Last year it was announced that the Brazilian Grand Prix would be moved. The race has been held at the excellent Interlagos track in Sao Paulo since 1990.
Written By Ian Bruce, Edited By Umut Yelbaşı
Environmentalists, fans and drivers alike were quick to come out against such a move, as it would entail the removal of a part of a native forest. The circuit was slated to be based in the Cambotta Forest in the Deodoro area of Rio and was initially backed by Brazilian President Jair Balsonaro. Lewis Hamilton was quoted at the time saying “I heard it is potentially going to be a sustainable race, but the most sustainable thing to do is not tear down any trees”.
With such a large objection to the planned project, F1 itself, agreed to keep the Brazilian GP where it was. This has led to the cancellation of the project by Rio’s environmental secretary Eduardo Cavaliere, stating “We are officially giving up on the construction of Rio International Circuit”.
With the 2020 Brazilian GP being cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic, we will finally get to see a race in Brazil this year on 7th November. From this year it will be renamed the ‘São Paulo GP’.
It is good to see that F1’s bosses have listened to the fans on this subject. It remains to see if either the fans or the F1 bosses will be able to change their minds on other new tracks too.