Brazilian F1 Grand Prix 2015: Start Time, Drivers, TV Schedule and More
After the unfamiliar surroundings of Mexico a fortnight ago, the Formula One roadshow heads to the iconic Brazilian Grand Prix for the penultimate race of the season.
It’s a venue that has been rife with drama down the years, and while there’ll be no world-title tussle, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton already wrapping up that honour, it’s a track that’s produced some thrilling races in its time. Expect Sunday’s showdown to be no different when the lights go out.
Here are the 20 drivers that’ll line up at Interlagos, all the key viewing details ahead of the race and a look at how things are likely to pan out.
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| Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton | Nico Rosberg |
| Red Bull | Daniel Ricciardo | Daniil Kvyat |
| Ferrari | Sebastian Vettel | Kimi Raikkonen |
| Lotus | Pastor Maldonado | Romain Grosjean |
| McLaren | Fernando Alonso | Jenson Button |
| Force India | Nico Hulkenberg | Sergio Perez |
| Sauber | Marcus Ericsson | Felipe Nasr |
| Toro Rosso | Max Verstappen | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
| Williams | Valtteri Bottas | Felipe Massa |
| Manor | Will Stevens | Alexander Rossi |
Race starts at 4 p.m. GMT, 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 15.
The action will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 (UK) and NBC Sports (US).
Rosberg Looking to Finish with a Flourish
The Brazilian Grand Prix is hosted at a unique, aesthetic circuit. With towering mountains on the horizon, ominous clouds rumbling down from the peaks and various sections of sweeping curves on the track, Interlagos is the race so many of the drivers look forward to on the calendar more than any other.
Nico Rosberg, despite not putting up a challenge for the world championship this season, is coming into this one on a high. The German was impressive throughout the whole weekend in Mexico and didn’t put a foot wrong on race day. After winning this race in 2014, the Mercedes man will also have fond memories of Interlagos.
As we can see here, Rosberg has been getting better acquainted with this tremendous track outside of the car:
Hamilton may have enjoyed the proudest moment of his career at this venue back in 2008, dramatically overtaking Timo Glock in the final stages of the race to take the world title that year. But despite his recent successes, he’s never taken the chequered flag to win at Interlagos.
Having dominated throughout the season, it’s something that Hamilton will be hoping to put right this time. And after some scintillating pace shown in the first two practice sessions, there are certainly some positive signs. It’s qualifying which has been an issue for the Brit recently, though, with Rosberg starting on pole for the last four races.
“I'm not worried about that run,” revealed Hamilton in his BBC Sport column. “I don't see it as a pattern; it's just the way things have worked out at the individual races. I've had a great run in qualifying this year, and you can't get it right all the time. It's no big deal. Having said that, of course, qualifying is important, and naturally, I want to get pole this weekend at Interlagos.”
It’s not been an ideal time for Hamilton, despite his recent world-title triumph. The Brit revealed that “heavy partying” was the reason for him crashing his £1.5m Pagani Zonda in Monte Carlo recently, per Hamish Mackay of the Daily Mirror. While he’ll be keen to enjoy his latest victory, it’s important he preserves a professional attitude—until the racing is done, at least.
However, it seems as though he’s intent to perform well this weekend, revealing a new helmet design in tribute to his hero growing up, the late Ayrton Senna:
"Tribute. #AyrtonSenna #BrazilGP #TeamLH #BellHelmets @BellRacingEU pic.twitter.com/5jXQt2JN1C
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 13, 2015"
The race for second place in the standings remains ongoing, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set to do his utmost to close the gap to Rosberg. The German is one of only two men, the other being home-crowd favourite Felipe Massa, to have triumphed twice at this circuit, and that experience will play a key part come race day.
Massa, as we can see here courtesy of the Formula One Twitter feed, seems to be inspired by the support of his compatriots when he takes to this track:
Indeed, it’s a venue the Williams man knows well, and although Ferrari have been consistently second to Mercedes this year, expect Massa’s Interlagos know-how to push him to another podium place on Sunday.
That’ll leave Rosberg and Hamilton to battle it out for the top spots as usual. Heading into the weekend, it’s the former who seems best placed to triumph, as he’s emitted the aura of a driver who is focused and keen to lay down some markers for next season. Hamilton, by contrast, has had a lot on his plate in the build-up and always seems to toil in Brazil.
Prediction: 1. Rosberg, 2. Hamilton, 3. Massa
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