Mexico City Grand Prix

A difficult end to the double-header

GRAND PRIX REACTION
Sunday Mexico mobile hero

A tricky afternoon for our team played out at the Mexico City Grand Prix, with Lance finishing in 14th and Fernando retiring halfway through the race. Read on for all the reaction from Sunday.

  • Lance started from P19 with Fernando in P14, with both looking to seize any opportunities the long run down to Turn One presented at lights out.

  • It was a frantic start, with several cars taking to the grass on the outside of Turn One.

  • Lance spun in the opening corners, but battled in the early laps to climb several positions.

  • Fernando picked up some minor front wing damage but was able to continue as both drivers pushed as hard as possible to get towards the top 10.

  • Halfway through the race, Fernando unfortunately had to retire his car due to a possible brake issue. The team will conduct further analysis to ascertain what went wrong.

  • In the second half of the race, Lance continued to push but could not break into the points. Ultimately, the pace of the car was not quite there for the drivers this weekend.

  • The team will now fly home after a double-header in North America, before heading to Brazil and a Sprint weekend in São Paulo on 7-9 November.

THE LATEST FROM THE TRACK

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
Lance sat out of Free Practice One as Jak Crawford drove the AMR25 to complete one of the team's mandatory rookie sessions for the season.
  • Postion

    N/A

  • Fastest lap

    N/A

  • Laps

    N/A

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    N/A

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
  • Position

    12TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:19.472 (SOFT)

  • Laps

    26

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    347.9

Jak Crawford
34
JakCrawford
I'm very happy and can't wait for the next one.

[["My first Free Practice One is finished and I'm very happy with it. It was a very messy session in terms of traffic, so I didn't really get a clean lap in on the Medium tyre but we got through the run plan and I did some good race laps at the end.

"One of our priorities was to try a few different items and get some good correlation with the simulator back at the AMR Technology Campus.

"I'm happy with the number of laps I clocked up and how quickly I felt up to speed at the wheel of the AMR25. It was also good to get back in the cockpit while I'm in the current two-month break in the F2 season."

"I'm very happy and can't wait for the next one."

  • Postion

    19TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:20.371 (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    29

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    346.8

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
I got into a good rhythm pretty quickly.

"I always love coming back to Mexico, it's a great race weekend. There's always incredible energy from the fans here and I like this track.

"The car felt OK in Free Practice Two. I got into a good rhythm pretty quickly. There are a few things to work on for us tonight and we'll see what we can do tomorrow."

  • Postion

    10TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:17.954 (SOFT)

  • Laps

    30

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    352.5

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
We made some changes to the car from Free Practice One and it felt better in Free Practice Two.

"We made some changes to the car from Free Practice One and it felt better in Free Practice Two.

"Friday isn't the real picture though, so let's see whether we can improve things overnight and be in a good position tomorrow."

  • Position

    8TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:17.938 (SOFT)

  • Laps

    29

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    349.0

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
  • Postion

    13TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:17.598 (SOFT)

  • Laps

    23

  • Max speed (KM/H)

    348.6

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
  • Postion

    20TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:18.611 (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    12

  • Max speed (KM/H)

    347.3

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
There was just no grip in Qualifying.

"The car was feeling OK in Free Practice Three, but there was just no grip in Qualifying and this happens a lot – there's good grip in the practice sessions and then we go into Qualifying and we struggle.

"We'll see what we can do tomorrow; it will be another tough race for us starting from the back.

"We will obviously try to make up positions, but it's a very different kind of track with the high altitude."

  • Q1

    1:17.606 – 19TH (SOFT)

  • Laps

    9

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    348.9

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
Let's see what happens in the first few corners tomorrow.

"We've been struggling for pace today and I think we achieved the maximum we could in Qualifying.

"It was very low grip out there, but it was the same for everyone.

"Let's see what happens in the first few corners tomorrow, as it's tight into the chicanes and there might be something to gain there.

"We will give it our all and try to fight for points."

  • Q1

    1:17.232 – 12TH (SOFT)

  • Q2

    1:17.103 – 14TH (SOFT)

  • Laps

    15

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    351.4

Mike Krack
MikeKrack
It's been a challenging Qualifying session in the heat and altitude of Mexico City.

"It's been a challenging Qualifying session in the heat and altitude of Mexico City.

"We knew it might be close in the midfield and so we opted to run three sets of Softs in Q1 to give us the best chance to progress.

"We struggled to find grip throughout both sessions and Lance was unfortunately eliminated in Q1, starting P19 for tomorrow.

"Fernando did well to progress into Q2 with a strong lap at the end of Q1, but we think P14 was probably the maximum we could have achieved today.

"A lot can happen into Turn One here, so we'll be ready for anything and try our best to progress and fight for points.

"It's been a busy double-header for the team and hopefully we can put on a show tomorrow for the fans."

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
P14 was the maximum that was in it for us today.

"We always had realistic expectations coming to Mexico and historically this has been a track where we have struggled in the past so starting from P19 today was never going to be easy.

"I had a spin during the first lap as the track was dirty on the outside. A strong first stint on the Softs and some good moves by the team, but P14 was the maximum that was in it for us today."

  • Position

    14th

  • Starting position

    19th

  • Fastest lap

    1:20.593 (LAP 45) (SOFT)

  • Tyres

    Soft-Medium-Soft

  • Laps

    70

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    354.4

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
It was a difficult race for me, and we've struggled for pace all weekend.

"It was a difficult race for me, and we've struggled for pace all weekend.

"We had a good start but then there was some contact which caused minor damage to the front wing. I was also surprised to see a few cars cutting the corner at the start, jumping ahead of us and not getting penalties.

"Unfortunately, about halfway through the race we had to retire the car as a precaution. Hopefully we can have more luck in the future."

  • Position

    DNF

  • Starting position

    14th

  • Fastest lap

    1:21.708 (LAP 22) (MEDIUM)

  • Tyres

    Soft-Medium

  • Laps

    34

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    352.7

Mike Krack
MikeKrack
We will dust ourselves off from this double-header.

"The team pushed hard today after a challenging start to the weekend but couldn't get into the points.

"It was a chaotic opening to the race and during these early skirmishes Fernando suffered with some minor damage to his front wing after contact.

"Once things had settled down, both did well to manage the pace on the Soft tyres in the first stint and Lance gained a number of places from his start position.

"Unfortunately, midway through the race, as a precaution Fernando retired his car due to a possible brake issue. We need to investigate this issue further in our post-race analysis.

"Ultimately, we didn't have the pace this weekend. We will dust ourselves off from this double-header and look ahead to Brazil where there is another opportunity to fight for points."

2,240 metres above sea level

Mexico City. Everything about this Grand Prix is full on. The crowd is magnificent, the race always dramatic. Even without the reduced air density, it's a weekend for a sharp intake of breath. Mexico is a country with a strong racing heritage that’s been welcoming F1 since the 1960s – but that comes with a distinctive flavour that really isn't like anywhere else.

Being here is a whirl of the senses. The paddock is hectic, and the promoters have a lot of fun with everything from a taqueria to a mariachi band. This close to Día de los Muertos, we'll also have no shortage of cempasúchil and calavera make-up. However intense the season, however busy the weekend, this is a Grand Prix everyone enjoys.

A hard-fought point for Fernando and spirited fight through the field from Lance means we came away from the preceding round in Austin with something positive, and although Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez hasn't proved lucky for us in the past, the team arrives in Mexico in good spirits, hopeful this is the year to turn that around.

We've also got Young Driver Jak Crawford in the car for his first full taste of an F1 weekend in Free Practice One, and we're celebrating the global launch of the Valvoline Aspiring Mechanics Programme by teaming up trackside with our Official Lubricant Partner to inspire the next generation and immerse local students in the world of an F1 mechanic.

TRACK INSIGHTS

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

Mexico GP header portrait track
Cooling for the cars is very challenging, so it's usually a tough one for reliability and physically because of the higher altitude.
Stoffel Vandoorne – Test & Reserve Driver
Track map
  • Sectors
  • Turns
  • DRS
  • Circuit length (km)
    4.304
  • Number of corners
    17
  • Race distance (km)
    305.354
Session Times
FP1
Fri24OCT
FP2
Fri24OCT
FP3
Sat25OCT
Quali
Sat25OCT
Race
Sun26OCT
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