The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, is a motorsport circuit located in the city of São Paulo, in the neighborhood of Interlagos. It was renamed after Brazilian Formula One driver Carlos Pace, who died in a plane crash in 1977.
Accommodation:
There are lots of airbnbs around Interlagos and also a few hotels (some might even have a view of the track!). However, I would not recommend staying near Interlagos since it is a poor neighbourhood and away from the city centre. I would definitely recommend staying at a hotel like Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, Hilton, Marriot or Radisson Blu since they have high standards and no surprises. I recommend staying near Avenida Paulista (you will need to get two tubes and one train to get to Interlagos) if you also want to get to know the city. I would also recommend staying at Morumbi. I usually stay at Ibis Budget Morumbi, it is really cheap, there is a shopping mall open until late in front of the hotel and it is a 5 minutes walk to the train station. It is a really fine place and just a train ride away from Interlagos!
Getting to the track:
Buy the return tickets beforehand, you have no idea how big the queue to buy the return tickets is! Be careful not to buy the wrong tickets, the tube and the train use different tickets!
You will need to get a CPTM train to Interlagos and probably a Tube if you are not staying near the train line. It is really easy getting to the track, just look which tube you need to get to connect to the train line that gets you to Interlagos, it will probably be filled with Formula 1 fans! Don't worry about the heat, most trains have A/C and you will even feel cold! When you get to the Interlagos train station it is a 15 minutes walk to the race track. Don't worry, just follow the flow of F1 fans walking to the track and you will get there. It is really safe with lots of police officers on the streets. Try to look at the map beforehand where is your section so you can prepare yourself they are a long walk from one another (A, B, C, D, E...).
Seating:
If you don't mind about the sun and heat you should stay at sector A, it has the BEST view of the track, it is uphill and you can see around 90% of the track. However, there are no seats and it is really hard to stay out in the sun. There are a few trees that might provide a shadow but, you need to arrive really early at race day to get a seat under a tree (I arrived around 7am). Also, there is just one projector showing the race so you will be lost during quali and kinda lost with the pit stops during the race. One of the most special things about sector A apart from the best view is how close you can get to the cars! Moreover, they open the gates at the end of the race so if you are at sector A you will get to enter the track at the end! However, if you are alone, I wouldn't recommend staying at sector A since you will need to take a few breaks from sitting down at the sun and if you are by yourself there is no one to guard your seat and your stuff, also if you have someone with you, someone can stay guarding the seats and the other can stand 5ft from the cars during the race start!!! If you chose to stay at a covered and seating area, I recommend staying at sector M, it is in front of the pits!
Food:
You are not allowed to bring any food with you, but you can and you should smuggle some food to the track, put snacks in your pockets, underwear and at the bottom of your backpack. The water/juice/beer is really expensive and there are not so many options to eat just a few cold sandwiches, so have a nice and strong breakfast and bring as much food as you can!
What to avoid:
Avoid walking on the streets at night, after the race go directly to your hotel or to any tourist attraction you might want to visit. It is a safe city but you need to be cautious!
Misc:
Bring a zip lock bag!!! So you can put your sunscreen inside it. You are not allowed to bring sunscreen to the track unless it is 25ml or something like that, that is totally stupid. You should bring a zip lock bag and try to smuggle your sunscreen into the track, if they catch you, you can put the sun screen inside the zip lock and throw the package away. Don't forget to be nice to the others, most people lose their sunscreen at the entry due to this stupid rule, so share it with the others if you managed to get it inside!
You are probably going to arrive at the GRU airport, it is away from the city so a taxi to the city center is expensive, there are coaches between GRU airport (international airport) and Congonhas airport (city centre) most airlines provide free coaches between these airports. So, get the coach from GRU to CGH and get a taxi from CGH to your destination! Also, you can ride by helicopter from GRU to the city centre, it is available on the app Cabify, I think it is around R$300,00 but is is a really nice experience! You get a helicopter to a heliport and a taxi waiting for you to get you from the heliport to your destination!
Try to go to the Friday practice so you can collect your tickets on Friday (the queue is much smaller than on Saturday).
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