Formula 1 drivers voiced their complaints about the bumpy track surface of the Interlagos Circuit during the São Paulo Grand Prix. Several drivers now urge the operators to improve the new surface ahead of the next year‘s race.
The track underwent a major resurface operation. The full track was re-laid with new asphalt ahead of this season‘s race. However, the surface made the track more bumpy, which was uncomfortable for the drivers. World champion Max Verstappen complained about „jumping around“ so much that it cost him „quite a bit of lap time“ during the sprint qualifying on Friday afternoon.
Following Sunday‘s Grand Prix, the Dutchman went a bit deeper into the issues. He explained that the car was undriveable in certain areas of Interlagos.
“It was still very bad,” said the Red Bull driver after the race. “In some places you could not even drive because you would bottom out quite heavily, even in the wet. So definitely something needs to be done for next year to make it better.”
He added. “I know a lot of people put a lot of effort in it, it’s not to talk bad about the people, I know they always try to do the best they can to put the surface down, but for the cars that we are running currently, it’s definitely too bumpy. Something needs to be done about it.”
Surprising second-placed finisher Esteban Ocon sees one good aspect on the track surface at Interlagos: “I think the grip is actually very good“.
But he agrees on the fact that the track needs to be improved. Additionally the Alpine driver says that the current generation cars are part of the problem.
“It’s just some bumps that we run with these cars – probably if we were back in 2021 or 2020, it would have been fine – but these cars run super-low and all the hit is basically straight into the chassis, so there’s no suspension in there. It’s much better than it was in terms of grip, but just the bumps needs to be improved.”
Sprint winner and championship contender Lando Norris also had his take on the topic. He agreed that the nature of the current cars play their part in this issue. He believes tracks like Interlagos need to be changed in order to suit the cars necessities.
“I don’t know how the tracks are made exactly but in how the cars are forced to be made nowadays every driver on the grid has complained,” he said. “The cars we had a few years ago, you could get away with more of these things and you noticed it a lot less.
“The cars are made to be low. That is the regulation. The teams have to make them like that and therefore, other things have to change around it. One of those things is the tracks, because how it was [in practice] especially, made things pretty difficult for everyone.
“The FIA know and they’re not happy with it either,” the McLaren driver added. “I know that they want to improve things for the future, and they work with us to try and do that.”
After the Brazilian GP, Formula 1 entered a three-week break ahead of the last three races, which form a triple header. One last Sprint weekend is also included and will stage at the Qatar GP. Verstappen could win his fourth world championship at Las Vegas in the next round.
