Feature

Chris Medland's 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix preview

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What time does the Brazilian Grand Prix start? What channel is the Brazilian Grand Prix on? The answers to all of that and more in F1i’s race preview

Are you excited? F1 returns to the scene of some of the most dramatic title deciders in history with the championship on the line and a home hero to salute. Round 20 of the 2016 season could be the race where Nico Rosberg becomes world champion. We’ve gone further into the permutations here, but victory would guarantee Rosberg the title regardless of what team-mate Lewis Hamilton - who has won the last two races - does. Hamilton knows he needs to keep up his recent form but for most home fans the focus will be on Felipe Massa in his final Brazilian Grand Prix and penultimate race in F1. Massa has stood on the Interlagos podium on five occasions, most famously on the top step in 2008. You’d be hard pushed to find someone begrudging him a final trip up there this weekend.

FORM GUIDE

Perhaps experience is playing to his favour, but Hamilton has found the results he needs in the past two races and started to put the pressure on Rosberg. Pole and victory in both Austin and Mexico has left Hamilton within striking distance of his team-mate as Rosberg goes for his first title. It could be argued that the German is being smart as a second and a third in the final two races will win him the championship, but the gap has been closing, not only to Hamilton but also to Red Bull. Ferrari’s pace in Mexico was also encouraging and if one of those teams gets their act together in Brazil they’ll be of concern to Rosberg. Force India has edged away from Williams and you’d expect Brazil to suit it slightly more than the team from Grove, while McLaren and Toro Rosso will hope the long uphill drag to the finish line does not expose their respective power unit deficits too much.

2015 RESULT

Pole position: Nico Rosberg, (Mercedes), 1:11.282

Top three: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1:14.832

SESSION TIMES (All times local)

FP1: 10:00 - 11:30

FP2: 14:00 - 15:30

FP3: 11:00 - 12:00

Qualifying: 14:00 - 15:00

Race: 14:00

TYRE CHOICES

WEATHER FORECAST

What else could make this weekend more dramatic? Rain, of course. Once again Interlagos looks set to have strategists staring at the skies as there is wet weather forecast on all three days. Friday carries a threat of heavy thunderstorms throughout, while Saturday also sees more thunder and rain predicted. Race day is actually the most likely to see rain according to the forecast, with a 90% chance at this stage.

UK TELEVISION TIMINGS (All times UK)

Sky Sports F1 - Live coverage

FP1 - 1145

FP2 - 1545

FP3 - 1245

Qualifying - 1500

Race - 1430

Channel 4 - Highlights

Qualifying - 2000

Race - 2200

PODIUM PREDICTION

1st - Max Verstappen

2nd - Daniel Ricciardo

3rd - Lewis Hamilton

2015 BEST SHOT

INTERVIEW: Fernando Alonso: Why F1 is no longer just for heroes

TECHNICAL: Under the skin of the Ferrari SF16-H

F1i Classic: Brazil 1991 - Senna's pain and glory

FEATURE: Foul Play or Foul Language

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.