São Paulo Grand Prix Secured Until 2035 as Formula 1 Extends Its Stay at Interlagos

Formula 1 will keep racing in Brazil until at least 2035. The sport announced a new five-year extension for the São Paulo Grand Prix on Saturday, 7 November 2026, securing the future of one of the most famous circuits in motorsport.

The deal was confirmed during the São Paulo Grand Prix weekend at Interlagos, the historic track in São Paulo that has hosted Formula 1 for more than five decades. It means fans can look forward to at least nine more races at the circuit, from 2027 through 2035.

For a track that has decided six world championships and produced some of the most dramatic races in the sport’s history, the news removes any doubt about its place on the calendar. Interlagos is staying — and Formula 1 says it plans to keep investing in it.

What the new deal means

Formula 1 announced the extension on Saturday, confirming that the São Paulo Grand Prix will remain on the calendar until at least 2035 inclusive.

The agreement adds five years to the previous deal, which was signed in 2023 and ran until 2030. In other words, Brazil’s race has now been locked in for another decade.

The circuit, officially called the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, is named after the Brazilian driver who won his home race in 1975. Most fans still call it by its older name, Interlagos, which means “between the lakes” in Portuguese.

The new deal also reflects a promise of continued investment. Formula 1 said significant investment at Interlagos will continue, so the circuit can keep delivering what it called a “world-class spectacle”. The mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, said the stability will allow the track to keep improving its facilities and infrastructure.

“The renewal of the Formula 1 contract for a further five years is a very significant achievement for São Paulo,” Nunes said.

Stefano Domenicali, the president and chief executive of Formula 1, welcomed the deal in similar terms.

“Brazil is an important part of Formula 1’s history and our future, and I am delighted that this five-year extension will see us continue racing in São Paulo until 2035,” Domenicali said.

Next season’s race is already on the calendar. The 2027 São Paulo Grand Prix will take place from 5 to 7 November.

The deal in numbers

• 2035: the year the new contract runs until, inclusive.
• Five years: the length of the extension, on top of the previous deal that ran to 2030.
• 1973: the year Brazil first hosted a Formula 1 World Championship race.
• 43: the number of races Interlagos has hosted.
• 4.309 kilometres: the length of one lap of the circuit.
• 15: the number of corners on the track.
• Six: the number of Drivers’ World Championships decided at Interlagos.
• 5–7 November 2027: the dates of next year’s São Paulo Grand Prix.

Why Interlagos matters so much

Some circuits are famous because they are fast. Others are famous because they are beautiful. Interlagos is famous because it produces drama.

The track is short, at just 4.309 kilometres, with 15 corners and a layout that climbs and falls across the São Paulo hills. It runs anti-clockwise, which is unusual, and it sits around 800 metres above sea level, where the thinner air makes life harder for both engines and drivers.

But the real reason Interlagos matters is its history. Brazil has been a constant on the Formula 1 calendar since 1973. Races were also held in Rio de Janeiro, at the Jacarepaguá circuit, which hosted 10 rounds. But since 1990, Interlagos has been the permanent home of the Brazilian race, missing only the 2020 season, when the Covid pandemic forced its cancellation.

Few circuits can match what has happened there. Six world championships have been decided at Interlagos, and five Brazilian drivers have won their home race in front of their own fans.

Six championships decided in São Paulo

Interlagos has a habit of settling the biggest prize in the sport in front of a roaring crowd.

Fernando Alonso won his first two world titles there, in 2005 and 2006, both times with Renault. Kimi Räikkönen won his only championship at Interlagos in 2007, driving for Ferrari in a three-way fight that went down to the final race. Lewis Hamilton won his first title there in 2008, passing Timo Glock on the very last corner of the very last lap to take the crown by a single point. Jenson Button sealed his championship at the track in 2009, and Sebastian Vettel did the same in 2012.

That is six title deciders in all — more than almost any other circuit on the calendar. It is a big part of why Formula 1 wanted the deal done.

The 2008 finish is still talked about today. Hamilton needed fifth place to win the title, and as the rain fell in the closing laps, he dropped to sixth. Then, on the final corner of the race, he passed Glock’s Toyota, which was struggling on dry tyres in the wet. Hamilton finished fifth, won the championship by one point over Felipe Massa, and Massa’s family was already celebrating in the Ferrari garage, believing the title was theirs.

A year earlier, in 2007, the championship had also gone to the wire. Three drivers arrived at Interlagos still able to win the title: Hamilton, Alonso and Räikkönen. Räikkönen won the race, and with it the championship, by a single point.

Brazil’s home heroes

For Brazilian fans, Interlagos is more than a race track. It is where their heroes raced in front of them.

Five Brazilian drivers have won their home Grand Prix. Emerson Fittipaldi won in 1973 and 1974, the first two Brazilian Grands Prix at Interlagos. Nelson Piquet won in 1983. Ayrton Senna, the country’s greatest sporting hero, won in 1991 and 1993. Felipe Massa won in 2006 and 2008, and Rubens Barrichello won in 2009.

Senna’s 1991 win is the most famous of them all. He led the race from the start, but in the closing laps his gearbox began to fail, leaving him stuck in sixth gear. He held on to win by less than three seconds, then could barely lift the trophy on the podium because his arms were in so much pain. The crowd’s reaction that day is still remembered as one of the great moments in the sport.

Senna won again in 1993, in the rain, in what many regard as one of his finest drives. He started third, dropped back, fought through the field and took the lead in the closing laps.

Brazil has not had a driver on the Formula 1 grid in recent years, but the passion of the Interlagos crowd has never faded. The fans fill the grandstands, wave flags and sing, and the atmosphere is often described as the best of the season. That is one reason the sport was so keen to secure the race for another decade.

A long-term calendar takes shape

The São Paulo extension is part of a wider trend in Formula 1. The sport is locking in its most popular races on long contracts, giving organisers, cities and fans certainty about the future.

Brazil now joins Australia, Bahrain, Miami, Canada, Monaco, Austria and Las Vegas among the races with contracts that run until 2035 or later. Only a small number of races, including Singapore, Mexico and Portugal, whose deals run to 2028, and Japan, whose deal runs to 2029, are due to expire before the end of the decade.

For the city of São Paulo, the deal matters beyond sport. A Grand Prix brings tens of thousands of visitors, fills hotels and restaurants, and puts the city on television screens around the world. The race weekend is one of the biggest events of the year in Brazil’s largest city.

The long contract also gives the circuit time to plan. With the race secure until 2035, the organisers can invest in the facilities, the grandstands and the areas around the track, knowing the race will still be there to make the spending worthwhile.

The 2026 season: a new champion arrives in Brazil

This year’s São Paulo Grand Prix, held from 6 to 8 November, arrives just a week after one of the biggest moments in recent Formula 1 history.

On Sunday, 1 November, Kimi Antonelli became the youngest world champion in the sport’s history. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver finished third in the Mexico City Grand Prix, which was enough to seal the title with four races still to go.

Antonelli, who was born in Bologna, Italy, on 25 August 2006, won the championship at 20 years and 68 days old. He beat the previous record held by Sebastian Vettel, who won his first title in 2010 at 23 years and 134 days. Antonelli is the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, ending a 73-year wait.

He clinched the title in only his second season in Formula 1, after replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025. Hamilton, meanwhile, now drives for Ferrari and finished second in Mexico, behind race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

At the time of the title, Antonelli had nine wins, seven pole positions and 16 podium finishes from the season, with 380 points — 119 more than Verstappen, who could no longer catch him.

The drivers’ championship may be settled, but the constructors’ championship — the prize for the best team — is still to be decided. Mercedes leads Ferrari by 127 points heading into the final races of the season, with Red Bull further back in third.

That means the São Paulo weekend still has plenty at stake, even with the drivers’ title already won. And the new contract means the young champion will have many more chances to race at Interlagos in the years ahead.

What happens next

The 2026 São Paulo Grand Prix continues this weekend, with the main race on Sunday, 8 November. After that, the season heads into its final races before the championship comes to an end.

Looking further ahead, the 2027 São Paulo Grand Prix is already confirmed for 5 to 7 November 2027. With the new deal in place, the race is now secure through to 2035, giving Formula 1, the city of São Paulo and the fans a decade of certainty.

For Interlagos, the extension is a reward for more than 50 years of history. The circuit has seen title deciders, home wins, rain-soaked drama and some of the most famous moments the sport has ever produced. Formula 1 has now made sure there will be many more.

Frequently asked questions

Until when will Formula 1 race at Interlagos?

The São Paulo Grand Prix will stay on the Formula 1 calendar until at least 2035, after a new five-year extension announced on 7 November 2026.

When is the next São Paulo Grand Prix?

The 2027 race will take place from 5 to 7 November 2027 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos.

How long has Formula 1 raced in Brazil?

Brazil has hosted a Formula 1 World Championship race since 1973. Interlagos has been the permanent home of the race since 1990, missing only the 2020 season because of the Covid pandemic.

How many world championships have been decided at Interlagos?

Six. Fernando Alonso won there in 2005 and 2006, Kimi Räikkönen in 2007, Lewis Hamilton in 2008, Jenson Button in 2009 and Sebastian Vettel in 2012.

Who won the 2026 Formula 1 world championship?

Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, who clinched the title on 1 November 2026 in Mexico City at the age of 20, becoming the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history.

Conclusion

The São Paulo Grand Prix is one of Formula 1’s great races, at one of its great circuits. The new deal until 2035 keeps it that way.

Interlagos has given the sport title deciders, home heroes and moments that fans still talk about decades later. The extension means it will keep doing so for at least another nine seasons, starting with the 2027 race on 5 to 7 November.

For Formula 1, the deal secures a race that sells out, a crowd that is famous around the world, and a circuit with more history than almost any other. For Brazil, it keeps one of the country’s biggest sporting events at home for another decade. And for the fans in the grandstands at Interlagos, it means the noise, the flags and the drama will be back, year after year, until at least 2035.

Sources

• Formula 1 (official), “Formula 1 to race in Brazil through 2035 inclusive following a new five-year extension”, 7 November 2026: https://corp.formula1.com/formula-1-to-race-in-brazil-through-2035-inclusive-following-a-new-five-year-extension/
• RACER, “Sao Paulo extends grand prix deal to 2035”, 7 November 2026: https://racer.com/2026/11/07/sao-paulo-extends-grand-prix-deal-to-2035
• Sportsnet, “Formula 1 announces five-year contract extension with Sao Paulo GP”, 7 November 2026: https://www.sportsnet.ca/formula-1/article/formula-1-announces-five-year-contract-extension-with-sao-paulo-gp/
• Williams F1, “São Paulo secures Grand Prix through to 2035”, 7 November 2026: https://www.williamsf1.com/articles/c8c1ad99-84ad-4942-b117-b433d444b68e/sao-paulo-secures-grand-prix-through-to-2035
• Speedcafe, “Brazil locks in F1 race until 2035”, 7 November 2026: https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2026-sao-paulo-brazil-brazilian-grand-prix-contract-extension-how-long-for-2035-when-interlagos-extended/
• Formula 1 (official), “Kimi Antonelli crowned youngest F1 champion as Max Verstappen wins eventful Mexico City Grand Prix”, 1 November 2026: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-crowned-youngest-ever-f1-champion-as-verstappen-wins-eventful-mexico-city-grand-prix.xpMMeef0KmRURs9IDs3LH
• ESPN, “Kimi Antonelli crowned youngest F1 world champion in history”, 1 November 2026: https://www.espn.ph/f1/story/_/id/50250037/kimi-antonelli-youngest-f1-world-champion-2026-mexico-city-grand-prix

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.