Motor racing in Brazil began before World War II. Events were held on the 11.161 km Gávea street circuit in Rio de Janeiro from 1934, and Brazil continued to stage races during the early years of the war. Brazil's first permanent autodrome was constructed in the Interlagos neighbourhood of São Paulo — its layout inspired by the Roosevelt Raceway in the United States — and completed in 1940. The circuit quickly earned a reputation for its demands: multiple challenging corners, elevation changes, a rough surface, and little margin for error.
The inaugural championship-status Brazilian Grand Prix in 1973 was won by Emerson Fittipaldi, the defending world champion and a native of São Paulo. Fittipaldi won again in 1974 in wet conditions, and in 1975 his compatriot Carlos Pace won at Interlagos in a Brabham — the victory for which the circuit was later named. Reutemann won in 1977 but growing driver complaints about the track surface prompted the race to shift venues.
From 1978 the race moved to the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro. Argentine Carlos Reutemann dominated the 1978 event in his Ferrari on Michelin tyres, delivering the French manufacturer its first Formula One victory. Jacarepaguá's long, fast corners and abrasive surface under Brazilian summer heat and humidity made it one of the most physically demanding races on the calendar. Many winners crossed the finish line visibly exhausted. Riccardo Patrese retired from the 1982 race through physical exhaustion alone — a rare occurrence in modern Formula One.
Nelson Piquet, a Rio native who emerged as a leading force from 1980 onwards, won at Jacarepaguá in 1983 and 1986. The 1982 race produced a notable controversy: Piquet and Keke Rosberg finished first and second but were disqualified in post-race scrutineering for being below minimum weight, handing victory to third-placed Alain Prost. Prost went on to win at Jacarepaguá five times in total, earning the nickname "the King of Rio." The 1988 race saw Ayrton Senna start from the pit lane in his first race for McLaren and charge through to second before disqualification for switching to his spare car after the parade lap. The final Jacarepaguá event in 1989 was won by Nigel Mansell in a Ferrari — the first Formula One victory for a car with a semi-automatic gearbox.
Driven in large part by the global profile of Ayrton Senna, São Paulo city officials invested $15 million in reshaping and resurfacing Interlagos. The shortened, reconfigured circuit hosted the race from 1990 onwards. Prost won the first edition at the new layout, his sixth Brazilian victory and the 40th of his career. The following year Senna won his first Brazilian Grand Prix in an emotionally charged race: his McLaren's gearbox had deteriorated to a single ratio by the closing laps, yet he held on to win before having to be lifted from the car by his mechanics, barely able to raise the trophy on the podium.
The Brazilian Grand Prix has hosted an exceptional number of title-deciding moments. In 2005 Fernando Alonso clinched the championship — becoming the youngest world champion at the time — with a third-place finish behind Juan Pablo Montoya. In the 2007 edition Kimi Räikkönen won both the race and the Drivers' title by a single point over Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. In 2008 Hamilton secured the championship on the final lap of the final corner, overtaking Timo Glock — who had stayed out on dry tyres in a late rain shower — to claim the fifth-place finish he needed. Jenson Button's 2009 title came in equally controlled fashion, a fifth from fourteenth on the grid enough to seal the championship for Brawn GP.
The 2003 event stands as one of the most chaotic in Formula One history. Heavy rain, multiple spins, and the exclusion of several front-runners culminated in a red flag that confused the result. Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella was initially classified runner-up behind Kimi Räikkönen under the rule awarding victory based on the order two laps before the stoppage, but an FIA Court of Appeal subsequently overturned the decision after new evidence confirmed Fisichella had crossed the line in the lead before the accident that triggered the flag — giving him his maiden win days after the event.
The 2024 race under a renamed São Paulo Grand Prix banner produced another extraordinary result. Max Verstappen, starting seventeenth after a grid penalty for a new engine component, navigated treacherous wet-dry conditions to win by nineteen seconds — the first victory from that grid position since Räikkönen won the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix from the same slot. The drive was widely described by fellow competitors and journalists as a masterclass and cemented Verstappen's path to a fourth consecutive Drivers' Championship.
Alain Prost holds the record for Brazilian Grand Prix victories with six wins. Carlos Reutemann and Michael Schumacher have each won four times. Five Brazilian drivers have won their home race: Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, and Felipe Massa each won twice, while Carlos Pace won once. The event's current contract at Interlagos runs through 2030.
The 2020 race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting from 2021, the event was renamed the São Paulo Grand Prix. Proposals to relocate the race to a new circuit in Rio de Janeiro — advanced by President Jair Bolsonaro — were rejected by Formula One's commercial leadership and subsequently abandoned by Rio's mayor Eduardo Paes.