The race at Interlagos is the sixth and final sprint event of the 2023 season. The sprint format caused teams some headaches earlier this year because cars are put under parc ferme conditions after Friday's single free practice session, meaning key items such as ride heights are locked in for the remainder of the weekend.
At the last sprint event in Austin Charles Leclerc's Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes were disqualified for excessive floor plank wear, despite receiving little to no warning after free practice that the plank would become an issue.
The sprint format, as well as COTA's bumpy layout, was thought to be a crucial factor in their misjudgement, as neither team was able to respond later in the weekend.
At Interlagos, the teams are again tackling a circuit known for its bumpy nature, and the added threat of rain on Friday has made it even harder to nail down the optimal ride heights across various conditions.
Mercedes' George Russell reckoned that the risk of plank wear could come up again this weekend on a circuit like Interlagos.
"It's going to be really challenging. This is a big issue with the sprint race weekend. In Austin, we ended practice, we did our checks, there was no plank wear and we thought we were in the clear.
"And then with a small change of wind direction, put in 100 kilos of fuel in the car for the first time, some laps in traffic, some laps not in traffic, on a really bumpy circuit, we suddenly found ourselves in an issue we weren't expecting.
Source: Autosport