Fraser MasefieldThink of the Brazilian Grand Prix at the famous Interlagos Circuit in Sao Paolo, one generally casts the mind back to Ayrton Senna and his most famous home victories.
The great Brazilian won there twice in 1991 and 1993. But it’s his first victory, stuck in sixth gear for the final laps, that goes down in the annals of F1 folklore – the local hero barely able to exit his McLaren or hoist the trophy above his head in victory.
It was one heck of an achievement not only given the machinery of the day, but also the incredibly unforgiving nature of the Interlagos circuit. Much has changed in just over thirty years with the cars, but the circuit remains one hell of a challenge.
Because Interlagos was not built on flat terrain, but instead twists and flows through the contours of an undulating geographical location, it puts a great deal of pressure on one of the most vital components pieces on every vehicle; the suspension.
Whilst it’s true that the circuit used to be far bumpier than it is today – the asphalt was most recently replaced in time for the 2024 race – it also remains the case that suspension set-up still plays a crucial role, particularly in Brazil.
Just as with a road car, the suspension connects the tyres to the chassis and is designed to absorb all the bumps and undulations of the surface, so that the tyres are always planted firmly to the road and work to the maximum of their capability.
Unlike with your road car however, an F1 car’s suspension is a highly complex and instead of its primary role being to provide comfort to the user, it primarily exists for performance reasons.
It needs to be extremely rigid to handle the extreme cornering forces involved at high speed, so the wishbones (designed by aerodynamicists) connecting the tyre to the chassis do not flex and upset the geometry of the car.
Suspension in F1 has changed quite radically through the years. Computer-controlled active suspension, such as in Nigel Mansell’s state-of-the-art dominant championship winning Williams FW14B, was banned at the end of 1993, whilst other teams such as Mercedes have pioneered front and rear inter-connected suspension systems.
Nowadays, most teams use the same system utilising an interlinked setup whereby the front and rear suspension are connected by a hydraulic circuit with actuators built into the dampers.
These actuators serve to transfer fluid from one end of the car to the other so that if the suspension compresses at either end, the fluid transfers to the other as to offset movement and allow for a lower ride height to be run at high speed.
#F1 front suspension and brake ducts, pre-2022#F1tech #AustinGP
📷 unknown pic.twitter.com/bsnQED81JU— Craig Scarborough (@ScarbsTech) October 18, 2025
Because racing drivers brake so late into corners, add a Brazilian bump into the equation and an F1 car’s suspension can be asked to cope with loads of up to 30 tonnes.
Much has been made of McLaren’s suspension, or lack of it, and possible brake cooling tricks that has allowed the tyres to remain in optimum performance range longer than the competition this season.
Scott Mansell from F1 Insights has an idea as to how they might be doing it.
But no FIA scrutineering intervention means that they have done nothing wrong as per the regulations. And rival teams have done little to kick up a huge fuss as McLaren stormed to back-to-back constructors’ titles for the first time since that famous 1991 outing.
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