Formula One Preview: Mexico City Grand Prix
- Peter Johnson
- 5 hours ago
- 6 min read
Written by Peter Johnson, Edited by Julia Bissessar
Max Verstappen further eroded the McLaren drivers’ cushion at the top of the Championship and will look to do so further in Mexico at a venue where he has previously won five times.
Circuit guide
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez returned to the Formula One calendar in 2015 following a 23-year hiatus and has been almost ever-present since, with the exception of the COVID-affected 2020 season.
The circuit’s name is dedicated to the Rodríguez brothers - Ricardo (1942-62) and Pedro (1940-1971) - who were both racing drivers killed behind the wheel.
The Mexican Grand Prix had also run at the circuit between 1963 and 1970, and again from 1986 to 1992.
Since its return in 2021, the race has run under the name of the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The circuit’s main defining characteristic is its altitude, sitting 2285 metres above sea level. That is a whopping 1.4 kilometres higher than the sport’s next-highest venue, Interlagos. The consequence of this is a notable impact on cars’ aerodynamics, engine power output and cooling efficiency due to the thinner air.
In each of its three chapters as a Formula One-hosting venue, the track layout has changed.
The once-fearsome Esses which composed the middle portion of the lap from the 1960s to 1990s have since been tamed following a Hermann Tilke-led renovation, while the magnificent, sweeping final corner of Peraltada was replaced in 2015 by today’s stadium section.
The Peraltada corner, a 180-degree banked right hander onto the main straight, played host in 1990 to one of F1’s greatest overtakes, when Nigel Mansell passed Gerhard Berger around the outside.
The track also has the longest run down to Turn 1 on the calendar, which often causes chaos on the opening lap. Overtaking thereafter is surprisingly more difficult, due to the altitude and thinner air.
Weekend format
Following last weekend’s sprint format, things are back to normal in Mexico City with three practice sessions across Friday and Saturday.
Session times (BST)
Free Practice 1 Fri 19:30 - 20:30
Free Practice 2 Fri 23:00 - 00:00
Free Practice 3 Sat 18:30 - 19:30
Qualifying Sat 22:00 - 23:00
Race Sun 20:00
Weather forecast
The sun is expected to shine across the Grand Prix weekend, with forecast temperatures of around 26 degrees Celsius meaning the race is unlikely to be declared a “heat hazard”.
There remains, however, a very, very slim chance of showers on Sunday afternoon.
Major talking points
The three-way title fight: Not since 2010 has F1 seen a genuine title battle between more than two drivers, but following Max Verstappen’s points haul in Austin, 2025 is now a bonafide three-way fight. The Dutchman took a maximum 33 points at COTA, compared to Lando Norris’ 18 and Oscar Piastri’s 12. He has now scored as many points in the last five rounds as both McLaren drivers combined (119). With five previous wins in Mexico, he could further slash his 40-point deficit to Piastri this weekend.
Reserve drivers on Friday: Every team with the exception of Sauber will be running one of their reserve drivers during FP1. Pato O’Ward has been confirmed to feature for McLaren, while Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari), Arvid Lindblad (Red Bull), Frederik Vesti (Mercedes), Luke Browning (Williams), Jak Crawford (Aston Martin), Paul Aron (Alpine), Ayumu Iwasa (Racing Bulls) and Ryō Hirakawa (Haas) will also feature. Fuoco will be making his Formula One debut, at that.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will be giving up their seats, which could potentially have championship ramifications if Lindblad or O’Ward has a shunt.
Constructors’ Championship battle: Following Max Verstappen’s dominance and Ferrari’s resurgence in Austin, the race for second in the constructors’ standings has really heated up. Mercedes (341), Ferrari (334), and Red Bull (331) are now separated by just 10 points.
Fight for midfield supremacy: Williams may now finally have fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship sewn up, but recent returns to the points for Aston Martin and Sauber have brought the pair back within range of Racing Bulls, as the three teams continue to squabble over the sixth spot.
Past Mexican Grands Prix
Max Verstappen has historically been the most successful driver on Mexican soil. In 24 previous races in Mexico City, the Dutchman has taken the chequered flag on five occasions (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023).
Jim Clark (3), Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Lewis Hamilton (all 2) have also won the Mexican Grand Prix on multiple occasions, while Carlos Sainz won last year’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc finished third to make a double Ferrari podium, while Lando Norris finished second. The race is best remembered for Verstappen’s bizarre, hot-headed outburst against Norris which landed him with two separate penalties for forcing another driver off track.
Other memorable moments of the latest chapter of Formula One in Mexico include the 2017 race, when Hamilton won his fourth World Championship title despite sustaining a puncture on the opening lap.
The Briton also seized his fifth crown in Mexico the following year, when Verstappen took the chequered flag despite being pipped to pole the previous day by Daniel Ricciardo.
In the midst of the 2021 title battle, Verstappen overtook both Mercedes of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas off the line on his way to victory.
Meanwhile, the race start in 2023 spelt heartbreak for the Mexican crowd as home hero Sergio Pérez failed to advance past the first corner.
Last race recap
It was the perfect weekend for Max Verstappen in Austin, as he picked up a maximum 33 points for winning the sprint and Grand Prix. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri dropped further points to him as they collided on the opening lap of the sprint race and finished the Grand Prix in second and fifth respectively.
Ferrari saw an upturn in form, with a double top-five finish in the sprint and a double top-four finish on Sunday. Charles Leclerc defended admirably against Norris for the majority of the race before eventually having to settle for third, claiming Ferrari’s first podium since the Belgian Grand Prix in July.
Carlos Sainz was the main beneficiary of the sprint’s opening-lap chaos, picking up a podium for Williams. His Sunday was less smooth, however, as he landed a five-place grid penalty for Mexico following a collision with Kimi Antonelli.
It was a good weekend for Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, too. The German qualified fourth for the sprint race before being involved in the opening-lap melée, but made up for his disappointment on Sunday by collecting his first points since his Silverstone podium in July.
Drivers to watch
Max Verstappen: The World Champion is the man in form at the moment and will be looking to maintain his title comeback at one of his most successful circuits. Red Bull have always gone well in Mexico, with the thinner air working to the team’s advantage in the era of Mercedes dominance. The Verstappen-Red Bull-Mexico City combination has something of an inevitability about it and all the pressure is on the McLarens to deny him victory once more.
Oscar Piastri: The championship leader was 104 points clear of Max Verstappen just four races ago, but is now just 40 points ahead. He only has a 14-point cushion over Lando Norris, too, and has not stood on the podium in the last three races. Piastri’s first taste of a title run-in has hardly gone to plan, with the pressure showing week by week. He really needs a rot-stopping result soon.
Lewis Hamilton: The seven-time world champion is twice a winner in Mexico, and sealed two of his titles here too. He said after the US Grand Prix that he “finally” felt on top of his Ferrari, finishing fourth in both the sprint and main race. The Briton has had several false dawns already this year, but could this one be genuine?
Peter’s prediction
It is impossible to look past Max Verstappen. All it takes is a mistake in Qualifying, a Turn 1 collision, or even a moment of red mist as he experienced last year, for somebody else perhaps to take victory, but it would frankly be a huge surprise.
