
It makes up for the thousands of What time will Kimi blow his nose on Tuesday topics
Well done Molive and dutra.
Jp

Thanks Molive (and Dutra) it's always nice to see someone's GP pics and read about their experiences over the weekend

Some more:



"Kangaroo TV"

This was a gadget that one could rent to watch the race, it had many different cameras, including onboard, live timing, etc. I dunno the price, though, as it didn't interest me (as I said before, I dont even take pics during the race, so absorbed I get... )


No comments about this one...

Think it was about £70 at Silverstone, bit cheaper if you ordered in advance, not sure what the equates to for you. I don't bother with them, I've paid enough to see the cars on track, I'm not going to pay again to watch them on a tiny screen.

Exactly!

KangarooTV is great for endurance events like the Le Mans 24h when you are moving around and not watching the action all the time but I wouldn't bother again with one of them at a GP.

Guys, thanks for sharing the pictures and your experiences!

Excellent thread, keep the fan experiences coming!

Lewis on the big screen, ready to leave pits during wet qualifying.



Posing for the photoguy.


A bit about São Paulo:

Many people say it is a dangerous city. Heck, its a BIG city, and they all are "dangerous" places. I've been to SP many times, and never witnessed anything. I guess one has to have the luck to be in the right place at the right time (or vice-versa).

All I know is we had a GREAT time once again, the city simply never sleeps and gives you a bit of everything to choose.

One of the best music clubs of SP I know: Bourbon Street. If anyone happen to be in SP one of these days, this is molive's tip for a good night out.

Go on then...The suspense is eating me up..
PM me the "middle part"

Jp

PM Received...

Nice....
That's a hell of a lot better than that crappy,overrated Amber Lounge!!!
Jp

Now I want to know. PM me as well please.

I bet it is.

hmm Amber Lounge is OK with the right access, so I'm very curious about your "middle part" Molive.
pm dude

edit: it's all very much clearer now, thanks molive

Interlagos Been there twice to watch the GP (last was 05) and I can tell you its one of the best places for some "off track" fun.

Here's a website with many great pictures of the race.

Intelagos
Nice pics.
Hope to Intelagos one day!

PM please!!!