Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · 10 races held
Race History
| Year | Grand Prix | Winner | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Nigel Mansell | Ferrari |
| 1988 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Alain Prost | McLaren |
| 1987 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Alain Prost | McLaren |
| 1986 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Nelson Piquet | Williams |
| 1985 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Alain Prost | McLaren |
| 1984 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Alain Prost | McLaren |
| 1983 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Nelson Piquet | Brabham |
| 1982 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Alain Prost | Renault |
| 1981 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Carlos Reutemann | Williams |
| 1978 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari |
About Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet
Located in the Jacarepaguá district of Rio de Janeiro, this flat, low-lying circuit hosted the Brazilian Grand Prix on and off through the 1970s and 1980s. It staged its first championship race in 1978 before the event moved back to Interlagos in São Paulo, then returned as the permanent home of the Brazilian Grand Prix from 1981 to 1989.
The track was later renamed in honour of three-time World Champion and Rio local Nelson Piquet. Built on reclaimed marshland, it was notorious for its bumpy surface and the searing tropical heat, which placed huge demands on drivers and machinery. After 1989 the Brazilian Grand Prix returned to a revamped Interlagos, and the Jacarepaguá venue was eventually demolished to make way for facilities connected to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Memorable Moments
- 1978: Carlos Reutemann won the circuit's first World Championship round for Ferrari.
- 1983: Local hero Nelson Piquet won for Brabham at the start of his second title-winning season, to the delight of the Rio crowd.
- 1984: Alain Prost took victory in his first race for McLaren, opening a season-long title fight with team-mate Niki Lauda.
- 1989: Nigel Mansell won on his Ferrari debut in the new semi-automatic 640, a result few expected given the car's fragile early reliability.
Track Character
Jacarepaguá was a flat, mostly featureless circuit set against the backdrop of Rio's mountains, with a long pit straight feeding into a series of medium-speed corners and a couple of genuine overtaking spots under braking. Its defining challenges were the relentless bumps that punished suspension and a driver's neck, and the oppressive heat and humidity that turned races into tests of endurance and fitness. Less revered than the rollercoaster of Interlagos, it nonetheless produced fierce, attritional racing during Brazil's golden era of grand prix drivers.