Mexico City Grand Prix: Race Preview

The venue, located in a park in the eastern districts of Mexico City’s large sprawl, first played host to Formula 1 in 1963, under the name of the Autódromo Magdalena Mixhuca. It was subsequently renamed in honor of Mexico’s famous racing brothers, Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is in its third stint on Formula 1’s world championship calendar, having made a well-received comeback in 2015.

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez features distinct sessions across its 4.3km layout. The first sector includes a couple of lengthy straights, divided by a medium-speed right-left-right chicane, before a slow-speed complex opens out into high-speed esses through the middle portion of the lap. The final sector is dominated by the Foro Sol stadium, the 30,000-seater structure, with a twisty slow-speed section passing beneath the arena. But the biggest aspect of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is not something visible to the naked eye: the altitude. Mexico City rests 2,260 meters above sea level, making it by far the highest venue on the Formula 1 calendar.



As a consequence straight-line speed is among the highest of the season due to the low drag though this negates the impact of DRS, which can hinder overtaking, an element accentuated by the difficulty of cooling Formula 1 cars in the thinner air. There is also less downforce available at high altitude, which means drivers have to contend with more sliding through the high-speed esses, while ensuring brakes and tires are in the optimum window is also harder because of the altitude’s impact on surface temperatures and cooling ability.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team enters the Mexico City Grand Prix in sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship, on 38 points, with Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen striving to build on a team run of five consecutive points finishes.



Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:  

“Mexico provides a unique challenge due to its high altitude, the thin air means it’s tough on cooling and reduces downforce significantly. The circuit has plenty of low-speed corners with some heavy braking. We normally have very poor grip levels in FP1, combined with a lack of downforce, so it’s a big challenge for both drivers and engineers to get on top of it quickly. Following on from our strong performance in Austin, we’re looking forward to this challenge and for another top 10 finish.”



Nico Hulkenberg:

“Mexico City is the second stop of my favorite part of the season. The culture is so vibrant, and the fans in the Foro Sol stadium are guaranteed to make some noise, even if they save the biggest cheers for Checo. It’s an interesting track and another good challenge. We‘ll be ready for it.”



Kevin Magnussen:

“Mexico is a fun city, a fun track, and a fun event, it has an amazing atmosphere with the Mexican fans. The stadium section is a phenomenal part of the race track. It’s unique with the thin air, it’s tough on the cars for cooling, and aero-wise it’s a difficult venue. I think we’ve had some good and bad races here in the past but our car is in a good place, so there’s no reason why we can’t score again.”