Lewis Hamilton
“I m really looking forward to this year s Brazilian Grand Prix it will be the first time I ve travelled to Sao Paulo without being in contention for the world championship, and I m actually looking forward to taking in a bit more of the city and relaxing and enjoying the experience of driving on one of the world s greatest racetracks.
“My highlights are Turn One, braking into the long left-hander which bends right and takes you out onto the back straight; Ferra Dura, which is a fast right-hander where you body is squeezed hard into the side of the car, and the main straight: you accelerate hard uphill and you can even hear the crowd and the Brazilian drums playing in the grandstands.
“One of the greatest things about racing at Interlagos is the crowd. There s such a great atmosphere; the fans have so much energy and life. It s a party while you re working, and it s great to see everyone happy.â€
Heikki Kovalainen
“The Interlagos circuit is quite a challenging one for the drivers because it s anti-clockwise, which, after a season of racing on clockwise circuits, puts quite a strain on your neck muscles. But you quickly forget that once you get out on the circuit it s an incredible racetrack, really demanding but very satisfying when you get a lap right.
“Interlagos hasn t traditionally been a circuit where we have excelled, but we feel that we ve resolved quite a few of the issues that affected us at this race last year, and using KERS Hybrid particularly up that long hill out of the final corner should be a considerable benefit both in qualifying and the race.â€
Robert Kubica:
“Brazil was the season finale in the past years. With Abu Dhabi new on the calendar, the situation is different this year. The Interlagos track is very nice to drive. Especially sector 1 with the first three corners is quite challenging. Turn 1 is blind and therefore it is difficult to find the ideal braking point there. The final sector goes up a huge hill and consists of a couple of left turns.
“In Brazil we drive anti-clockwise, which is physically quite tough as we are used to driving the other way round. If it rains in Interlagos, driving will be very tricky as there is lots of standing water on the track. So I m hoping for good weather.â€
Nick Heidfeld:
“Interlagos is a fantastic and very challenging track. Because you drive it in an anti-clockwise direction, it puts a real strain on your neck muscles. The circuit used to be full of horrible bumps. Having it resurfaced before the 2007 Grand Prix made a huge difference, but by 2008 the track wasn t as good. I ll be interested to see what kind of condition it is in now.
“In the last two years we had some exciting championship deciders there, with the weather always ready to tip the scales. There could be a repeat in 2009, even though Brazil isn t the final race this time.
“I m in two minds about São Paulo. The churrascarias are really special, and I guess the city has a great deal to offer. On the other hand you hear about all these muggings year after year, which puts you off any major excursions. I m looking forward to seeing Felipe (Massa) in the paddock again.â€
