The Nostalgia Column
Looking back at the history of the Brazilian GP	by Marcel Schot, The Netherlands

Only surpassed by Great Britain in wins, Brazil is the most winning country in Formula One. After Emerson Fittipaldi's first win - and for that matter Brazil's first win - at Watkins Glen in 1970, a Brazilian Grand Prix seemed inevitable. On the peculiar Interlagos track, Argentinean Carlos Reutemann won the first Formula One race on Brazilian soil in 1972. He steered his Brabham to victory in the non-championship race after Emerson Fittipaldi's Lotus gave up. The following year the race counted towards the championship and Fittipaldi won in his Lotus, pleasing the Brazilian crowd. Interlagos appeared just that: a crowd pleaser. With it's bowl-like structure, almost all visitors were able to see most of the track. Back in the 70s, the track was much longer than it is today, having a tight, twisty series of corners in the inner area. Tricky because of its bumpy surface, Interlagos was only mastered by the very best. After the first home win, Fittipaldi repeated the feat the next year, this time in a McLaren. In 1975 the crowd got what it wanted most - two Brazilians battling for the win, Carlos Pace (Brabham) taking it just 6 seconds in front of Fittipaldi. After those three home wins, it was done with Brazilian domination in their home race. Fittipaldi had switched from McLaren to his brother's Fittipaldi team with a terrible car that could bring down any World Champion to the ranks of the backmarkers. Pace also wasn't able to keep the pace in his Brabham-Alfa Romeo and thus the race was an easy prey for title favourite Niki Lauda. After Reutemann winning again in 1977, the race moved from Interlagos to Jacarepagua. Reutemann made it there three in a row for Ferrari, striking a 49 second gap over number two Fittipaldi. After just one year, the race was moved back to Interlagos for a two year period of French domination. First Jacques Lafitte and Patrick Depailler scored a one-two for Ligier and in the next year Rene Arnoux took the victory for Renault. Back in Jacarepagua, Williams repeated the one-two Ligier had done two years before, with Carlos Reutemann winning his third Brazilian Grand Prix before Alan Jones. After that only two drivers dominated the Brazilian Grand Prix: for the following seven years Alain Prost won five and Nelson Piquet two races. Especially the 1986 race was one to remember; just like eleven years before, it was Brazilians on one and two in the end. Nelson Piquet took the win, while Ayrton Senna came in second in his Lotus. In 1989 Alain Prost just didn't make it and Nigel Mansell won with his Ferrari five seconds before the Frenchman's McLaren. The year after that Ferrari also won from McLaren, this time Prost over Gerhard Berger. 1991 saw the country's biggest hero finally winning his home Grand Prix. After seven unsuccessful tries, Ayrton Senna headed his McLaren home first, 2 seconds before Williams driver Riccardo Patrese and five second before his teammate Gerhard Berger. In 1992 Williams completely dominated the field again, with Nigel Mansell taking the win before teammate Riccardo Patrese. The rest of the field was lapped by the two Williams'. 1993 Saw Ayrton Senna winning again on home soil. After that the new generation took over. The two following years were Michael Schumacher's, while in 1996 and 1997 Williams won with respectively Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve crowned the winner. Two interesting fact about the Brazilian Grand Prix: firstly, the race is a champion-maker. The last winner not to be World Champion at least once in his career was Carlos Reutemann in 1981. The second fact is that qualifying seemed not as important in Brazil as in some other places until recent times. Ayrton Senna only won his home Grand Prix twice, yet qualified on pole six times. Ronnie Peterson and James Hunt each qualified on pole two times and didn't win a single race in Brazil. However, if we take a look at the last five years, the winner has always been on the front row. This obviously has something to do with the rule changes, which make overtaking more difficult, especially on such bumpy and twisty circuits as Interlagos. This, however, may soon be history, as Interlagos' surrounding is turning into a living area, no longer suitable for hosting a race. Jacarepagua is looking to make yet another comeback thanks to major investments by Nelson Piquet and Emerson Fittipaldi. Located in the flat, deserted outskirts of Rio, this go-cart-like track seems to fit perfectly into Bernie Ecclestone's plans to make Formula One safer. Top 10 points scored in the Brazilian Grand Prix: 1. Alain Prost 65 2. Michael Schumacher 38 3. Emerson Fittipaldi 33 4. Carlos Reutemann 31 5. Nelson Piquet 31 6. Ayrton Senna 30 7. Gerhard Berger 30 8. Nigel Mansell 27 9. Niki Lauda 23 10. Damon Hill 22 The Winners of Brazil: 1. Alain Prost 6 2. Carlos Reutemann 3 3. Emerson Fittipaldi 2 4. Nelson Piquet 2 5. Nigel Mansell 2 6. Ayrton Senna 2 7. Michael Schumacher 2 8. Niki Lauda 1 9. Carlos Pace 1 10. Jacques Lafitte 1 11. Rene Arnoux 1 12. Damon Hill 1 13. Jacques Villeneuve 1 14. Mika Hakkinen 1 What happened last year: The infamous second brake pedal of McLaren was declared forbidden before the racing started; Mika Hakkinen dominates the entire weekend, setting pole, fastest lap and leading from start to finish; Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)grabbed pole, at 1:17.092. He also set the fastest lap of the race, on lap 64 - 1:19.337; Both Williams', both Ferrari's, Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell) and Jan Magnussen (Stewart) were on a two stop strategy, all others on one stop; Damon Hill was disqualified after the race for being underweight.

1998 Race Results
1.	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1h 37:11.747s
2.	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 1.102s
3.	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	+ 1:00.550s
4.	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	+ 1:07.453s
5.	H.H. Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	+ 1 lap
6.	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	+ 1 lap
Pole position:	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:17.092s
Fastest lap (64):	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:19.337s