ThestoryoftheMexicanGrandPrixdatesbackto1959whenthethenPresident,AdolfoLopezMateo,listenedtooneofhisadvisers,thefatherofthemostfamousMexicandrivers,RicardoandPedroRodriguez.
The president thus had the circuit built and today it carries the name of the two Rodriguez brothers and is located inside the Magdalena Mixiuhca sports complex in Mexico City, making use of existing roads. F1 in Mexico came into being not long after, in 1962 in fact, when motorsport’s blue riband category took part in a non-championship race.
The following year, the Mexican Grand Prix was officially part of the calendar and was won by Jim Clark. From then on there were 20 more races, all at the Mexico City track, in three blocks from 1963-1970, 1986-1992 and then from 2015 to the present day.
“Mexico is an unusual event because of the high altitude of the circuit, which means you run a maximum aero package, but only feel Monza levels of downforce and the cars hit some of the highest top speeds of the season. You even notice the lack of oxygen a little bit out of the cockpit, but not so much when you are driving. Although it’s not a Sprint weekend, we will have slightly less time than usual to work on car set-up and ensure we have the right cooling levels on a track where it is easy to overheat many of the components, including the ICE. That’s because FP2 will be spent entirely working on a Pirelli test for next year’s compounds. Austin wasn’t great, so I’m glad we go racing again immediately.“
“Mexico is very different to Austin; a different style of circuits, with the main difference being down to the altitude, meaning we run a high downforce on the car. The speeds we reach are some of the highest of the season, which means through the corners, especially the high-speed section of the track, there’s a lot less downforce compared to somewhere like Austin. Grip is quite low, so the cars slide around quite a lot, making it difficult to manage tyres. For me, I’ve only been there once before to do a free practice session in 2022, so it’ll be similar to Austin, having to re-learn everything, but with the luxury of three rather than just the one. Hopefully some of the things we learnt in Austin will help this week, but given the track is so different, we’ll also be running the car in quite a different window. I’m looking forward to getting back to it and I’m excited to get back in the car!”
Some of the things we learnt in Austin will help this week
Liam Lawson 
