Successful F1 countries, Part Two: Brazil

Welcome to part two of the Successful F1 Countries series.

Part One was based on Great Britain and now we will be focusing on the country of Brazil, looking at its history in F1, popular drivers and circuits which have held the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Part Three will look at the country of Germany. 

History

Like Great Britain, Brazil has been deeply involved in F1 pretty much from the start of the championships. In 1951, the first Brazilian F1 driver (Chico Landi) took part in one race and retired. He wasn’t very successful and only scored 1.5 points in his whole career.

A Brazilian Grand Prix wasn’t on the Formula One World Championship calendar until 1973, but the country have held some exciting races since then, the most recent obviously being the epic 2007 championship decider.

Did you know that the Interlagos race circuit is actually named after late Brazilian F1 driver Jose Carlos Pace?

The Brazilians treat F1 very dearly and is a very popular sport in Brazil (after Football, of course), probably because of the emotional attachment to the great Ayrton Senna.

Drivers

In part one of this series, we looked through the drivers chronologically. This time around, we will look at the most popular and indeed the best Brazilian drivers first.

We start with one of the elites and some consider him the greatest of all time: Ayrton Senna.

Senna won three championships during his 10-year career in Formula One.  He electrified the world of F1 and became an international superstar. He is remembered for his wet weather driving and his amazing qualifying skills.

Senna entered F1 in 1984 and drove for Toleman. He achieved three podiums in his first year and almost won the Monaco Grand Prix, but the race was stopped for safety reasons.

After a three-year spell at Lotus, Senna went on to drive for McLaren, the team that would assist him in becoming an ultimate driver and triple world champion.

Did you know that Senna was suspended by Toleman for the 1984 Italian Grand Prix because he broke the contract and signed for Lotus?

1988 proved to be a complete McLaren whitewash. Senna was partnered by double world champion Alain Prost for the season and the pair won 15 of the 16 races that season. Senna eventually took his maiden title.

Senna continued to race with McLaren until 1994. He won 35 races from 46 poles. Senna performed extremely well at the Monaco Grand Prix and holds the record for number of wins at the principality.

It is impossible to cover all of Senna’s greatest moments, but 41 wins from 161 starts, eight consecutive pole positions, 610 career points and 19 fastest laps say a lot about the Brazilian.

His death in 1994 not only bought Formula One to a standstill, but the whole world also. Senna was on pole for the San Marino Grand Prix and led the Grand Prix until he smashed into a concrete wall at an estimated 135 mph. Many attended his funeral.

Did you know that Frank Williams was charged with manslaughter after Senna’s death? Williams was cleared of the charges eventually.

The next driver we concentrate on is Nelson Piquet Senior, who is also a triple world champion.

After a slow start in Formula One; Piquet won the title in 1981. Piquet then took the title again in 1983, becoming the first man to win a championship in a turbo powered car.

Piquet moved to Williams to partner Nigel Mansell. The pair had the fiercest team mate war the sport has probably ever seen (Yes, it was worse than Hamilton and Alonso).

The two best drivers in the sport were in the same team and naturally, both went on a title hunt.  The two began to deprive each other of points and this allowed Frenchman Alain Prost to snatch the title in a slower car (much like Raikkonen in 2007, except it is debatable whether Raikkonen had the fastest car).

Did you know that Piquet called Mansell’s wife ugly just so he could start a fight with the Brit?!

Piquet stayed with Williams in 1987 and took his final title before moving on to Lotus for more money.

Piquet is very underrated for a triple world champion and also very underrated when it comes to his kung fu skills... who can forget the track side scrap with Eliseo Salazar at Hockenheim.

Other Brazilian drivers worth noting are Emerson Fittipaldi, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa.

Fittipaldi was the first Brazilian world champion and won two world titles. He won in the JPS Lotus 72 in 1972 to become the youngest world champion.

He won his home Grand Prix twice and after winning a second world title Fittipaldi joined his brother’s Copersucar-Fittipaldi manufacturer. His best result was a second-place finish.

Rubens Barrichello: the most experienced Formula One driver.

Barrichello has had a fairly successful career but many wonder what could have been had team orders not restricted Rubens. He scored enough points in 2002 to win a world championship, but Schumacher was too far ahead.

He won his first Grand Prix after seven years in the sport and his greatest moment has to be at the Italian Grand Prix in 2002, winning in a Ferrari at Monza.

Still competing, Rubens scored a podium at the British Grand Prix earlier in the year.

Last but not least; Felipe Massa.

Massa is challenging for the 2008 world championship and therefore carrying the hopes of the Brazilian fans solely on his shoulders.

Massa has already scored three wins this season, and he should have won earlier today.

He has come on a lot, learning to cut out the mistakes and is currently leading the Ferrari charge. His win at Interlagos in 2006 was the first time a Brazilian has won the race since Senna in 1993.

Did you know that Bernie Ecclestone predicted that Felipe Massa would win the 2007 championship?

Circuits

The first Brazilian Grand Prix took part in 1973 and Emerson Fittipaldi won the inaugural race.

The Grand Prix has been held annually since 1973 and Interlagos had held the event along with Jacarepaguá.

Did you know that the official name for Jacarepaguá is "Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet"?

Interlagos is one of few circuits that are anti-clockwise. The track has been modified three times since 1973 and the original layout of the circuit was a mammoth 7960km long!

The circuit received criticism as the long straights allowed cars to go flat out for almost 20 seconds and this was considered to be unsafe.

Interlagos has held many eventful races. 2007 was obviously an exciting race because of the championship standings and also the 2006 event was exciting also with Michael Schumacher putting in one of his best ever performances.

Did you know that a stray dog wandered onto the Interlagos track during a practice session at the 2004 Grand Prix? Luckily, the dog wasn't injured.

Jacarepaguá is situated near Rio de Janeiro and has staged the Brazilian Grand Prix 10 times.

Alain Prost won the race at Jacarepaguá a record five times, and Mansell won the last race held there in 1989.

Did you know that the Jacarepaguá circuit is being demolished to build an Olympic Training Centre for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic bid?

Well that concludes part two! Part three will revolve around Germany and will be on Bleacher by Aug. 5.