Mexico City Grand Prix

A difficult end to the double-headerA difficult end to the double-header

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

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 RodríguezAutódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

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

Toggle below to highlight parts of the track.

Sectors
Turns
DRS

Circuit length (km)
4.304
Number of corners
17
Race distance (km)
305.354

NEED TO KNOW: MEXICO CITY GP

The essential Mexico City travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Mastering Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

The magic of racing in Mexico City

Strategy insights from Mexico

Ultimate Mexico City Grand Prix facts

Last time out in Mexico

The essential Mexico City travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

The Mexico City Grand Prix really is the best of both worlds, with an excellent permanent circuit in the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez that lets the cars perform at their limit, surrounded by Mexico City which is simply amazing. It has incredible history and stunning architecture. A person could spend a lifetime looking around and still not see a fraction of what there is to see.

40km out of town is the ancient city and internationally renowned architectural site of Teotihuacan, but tourists don't have to leave the city to get a taste of pre-Colombian Mexico. Templo Mayor, at the heart of Tenochtitlan, is located a short walk from the city's famous Zócalo square (aka Plaza de la Constitución), and while many people simply visit the archaeological site, the museum that adjoins it is a brilliant place to learn about the history of the Aztec and earlier empires.

For those with a taste for more modern architecture, the Casa Luis Barragán is the place to see. Built by the eponymous Mexican architect and his home for 40 years, it is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, the only individual property in Latin America with that distinction and now run as a museum. Located in the Miguel Hidalgo district, it sits on the edge of the Bosque de Chapultepec park, now home to many of the city's museums.

Another UNESCO World Heritage site is the pre-Hispanic canals in Xochimilco. Famed for vibrant boats and floating gardens, the region has the nickname 'the Venice of Mexico' and at this time of year, in the build-up to the Dia de los Muertos will be a riot of colour and a great place to float through on one of the many boat tours.

Finally, if sports rather than culture are more your thing, there's no shortage of opportunities. Club América are next at home on 1 November for anyone wanting to watch football at the stunning Azteca Stadium, while there's no shortage of Lucha Libre venues for anyone keen to experience the theatre of Mexican wrestling.

Mastering Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

The most significant feature of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is the altitude. Looming two-and-a-quarter kilometres above sea-level, it's a proper outlier, towering almost three times higher than the next-highest circuit, with the reduced air density bringing with it several challenges F1 cars just don't face anywhere else.

First and most obvious is reduced grip. In the thinner air, the cars will be running Monaco-like bodywork but only delivering Monza-like downforce. It makes Mexico City a place for very, very high speeds, including the fastest ever speed recorded during a race, when Valtteri Bottas hit 372.5km/h in 2016. The corollary is that the cars lack their usual assurance under braking and turn-in, and thus it's common to see them locking up or running wide.

This is particularly true at Turn One. The start-finish straight is 1.3km in length and features the longest run of the year from grid slot P1 to the first corner (811m). It also has a very bumpy braking zone which, coupled with the long run to T1, tends to create mayhem on the first lap but plenty of incident and overtaking all the way through the race..

The race itself tends to be attritional. Lower air density also means less air available for cooling engine and brakes. The cars run with big, open bodywork and brake ducts but in traffic, with restricted airflow, it can still be a problem to get in as much cooling as required, which is why you'll often see cars pulling out to the side, even when they're not attempting an overtaking manoeuvre.

The magic of racing in Mexico City

For a new generation of trackside teams, two thoughts occurred when F1 returned to Mexico in 2015: the first being that it bears no relation to any other Grand Prix on the calendar; the second that it felt absurd that F1 had been away so long. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez has been packed to the rafters from day one and is simply the loudest, most raucous grand prix there is. The noise is astounding, particularly that emanating from the Foro Sol baseball stadium, located behind the pitlane and containing Turns 13-15.

The Foro Sol is a great place to soak-up the atmosphere. It's a great place to take photos as the cars pass through at low speed, and it has the podium, which is also one of the very best in F1, but it doesn't feature a great deal of action. For that, you have to go elsewhere. The cluster of grandstands around the T1-T3 complex is the obvious choice of location to watch wheel-to-wheel action, but increasingly the thrills and spills are coming at the next complex of corners. Turns Four and Five, the end of a short DRS zone, are a left-right chicane, with the outside line to the first becoming the inside line to the second. The grandstands here form another mini-stadium section, with the ones around Turn Six being a little further away but arguably having a better view.

It's an interesting experience for the crew in the garage, watching on the monitors: our feed is always a few seconds behind, so every roar of the crowd, presages something dramatic happening and had everyone reaching for their pitstop helmets.

Strategy insights from Mexico

Last year's race was a one-stopper with the top 11 cars all running a Medium-Hard race. The pit window for this was very wide, with stops between laps 26 and 39, though the pitlane was busiest around lap 30. The five cars behind these ran an ineffective reverse Hard-Medium strategy, stopping between laps 39-49. The Soft tyre didn't get a run-out until lap 65 of the 71, with a couple of drivers having a crack at fastest lap.

This year it may be a little different because Pirelli, as was the case in Austin, has introduced a compound bridge between the Hard and Medium tyres. Instead of the C3, C4, C5 we had last year, it's now C2, C4, C5. What difference is it likely to make? Possibly none: the C2 this year is not far off the performance of the C3, and Medium-Hard may still be the way to go… or it could be like last last time out in Austin, where the Medium-Hard of 2024 gave way to Medium-Soft in 2025. We'll need to see some practice laps to know more.

Ultimate Mexico City Grand Prix facts

1 | This is the 25th Mexican Grand Prix (though for sponsorship reasons, the race is currently the Mexico City Grand Prix). All of the races have been held on this circuit, originally named for the Magdalena Mixhuca park in which it is located.

2 | Mexico City is the highest elevation encountered annually by the Formula One teams, at around 2,240 metres (7,300 feet) above mean sea level. By contrast, the preceding round in Austin took place at an elevation of only 150 metres (490 feet).

3 | The city itself is built on the ancient lake bed of Lake Texcoco, and is sinking at a rate of around 50 centimetres (20 inches) per year.

4 | The Grand Prix has run in three tranches: from 1963 to 1970, 1986 to 1992 and 2015 to the present day, skipping the 2020 season due to the global pandemic.

5 | The circuit has gone through several iterations but the primary change between the version raced from the 1960s to the 1990s, and the modern-day track, is the removal of the original Peraltada corner, which is now the site of the Foro Sol baseball stadium, which the new track cuts through.

6 | The Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City in which the circuit is located is a famous sporting venue, having hosted many events in the 1968 Olympics. The basketball arena, velodrome, fencing hall and hockey stadium were all nearby, some of which are still in use today.

7 | Honda are the most successful engine manufacturer to have raced in the Mexican Grand Prix having taken five victories. The engine manufacturer powered its first F1 victory here in 1965, in the back of Richie Ginther's works car (and was also therefore its first victory as a constructor.

8 | Fernando became the first driver in history to reach 400 race weekend appearances at the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.

9 | Lance's best result in Mexico City is his sixth-place finish in 2017.

10 | Aston Martin Aramco Managing Technical Partner Adrian Newey took his first Grand Prix victory as an F1 designer when Riccardo Patrese won the 1991 Mexican Grand Prix. Making it a double success for Newey, teammate Nigel Mansell finished second.

Last time out in Mexico

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez hasn't been a particularly happy racetrack for us, with neither Lance nor Fernando scoring points in Mexico City. Our only points came at the first attempt, with Sebastian Vettel starting ninth and finishing seventh in 2021. While the new Peraltada is not the beast it once was when describing a full parabolic arc, it's still fearsomely quick, and Lance had a pretty big crash in Qualifying that ruined his weekend.

It hasn't particularly improved: Neither driver got out of Q1 in 2022, both struggling for grip, and while they both made gains during the race, it wasn't enough to get into the top ten. 2023 was a double DNF, after Fernando was unlucky to run over debris and pick up damage that made the car steadily worse as the race progressed, and Lance was forced into retirement after contact with Valtteri Bottas.

Things were a little brighter last year. As has become common in Mexico, FP1 featured a raft of rookie drivers doing one of the mandatory rookie sessions, with Felipe Drugovich standing in for Fernando. The race drivers qualified in the midfield, but Fernando had to retire the car when brake temperatures rocketed. Lance also had to manage cooling issues that compromised his race and saw him finish just outside of the points.

Session Times

FP1

Fri24OCT

19:30-20:30 BST

FP2

Fri24OCT

23:00-00:30 BST

FP3

Sat25OCT

18:30-19:30 BST

Quali

Sat25OCT

22:00-23:00 BST

Race

Sun26OCT

20:00 GMT

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