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Located 2,240 metres above sea level, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is the highest track on the F1 calendar by some distance. The altitude has a significant impact on aerodynamics and downforce, of course. Don’t ask me to go into it. Williams explain it quite well … I think.
It’s expected to be 26ºC in Mexico City during the race, with track temperatures currently at 53ºC. Not quite as hot as Singapore or Austin but still pretty toasty for those drivers – and the cars. Ferrari have got bags of dry ice to feed through the vents to cool the engine.
Mexico is a happy hunting ground for Max Verstappen, starting 5th on the grid. He’s won five of the last seven grands prix at the Hermanos Rodríguez.
No McLaren driver has won in Mexico since Ayrton Senna in 1989 (albeit there wasn’t a race there from 1993 to 2014).
Lewis Hamilton (in 2016 and 2019) is the only driver on the front two rows of the grid who has won in Mexico. He starts 3rd, just as he did in 2019.
Just as Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen are locked in a three-horse race for the drivers’ title this year, so were Graham Hill, John Surtees and Jim Clark at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the final race of the 1964 F1 season. Giles Richards takes a trip down memory lane in his new book:
Starting grid
1) Lando Norris (McLaren)
2) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
4) George Russell (Mercedes)
5) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
6) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
7) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
8) Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
9) Oliver Bearman (Haas)
10) Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
11) Esteban Ocon (Haas)
12) Carlos Sainz (Williams)*
13) Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber)
14) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
15) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
16) Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
17) Alexander Albon (Williams)
18) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
19) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
20) Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
*Qualified in seventh; five-place grid penalty
Preamble
Well, what an opportunity for Lando Norris in Mexico City. His performance in qualifying yesterday has given him a significant advantage over his title rivals in a race that gets under way in an hour’s time. The McLaren driver starts on pole, with his teammate and overall leader Oscar Piastri only 7th and Max Verstappen in 5th. Completing the front row is Charles Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton in 3rd and George Russell 4th.
I’ll be bringing you lap-by-lap updates when the grand prix gets started at 8pm (GMT). With only five races of the season remaining and just 40 points between the top three drivers in the standings, it’s sure to be pivotal in the destination of the title.
If you’ve got any thoughts on the action or the season as a whole, feel free to get in touch with me via email. ¡Vamos!
