Fresh venue
- Formula E heads to Brazil for the first time! Sao Paolo is race number 106 and our 32nd unique venue
- It is the third of three consecutive events at new venues in new countries, following Hyderabad (India) and Cape Town (South Africa). It is also the first time Formula E has visited three new venues in a row since the inaugural Formula E season in 2014-15. Three new nations in successive events matches the total number of new nations visited by Formula E in the previous 57 races combined (Spain, Indonesia and Korea)
- Sao Paulo will be the fourth different South American city that has held an E-Prix, with previous races being held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile. All of the three previous locations have hosted three races
- With an urban population of 21.6 million, Sao Paulo is the most populous city in in the Americas, the western hemisphere and the southern hemisphere, beaten only by Shanghai (25.6 million), Delhi (28.5 million) and Tokyo (37.4 million), although in terms of population density it only ranks a more modest 12th
- Sao Paulo will be rapid, but Cape Town was our fastest race yet - da Costa’s 132.198km/h average shaded Mexico City, 2022. Fenestraz’s 154.987km/h pole lap was also the quickest we’ve seen
- This racetrack is in the Santana district of Sao Paulo, the district in which Ayrton Senna was born in 1960 (coincidentally, March 21 this week would have been his 63rd birthday). It is based in/around the Anhembi Sambadrome, one of the largest outdoor venues in Brazil with a capacity of over 103,000 people when also using the floor space (around 30,000 in the stands alone), and designed by Brazil’s most famous architect, Oscar Niemeyer
- It originally opened in 1991 and its biggest event is typically the Carnaval de São Paulo, most recently held in February 2023. It has also previously hosted international motor racing, as the IndyCar Series races on a longer track layout four times from 2010-2013
- We're in the final weeks of Sao Paulo's rainy season, with March averaging 229.1mm of rain. The last time Formula 1 raced in Sao Paulo in March was in 2003, in a race that was wet from start-to-finish
- The Julius Baer Sao Paulo E-Prix will also be the first Formula E race to have taken place in March since the Season 5 Sanya E-Prix, a race which was won by Jean-Eric Vergne
Season 9 standouts
- Antonio Felix da Costa’s Cape Town win made him only the second driver in Formula E to have won from outside the top 10 on the grid (11th). Brazilian Lucas di Grassi (11th, New York City, 2018 and 15th, Mexico City, 2017) is the other
- For eight races on the spin, the polesitter has failed to win – a record streak. We’ve also had eight drivers on Julius Baer Pole Position in as many races: Jake Dennis, Oliver Rowland, da Costa, di Grassi, Sebastien Buemi, Jake Hughes, Mitch Evans and Sacha Fenestraz
- Across the first five races of Season 9, Evans and Buemi both have the best average qualifying position (4.6)
South American pacesetters
- The last time Formula E visited South America was in 2020 in Santiago. The Santiago E-Prix saw Maximilian Guenther claim his maiden victory to become Formula E’s youngest ever winner. Currently seven drivers on the grid are yet to claim their maiden victory
- The first race in each of the last five new cities that Formula E has visited have all been won by less than one second
- Buemi, di Grassi and Vergne are level on most races led in Formula E history (24). Di Grassi has five podiums in South America but has yet to win…
- Evans and Buemi share this season’s best average qualifying position (4.6). Buemi has the most wins in South America (3): Punta del Este in Season 1 and 2 plus Buenos Aires in Season 3
- Vergne has started on Julius Baer Pole Position three times in South America, including on his Formula E debut in Punta del Este back in Season 1
- The Season 6 Santiago E-Prix had the youngest front row (with an average age of 24 years and 21 days) along with the youngest podium (with an average age of 25 years and 183 days)
- Even though the race saw Jacques Villeneuve enter, who holds the record for the oldest driver to enter an E-Prix, the Season 2 Punta del Este E-Prix had the average youngest Formula E entry list (with an average age of 29 years and 282 days)
Home heroes
- Six Brazilian drivers have raced in Formula E: Nelson Piquet Jr., di Grassi, Bruno Senna, Felipe Massa, Felipe Nasr and Sergio Sette Camara
- Brazil is the only nation to have had two drivers claim a Formula E title, with Piquet Jr. claiming the inaugural championship in Season 1 and di Grassi claiming his title just two seasons later in Season 3
- Senna and Massa also picked up podiums during their stints in Formula E. Senna finished in second place in London Season 2 and Massa took a third-place finish in Monaco in Season 5