By Contributing Reporter
SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian metropolis São Paulo is resisting the announced move of the Formula 1 race to Rio de Janeiro.
There is a contract valid until December 2020 for hosting the Grand Prix of Brazil, according to a publicized joint statement by the city and the state of São Paulo. Since last November, the city is working on the renewal of the contract as of 2021.
“The city hall of São Paulo and the government of the State of São Paulo know of no obstacle that could stand in the way of the renewal of the treaty,” the communiqué said.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro had said, according to media reports, that the Brazilian Grand Prix should take place in Rio next year. He signed a cooperation agreement with the governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Wilson Witzel, and Mayor Marcelo Crivella.
In the city on the Sugarloaf is to be built, in just six to seven months, a privately funded race track that will bear the name of the Brazilian racer and three-time world champion Ayrton Senna, who died in a crash in 1994.
In Rio de Janeiro, the largest city in Brazil after São Paulo, Formula 1 races were held until 1989; since 1990, they’ve taken place only in São Paulo.
This year, the Grand Prix of Brazil will be held from November 15th to 17th. According to the current contract, it would still take place in São Paulo in 2020.
In a tweet, Bolsonaro indicated that Formula 1 would have left Brazil without the decision for Rio de Janeiro.