After a dramatic race in Mexico, the points gap in both championships has narrowed.
The battle between Red Bull and McLaren is much tougher, and Ferrari has emerged as an unremarkable candidate to win the constructors' championship.
With only four races left of the season, Formula 1 travels to São Paulo for the penultimate sprint weekend.
From Friday the weather will be cloudy and dry with a maximum temperature of 26 degrees Celsius.
There are still four races left in the 2024 F1 season, with Brazil hosting the penultimate sprint race format. Vince Mignot/MB Media/Getty Images
Latest news
Max Verstappen was given a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's Grand Prix because he took a fifth engine. He also rejected criticism of his driving style after the incidents that earned him two 10-second penalties in Mexico last week.
Lando Norris said Verstappen “knows he did something wrong” and Lewis Hamilton said we've been here before in the 2021 title fight.
Hamilton will drive one of Ayrton Senna's McLarens at Interlagos on Saturday.
Christian Horner refused to confirm whether Sergio Pérez would end the F1 season after the Brazilian Grand Prix.
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McLaren has told Norris there is no reason to change his driving style in the F1 title fight with Red Bull's Verstappen.
Did the F1 commissioners in Mexico make the Verstappen decisions correctly?
Can Ferrari catch McLaren in the constructors' championship? Plus preview of the Brazilian Grand Prix | Listen to the latest episode of ESPN's F1 podcast Unlapped.
1:42
Has Ferrari become a legitimate designer candidate?
Laurence Edmondson assesses Ferrari's sudden rise into championship contention.
What the championships look like
The drivers' championship is closer than it has been since the Monaco Grand Prix in May. Verstappen leads Norris with 47 points and Charles Leclerc with 71 points.
Meanwhile, McLaren remains at the top of the constructors' championship with a 29-point lead. Ferrari's double podium in back-to-back races in Austin and Mexico City increased its points tally and overtook Red Bull, which trails by 54 points.
Mathematically, Verstappen could win the championship in two weeks at the earliest if he is 61 points ahead of Norris after Las Vegas.
If Verstappen finishes third in the last four races and two sprints, including this weekend, Norris will have to win and set the fastest lap every time to win the title by one point.
(Statistics: ESPN Stats & Information Group)
Ranking | Calendar | teams
Brazil hosted an F1 Grand Prix for the first time in 1973 at Interlagos. The race moved to Jacarepagua, near Rio de Janeiro, in the 1980s before returning to Sao Paulo from 1990. Victor Eleuterio ATPImages/Getty Images
Route statistics and history
Located in a neighborhood between two artificial lakes, Interlagos (which translates to “between lakes”) first opened as a race track in 1940. Formula One first raced at the circuit in 1972 as a non-championship race before becoming part of the racing calendar from 1973.
The original track was almost twice as long and made several turns like a go-kart track. However, its bumpy surface was considered dangerous in the first era of ground effect and it was removed from the calendar in 1980 when the Brazilian Grand Prix was moved to Jacarepagua in Rio de Janeiro.
Formula One returned to a shortened and updated version of the circuit in 1990, coinciding with Ayrton Senna's rise to global stardom. In 2004, the Brazilian Grand Prix was moved from the start of the year to the end of the F1 calendar and dramatic title deciders occurred in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2012.
Round: 71 laps of 4.3 km each. Total distance 305 km.
Lap record: 1:10.540 Valtteri Bottas (2018)
Most wins: Michael Schumacher with four (1994-1995, 2000, 2002). Of the current starting grid, Lewis Hamilton (2016, 2018, 2021), Verstappen (2019, 2023) and George Russell (2022) have all won here.
Most sticks: Senna at his home race with five (1986, 1988-1991, 1994). From the current starting grid, Fernando Alonso (2005), Hamilton (2012, 2016, 2018), Bottas (2017, 2021), Verstappen (2019, 2023) and Russell (2022) were on pole.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso celebrates his third podium finish at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace alongside Lando Norris and race winner Max Verstappen in 2023. Victor Eleuterio ATPImages/Getty Images
What happened last year?
No wonder Verstappen took another commanding victory at Interlagos, his 17th of the season, from start to flag. Norris took his sixth second podium finish of the year, while Fernando Alonso relegated Perez to third.
Norris did manage to challenge Verstappen for the lead on lap 8 with DRS, but his brief glimmer of hope was extinguished under braking before Turn 4 as the Dutchman continued to lead the race.
Who will win?
Ferrari is the best team for the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend with wins in three of the last five races.
McLaren remains a threat – Norris showed promising pace towards the end of last weekend's race in Mexico – but based on the overall result of the last two races it's hard to look past a Ferrari victory.
Although Carlos Sainz won in Mexico, Leclerc was the better player overall this year and should be considered the favorite.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna in May 2024, Interlagos organized a Racing Day, which also included a run around the racetrack. Allison Sales/Image Alliance via Getty Images
Here's how to look at the GP
Watch on ESPNEWS and ESPN+ (US only) – see schedule.
The live broadcast in the UK will be on Sky Sports F1 and BBC Radio 5 Live.
For news, analysis and updates, follow coverage with ESPN's F1 team, Nate Saunders and Laurence Edmondson, in São Paulo and on social media.
Friday
Free Practice 1: 14:30-15:30 GMT
Sprint Qualification: 18:30-19:14 GMT
Saturday
Sprint Race: 2:00pm – 3:00pm GMT
Qualification: 18:00-19:00 GMT
Sunday
Race start: 17:00 GMT.
