Construction of the Interlagos circuit began in 1938 on land originally purchased in 1926 by property developers who intended to build housing. After difficulties brought on partly by the 1929 stock market crash, the decision was made to build a racing circuit instead. The site in what was then the Interlagos neighborhood — located between the Guarapiranga and Billings reservoirs that supply São Paulo with water and power — gave the circuit its name, a Portuguese construction meaning "between lakes." The name "Interlagos" was suggested by French architect and urban planner Alfred Agache, inspired by the Interlaken region of Switzerland.
The track's design drew inspiration from American circuits including Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Roosevelt Raceway, as well as Brooklands in England and Montlhéry in France. Unlike the flat, purpose-built facilities that inspired it, however, Interlagos was constructed over hilly terrain, giving it dramatic elevation changes and demanding blind crests that were unusual among permanent road circuits of the era.
Formula One first visited Interlagos in 1972 for a non-championship race won by Carlos Reutemann of Argentina. The circuit entered the World Championship calendar the following year, and the inaugural Brazilian Grand Prix in 1973 was won by Emerson Fittipaldi, the defending world champion and a native of São Paulo, giving the circuit an immediate and emotionally resonant start to its championship story. Fittipaldi won again in 1974, and in 1975 José Carlos Pace — a Brazilian Formula One driver and the man after whom the circuit would later be renamed — took his only Formula One victory on home soil.
The long circuit ran counterclockwise over a lap distance that demanded sustained high speed. The original layout contained sections of fast corners and long straights that allowed cars to maintain maximum speed for many seconds at a stretch, placing extreme demands on mechanical components and driver endurance. The hilly topography and predominantly counterclockwise direction meant centrifugal forces worked against the drivers' necks in an unusual direction, adding to the physical toll of a long race distance.
By the end of the 1970s, the original circuit's safety shortcomings had become increasingly difficult to overlook. The track surface was notoriously bumpy, described by BBC commentator Murray Walker as "appallingly bumpy." Barriers were inadequate by the standards the sport was moving toward, and deep ditches and embankments surrounded sections of the circuit with minimal run-off. These conditions were poorly suited to the ground-effect cars that dominated Formula One from the late 1970s, since those cars were particularly sensitive to bumps that could cause sudden losses of aerodynamic downforce.
The 1980 Brazilian Grand Prix came close to being cancelled outright following protests by a significant number of Formula One drivers, including reigning world champion Jody Scheckter, who objected to the state of the track. The race proceeded but Formula One did not return to Interlagos in 1981, transferring the Brazilian Grand Prix to the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro, the hometown of Nelson Piquet.
Formula One returned to Interlagos in 1990, but not to the original long circuit. The track was shortened and extensively modified at a cost of $15 million, producing the 4.325 km configuration that remains in use today. The reconstruction removed three long straight sections and nine fast corners, eliminating the defining characteristics of the original layout. Five corners were lost entirely; four were retained in slower, modified forms. The pit exit was extended along the Curva do Sol turn, a configuration that has been maintained in all subsequent revisions.
The shortened and resurfaced circuit has hosted the São Paulo Grand Prix continuously since 1990, with major upgrades to the pit lane, barriers, and surface carried out in 2007 and subsequent years. The original long layout, however, was never revived for Formula One and remains accessible only in historical records, archival footage, and motorsport simulations.
The original Interlagos circuit holds a distinctive place in Formula One history as a track widely agreed to have been faster and more demanding — and far more dangerous — than anything the sport would sanction in a later era. The dramatic results associated with Interlagos have continued under the shortened layout, but the eight Formula One grands prix held on the original 7.96 km configuration between 1973 and 1980 represent a distinct chapter in both the circuit's history and in the broader story of how the sport managed the transition away from its most unforgiving venues.
The circuit was renamed in 1985 to honor José Carlos Pace, who died in a plane crash in 1977. In 2024, Pace's remains were transferred to the circuit and interred there, making him the first deceased racing driver to be buried at a racetrack named in his honor.