Home debuts: what Câmara will do at Interlagos has not happened since 2007
F1 Legend Sim · Redacción · 5 de noviembre de 2026 · 4 min de lectura
Haas confirmed on 3 November that Rafael Câmara will race the São Paulo Grand Prix in Esteban Ocon's car. If he takes the start on Sunday, he will be the first driver to make his Formula 1 debut in his own country since Markus Winkelhock in 2007. All 60 debutants of the last two decades started their careers abroad, whereas in the 1950s and 1960s almost half started at home.
From almost half to nobody
We counted every driver's first Grand Prix since 1950. That makes 687 debuts, and in 219 of them the driver was racing in his own country. The fall is steady, decade after decade.
| Decade | Debuts | At home | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 207 | 97 | 47% |
| 1960s | 124 | 60 | 48% |
| 1970s | 118 | 38 | 32% |
| 1980s | 70 | 13 | 19% |
| 1990s | 59 | 7 | 12% |
| 2000s | 49 | 4 | 8% |
| 2010s | 41 | 0 | 0% |
| 2020s | 19 | 0 | 0% |
The early numbers come with a catch. A local driver could enter just his home Grand Prix back then: of the 157 who made their debut at home between 1950 and 1969, 61 never raced again. That route onto the grid no longer exists.
Since 1990 there have been only eleven cases. The last four are Mark Webber in Australia (2002), Zsolt Baumgartner in Hungary (2003), Vitantonio Liuzzi at Imola (2005) and Winkelhock at the Nürburgring (2007), who started last, went on to lead the race and never raced in Formula 1 again.
Why so many drivers debut at Albert Park
The circuit with the most debuts in history is Silverstone, with 78, but 23 of them came on a single day: the first championship race in 1950, when everybody on the grid was a debutant.
| Circuit | Debuts, 1950-2026 |
|---|---|
| Silverstone | 78 |
| Albert Park | 70 |
| Nürburgring | 47 |
| Monza | 45 |
| Spa-Francorchamps | 33 |
| Kyalami | 32 |
| Buenos Aires | 31 |
| Monaco | 29 |
| Watkins Glen | 29 |
Albert Park is the one that explains today. It has hosted 70 of the 168 debuts since 1990, far ahead of Bahrain on 17 and Interlagos on 12. There is nothing special about the circuit: it is usually the first race of the year. A rookie now signs over the winter and makes his debut wherever the season starts, which is why 100 of those 168 debuts came at round one. A home debut needs the calendar to open in your country, or a mid-season call just before your Grand Prix, which is what has happened to Câmara.
The Brazilians who made their debut in Brazil
Câmara would be the 34th Brazilian in Formula 1 and the seventh to make his debut at home. None of the previous six scored a point.
| Year | Driver | Circuit | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Luiz Bueno | Interlagos | 12th |
| 1976 | Ingo Hoffmann | Interlagos | 11th |
| 1984 | Ayrton Senna | Jacarepaguá | Retired (turbo) |
| 1988 | Maurício Gugelmin | Jacarepaguá | Retired (gearbox) |
| 1995 | Pedro Diniz | Interlagos | 10th |
| 1996 | Tarso Marques | Interlagos | Retired (spin) |
Senna is the only big name on the list. Emerson Fittipaldi started in Britain, Nelson Piquet in Germany, Rubens Barrichello in South Africa and Felipe Massa in Australia. No Brazilian has made his debut in Brazil since Tarso Marques in 1996, exactly 30 years ago.
And with Gabriel Bortoleto on the grid, it will be the first time since Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr in 2016 that two Brazilians race at Interlagos.
What to expect from a home debut
Not much, on the record. The best home debut since 1980 is Jean Alesi's fourth place in France in 1989, followed by Webber's fifth for Minardi in 2002. The nearest benchmark is closer: Ryo Hirakawa made his debut in that same Haas last week in Mexico and finished tenth.
Each driver's chances will be published on Saturday, with the official grid, on the Grands Prix panel. To make your own call, Predict the GP lets you order the top ten before the race runs.