Carlos Pace

Carlos Pace was a Brazilian Formula 1 driver who won his home Brazilian Grand Prix in 1975, with the Interlagos circuit later renamed in his honour.

Carlos Pace took pole position and led every lap to win his only Formula 1 Grand Prix at his home Brazilian race at Interlagos in 1975, a victory so significant that the circuit was renamed in his honour after his death in a light aircraft accident in March 1977 at the age of 32. He began racing in Brazil during the 1960s before moving to Britain to compete in Formula Three, making his Formula One debut with Frank Williams's team at the 1972 South African Grand Prix. Pace joined Surtees for 1973, scoring his first podium with third place in Austria, before a falling out with team boss John Surtees led him to Brabham in 1974. The 1975 season proved the high point of his career: at his home Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, Pace took pole position and led every lap to win his only Grand Prix, leading a historic Brazilian one-two ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi and finishing sixth in that year's World Championship. Pace remained a competitive midfield presence with Brabham through 1976 and into 1977, but his career and life were cut tragically short when he was killed in a light aircraft accident near São Paulo on March 18, 1977, just 13 days after the death of fellow driver Tom Pryce at the South African Grand Prix. In tribute, the Interlagos circuit — the scene of his only F1 victory — was renamed the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, and in 2024, nearly five decades after his death, his remains were moved to the circuit that bears his name.

Smooth, quick driver who set several fastest laps and adapted well to competitive midfield machinery

Honoured with the renaming of the Interlagos circuit as the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, still the home of the Brazilian Grand Prix today

• Grand Prix winner, 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix
• 6th in World Championship (1975)
• Interlagos circuit renamed Autódromo José Carlos Pace in his honour