Spotted in the paddock
Whilst 2025 LMGT3 Polesitter Eduardo Barrichello is not present at Interlagos this weekend, opting instead to bolster his IMSA GTD title charge (and doing it with pole position at CTMP today), his father, ex F1 superstar Rubens Barrichello, is present, supporting his son’s regular WEC team Heart of Racing.
Barrichello Snr is far from the only Brazilian notable in the paddock, too, with ex Alpine LMP2 and Hypercar race winner André Negrao also present, supporting both his old WEC team and BMW, with whom the Brazilian works closely in the home market. Andre was on VIP hot lap duty today.
And ex-F1 and IndyCar racer, two-time IMSA Champion and three-time Rolex 24 Hours winner Christian Fittipaldi was seen in the paddock too, chatting on Friday with WEC TV commentator this weekend, Felipe Nasr.
TF Sport’s New ‘British’ Driver!
With the absence of Nick Catsburg (on Corvette Racing duty at CTMP this weekend), there’s another changed driver crew for the #33 TF Sport Corvette this weekend.
After the then-injured Ben Keating missed the opening two rounds at Imola and Spa before rejoining the team for their win at Le Mans, Catsburg is this weekend replaced by the returning Nico Varrone, who combined with Keating and Catsburg to take the final GTE Am Championship in 2023.
That leaves an intriguing, if unlikely, possibility this season. If the team score points in Brazil, there is a possibility that Jonny Edgar, as the sole ‘ever present’ for the season, could win the Drivers Championship solo, with a further possibility that Keating and Catsburg could finish second and third!
Varrone, meanwhile, is taking a weekend out from his 2026 FIA F2 campaign to rejoin the TF Sport effort and apparently needed a loaner race suit, judging by the shot here!
LMGT3 Polesetter Notables
The pole position for Kobe Pauwels in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin marks back-to-back pole positions for Aston Martin in Brazil after Eduardo Barrichello’s pole set for the Racing Spirit of Leman team last year. It is the first pole position for the #23 car.
In doing so, Pauwels set the fastest time thus far in LMGT3’s short history at Interlagos.
Pauwels, and both his team-mates, Gray Newell and Jonny Adam, are all first-timers at Interlagos.
The pole position extended Aston Martin’s pole positions in all classes in the FIA WEC to a record 72.
Gray Newell impressed again in getting the #23 into the Hyperpole session.
“For this track, we found that it’s just most important to take the peak of the tyre, which in this qualifying session was a lap later than it’s been for us usually,” he said. “So that took a slight adjustment, and honestly, was a little concerning to hear that we needed to do another warm-up lap.
“I was worried that we were going to miss it. But we didn’t. So, we managed to put a good lap together. I’ve never been here before. Actually, none of us have been here before, so that’s kind of exciting to get some good luck with the three of us taking pole here. I’m really happy to keep up the momentum from Le Mans.
“I feel like I’m learning every race and finding more confidence, and I have great co-drivers that I can hand it off to and get the job done.”
Kobe Pauwels, post-session, added: “In FP2, in the quali simulation, our pace was pretty strong. We finished P3, so this was obviously a nice confidence boost if we were going into Hyperpole, I knew we would be competitive. But to be this competitive, to be on pole by almost two tenths, I didn’t expect that. But I had a great team, and the lap was really perfect as well.
“They gave me clear instructions on what to do on the tyre preparation, and I knew in my second push lap the tyres could be at their best. That’s what I did. I nailed every corner, and it felt like a perfect lap. And a few minutes later, I got the confirmation that it was pole. Super happy to take pole in my first ever Hyperpole in WEC.”
On tyre selection for the race, if the weather turns, it will be a learning experience for the Belgian:
“I’ve only been in Imola the first round of the season, where I had the experience of driving on the Goodyears on stick tyres and all free practice sessions up until the race here in Sao Paulo have been dry as well.
“So, if it starts raining tomorrow, I’ll have to discover a new rain tyre throughout the race, which will be tricky. But obviously the team has already got a bit of experience on this tyre, so I’m sure they will help me out tonight with a bit of data, video and how to be prepared as best as I can before the race starts tomorrow.”
Cadillac to the fore in Hypercar
Will Stevens took his first overall pole position (his only previous pole was in LMP2 back in 2016), edging out Jack Aitken right at the end of the Hyperpole session, completing an all-Cadillac front row for a second consecutive year in Brazil (Though last year, a post-session penalty for the #38 saw them cede P2).
This is the fourth time the team has achieved a front-row lockout.
Stevens becomes Cadillac’s second pole-setting driver in the FIA WEC. Alex Lynn has scored all four previous pole positions, three for Jota and the first for the Ganassi Racing run effort in 2024.
The pole position today means that Cadillac become the third manufacturer to reach 5 poles after Toyota and Ferrari.
“Obviously, a great quali session for us as a team and for Cadillac,” said Stevens. “So, a big thanks to them for giving the package to obviously go out there and perform. But honestly, this year it’s all about getting the finer details of putting the tyres in the right window and warm-up sequences and all these kinds of things, it really comes down to this. So, it’s always a lot easier in qualifying because there are a lot fewer cars on track.
“Always in practice, it’s difficult to get a true reading of your balance, let’s say. But obviously, we worked really well as a team this week to try and give ourselves the best chance we had. I knew the feeling was getting a bit better each lap.
“So, heading into the last lap, I knew that was our lap one to go for it, so it’s a really tricky track to piece everything together with all the camber changes, all these kind of things. It’s super difficult. But you just have to be clean. But we obviously try to push to the maximum, so I’m really happy because we didn’t have clean practice sessions. So just pull out the bag at the end. I was personally super happy.”
As for why Cadillac’s V-Series.R is such a strong package at Interlagos, Stevens can’t put his finger on it.
“I don’t know the real answer to why. I think we, as a team, understand these type of tracks pretty well. Obviously, coming here from winning last year and being super strong, we obviously had a good foundation and base to start from.
“Even this year, with our new aero package and everything, it’s a pretty different car. So, to be able to get back to back poles and hopefully repeat the success tomorrow, I think it just shows what work this team does, even with a different package, to still bring out a maxim. So, kudos to the team. I think we are just starting to perform at most tracks, different styles, different characteristics, which is more encouraging than what we tried to get with this new package, which we seem to be doing.
“I’m just proud to be part of this team, part of this project. Keep pushing. We’ve still got far to go, and hopefully tomorrow we can get a win here in Sao Paulo.”
The weather forecast has been a talking point all week in the paddock. Stevens and the Cadillac concern believe there are signs that it won’t be as bad as first feared.
“It looked pretty much all week like it was going to be a lot of rain tonight as well, and also through tomorrow,” he said. “But it seems to be getting a bit better, so it looks more towards the end of the race, where we should get some rain, but obviously, as we’ve all seen over the years in Sao Paulo, it can rain at any point.
“I’d be pretty surprised if we have a full dry race. I think we’re going to get some rain, which will obviously make it exciting; depending on where we are, we’ll embrace that excitement or not. But I think it’s going to be a great race. Honestly, I really believe it’s very close in Hypercar between a lot of teams, a lot of manufacturers, which is great, and it’s super cool to be in such a close fight with different cars, and that’s ultimately what we’re here to do.”
Grid Drops
The #19 Genesis will start from 7th position on the grid rather than fifth after being docked a grid place post Hyperpol after Mathieu Jaminet was adjudged to have impeded the #20 BMW in the Qualifying session.
There was a heavier penalty for Kamui Kobayashi meanwhile after he too was adjudged to have impeded in Qualifying, perhaps ironically the victim in this case was Mathieu Jasmine in the #19 Genesis. The #7 Toyota will start at the back of the Hypercar grid.
Qualifying and Hyperpole highlights
How To Follow
The 6 Hours of Sao Paulo is set to start at 11:30 a.m. local time on Sunday (15:30 BST). The whole race is available on the WEC TV + App.
Regular crew Martin Haven, Graham Goodwin and Bruce Jouanny are joined for the weekend by IMSA legend Felipe Nasr.
Images courtesy of DDPI
