SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Governor João Doria announced on Thursday, November 12th, the renewal of the agreement for the annual Formula 1 race in Brazil to be held at the Interlagos racetrack in the city of São Paulo’s south zone for the next five years, with the option to extend it for a further five years.
The new contract with Liberty Media, the event’s commercial branch, will be signed in the coming days by representatives of both state and city administrations, and will remain in effect until 2025.
“Formula 1 has just renewed its contract to hold the F1 Brazil Grand Prix until 2025,” said Doria. “The Interlagos racetrack is confirmed as the venue for the next five years. The contract will be signed by Mayor Bruno Covas with Liberty Media.”
Additionally, the race will no longer be called Brazil Grand Prix; it will become the São Paulo Grand Prix. According to Mayor Bruno Covas, the race will be held next year, on November 14th.
The existing F1 agreement with the city ends in December 2020 and this year’s event was cancelled in July due to the coronavirus pandemic, following identical measures taken for the races scheduled for the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Last year, President Jair Bolsonaro announced that the Formula 1 race venue would be moved to Rio de Janeiro. A new racetrack was to have been built in the Deodoro neighborhood, in the western part of the city, in an area that belongs to the Brazilian Army. The project failed to progress, for a number of reasons. According to Doria’s advisors, the event’s remaining in Interlagos represents a victory against the President, in a political fight that does not seem to stop growing.
Source: Veja