Inside Brazil’s seven-year search for its next F1 hero

“Nada ultrapassa essa emoção,” is the slogan greeting fans at Interlagos’ entrances. Nothing surpasses this emotion.

Walk through the tunnels underneath the Autodromo Carlos Pace and it’s obvious why. The bowl-shaped venue in the middle of Sao Paulo’s bustling metropolis is one of motor racing’s most revered cathedrals, its ancient grandstands steeped in history.

Ayrton Senna memorials in the grandstands

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

The event posters lining the entrance tunnels date all the way back to the inaugural race in 1972, timeless reminders of the many title deciders Interlagos has hosted and the home wins that propelled the popularity of legendary world champions like Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna.

Naturally the late Senna is still revered like a deity, with his trademark blue Nacional caps sported by throngs of Brazil’s passionate fans. A giant mural of the three-time World Champion adorns the main paddock building, while Sebastian Vettel travelled to the event to host a tribute and Lewis Hamilton performed an emotional demo in his hero’s 1990 McLaren, which he said was the “greatest honour” of his life.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1st position, celebrates with a Brazilian flag on the podium

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Something is missing

Following a long-standing streak of Brazilians on the grid, the country’s last full-time F1 driver Felipe Massa is yet to find a successor after his retirement at the end of 2017. The 2018 season was the first in 48 years without a Brazilian, with just two cameos by Fittipaldi’s grandson, Pietro (Fittipaldi), since then.

Brazilians haven’t been able to transfer all their energy and ’emoção’ onto a home hero for seven years, instead adopting Senna apostle Hamilton as one of their own, the seven-time world champion being awarded honorary Brazilian citizenship in 2022.

That void was even more striking this weekend while thousands of Argentinians flocked to their neighboring country to cheer on Williams sensation Franco Colapinto. The 2024 edition had been largely sold out for a while, but Colapinto fans still managed to find tickets on the resale market to watch the 21-year-old at the closest they have to a home race at the moment.

The Argentinian’s arrival has led to a surge of interest in South America, but F1 fans from the only country in the continent actually hosting a race can only watch on with envy for now, with hopes that F2 title protagonist Gabriel Bortoleto can break that streak next year if he is signed by Sauber, as is now widely expected.

An emotional Felipe Massa proudly slaps the Prancing Horse insignia on his chest as he celebrates victory and a well fought season in front of his home fans.

Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images

Brazil, what took you so long?

But why has it taken so long for Massa to have a successor? The former Ferrari driver suggests a rough patch at grassroots level is a large part of the explanation. “Unfortunately, it’s taking really so long to have another Brazilian in Formula 1 and it’s very difficult to say why,” Massa, a two-time winner of his home grand prix, told Motorsport.com.

“We didn’t have any category in the past like Formula 4 and maybe the base of Brazil was not so strong as compared to the past. When I was racing in Europe in Formula Renault, in every category we had a Brazilian winning races, fighting for the championship. And now it’s difficult to have the same results as we had in the past. But in the last three years things have been changing. We have some good Brazilians around and I hope to see Bortoleto in F1 soon.

“The most important thing is that kids need to go to Europe at the right time when they are ready, with some experience in cars here in Brazil. That’s why Brazil needed to have a good [single-seater] category and now we have Formula 4 [which supported the F1 weekend]. It’s becoming more competitive year by year and that’s very important.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, 2nd position, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 3rd position, receive their Sprint trophies from Emerson Fittipaldi

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Two-time F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who was in attendance at his home race as a McLaren ambassador, concurred with Massa that everything starts at the bottom. “The base of motorsports, karting, is very important,” he told Motorsport.com. “And the Brazilian federation is currently encouraging karting in Brazil. I’m sure new talents will emerge, but there was a lack of encouragement at the grassroots level in Brazil.

“When you’re already in Formula 1, it’s easy for sponsors to appear. But it’s very difficult for the drivers to get there. So, we need more support at the grassroots level and the new president of the confederation, Giovanni Guerra, is doing that. He’s doing a great job.

“But we need even more support. The biggest example of this is Telmex [in Mexico], which is why we have Sergio Perez. Colapinto joined now, but in the last five years we only had one driver from Latin America.”

Lewis Hamilton delights the Brazilian fans with a drive in Ayrton Senna’s 1990 McLaren MP4/5B.

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“Finding sponsors has never been easy…”

Brazil is the world’s seventh largest economy by GDP but is also suffering from huge inequality and a relatively volatile currency. The former is already making the costs of entry-level karting a serious stumbling block for a large part of the talent pool. The latter isn’t helping Brazilian sponsors fund drivers once they start competing overseas and enter the feeder system into F1 or IndyCar.

“Finding sponsors has never been easy for Brazilian drivers,” said Massa. “In my time, it was so difficult to find sponsors, but also it was a bit cheaper than it is now, which might make the situation even more difficult.”

IndyCar has seen a similar Brazilian void compared to F1, with the successful generation of Helio Castroneves, the late Gil de Ferran and Tony Kanaan, combining for a total of six Indianapolis 500 wins, never truly replaced.

“The currency, the dollar to real exchange is really bad for getting sponsors to invest,” Kanaan explained to Motorsport.com. “It’s six to one, so if you have to invest a million US dollars, it’s six million of our money. That is definitely not helping.

“The Brazilian motorsports scene is healthy for sure and since Massa it’s very recognised, but obviously we’re lacking an F1 driver right now. We still had some in IndyCar, but aside from the currency you also have to be in the right place at the right time to be able to be competitive and win races.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Invicta Racing

Photo by: Invicta Virtuosi Racing

“We do have a couple good guys, like [Aston Martin reserve] Felipe Drugovich that has been waiting forever, and also Bortoleto now, but the timing has been bad.”

Kanaan said it would be unrealistic to expect Brazil’s glory days in F1 to return, but he’s still optimistic over the country’s long-term future in international single-seater racing.

“I think we’re never going to have a Senna again, the same way I think [Germany] is never going to have a Michael Schumacher, and the same way they’re not going to find another Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen,” he said.

“But eventually, I think we’ll come back. Motorsports is still extremely popular in Brazil. Not just F1 but also IndyCar.”

Kanaan, Massa and Fittipaldi have all been impressed by McLaren junior Bortoleto, who is well placed to finally return the Brazilian flag to the starting grid, being on the verge of a Sauber deal for 2025.

“I hope he gets into F1,” Fittipaldi said. “We’re rooting for him. He’s very talented and very capable, an excellent driver.”

Massa added: “Gabriel did an amazing job winning Formula 3 in the first year, maybe winning Formula 2 in the first year. This is definitely something that we haven’t seen lately with a Brazilian driver. It will be really positive to have a strong Brazilian in Formula 1 for a long time, raising our Brazilian flag. I’m supporting him a lot.”

If Bortoleto does make it onto the grid next year, the wait will finally be over and Brazilian fans will no longer have to envy their Argentinian rivals.

Finding a way to have both South American countries represented on the grid would be a boost to Formula 1 at large. But most importantly, it will complete the missing piece of the puzzle to bring the “emoção” of one of its marquee events to an even higher level.

Additional reporting by Joey Barnes