The schedule, strategy and secrets of the Mexico City GP

At the track of “Hermanos” (brothers) Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez, the Formula 1 caravan is making the 20th of 24 stops this year, five days after Charles Leclerc’s triumph in Texas, USA.

Leclerc’s 1-2 with Carlos Sainz took the Scuderia back into contention for the constructors’ title, closing in on second-placed Red Bull Racing to 8 points and leaders McLaren to 48 points.

At the same time, however, with his victory in the Austin Sprint race and Max Verstappen’s eventual third place in the US GP, he extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship from Lando Norris to 57 points – 5 races and 2 Sprints before the end of the year.

Who is the favorite, this three days? The answer, in part, again lies in the particular conditions and design of the particular track, and which of F1’s top four cars are best suited.

However, Red Bull showed with their victory at the Texas Sprint that they have solved the major problems they had in the summer with the RB20 upgrades. McLaren, the top car of the summer, seems to have fallen a little behind in the development race – unlike Ferrari who have since the end of August the acquired speed of the upgrades that made the SF-24 F1’s top car, this the moment.

At the same time, Mercedes seems once again mired in a sea of ​​problems arising from the completely unpredictable behavior of the fairly fast, but very sensitive to the slightest changes in conditions, W15.

Tires & strategy

The Hermanos Rodríguez circuit’s surface does not stress the tires particularly much, according to Pirelli. Therefore, the very smooth surface and the fact that it is not often used on other days of the year means that times will constantly drop over the three days as the ideal line will be lined with an eraser.

At the same time, due to the non-roughness of the asphalt, and to open up more strategic options in the race, the tires that the Italian company provides to the teams are the three softest of its range: the C5 tire is the soft one (with the red perimeter) , C4 is the medium (yellow) and C3 is the hard (white).

On the two long straights of the Mexico City circuit, the surface temperature of the tires tends to drop sharply – and this is something drivers need to bear in mind when braking for the following corners, and especially for Turn 1.

In terms of strategy, usually the Mexican GP is completed by the teams with a pit stop. Last year most drivers tried to stretch the first stint on the medium tyre, but then the entry of the safety car and then the red flag for Kevin Magnussen’s accident meant most used three sets of tires during the race.

However, from the tire side, this three-day period has another peculiarity: the 2nd free practice period (FP2) will last an hour and a half (instead of one) because during it the 2025 tires will be tested – and especially the new one, still softer rubber C6.

All drivers will have to follow a specific program, set up by Pirelli’s engineers – with the exception of those who will give way to rookies in FP1. They will have 30 of the 90 minutes of FP2 at their disposal for their preparation – which of course will continue on Saturday in FP3.

Mexico GP 2024 schedule

• Friday, October 25
  21:30-22:30: Free Practice 1 (FP1)
• Saturday, October 26
  01:00-02:30: Free Trials 2(FP2)
  20:30-21:30: Free Trials 3(FP3)
• Sunday, October 27
  00:00-01:00: Ranking Tests (Q)
  22:00: Race (GP)

Mexican GP 2024 / October 25-27, 2024

• First GP: 1963
• Track length: 4,304 km
• Rounds: 71
• Total route: 305,354 km
• Lap record: Valtteri Bottas, 1:17.774 (2021)
• Winner 2023: Max Verstappen
• More wins: 5(Max Verstappen)
• Air temperature forecast: 20-23° Celsius
• Chance of rain: 20% (Sunday), <20% (Saturday), 0% (Friday)
• Probability of entry of the security vehicle: 43%
• Waste of time at the pit stop: 21.86” (of which 2.5” in stop)

See everything worth knowing about the F1 2024 championship in SPORT24’s Great Feature.

5 Hot Info about the track “Hermanos Rodríguez”

• Although F1 has only visited Mexico 23 times in its 75-year history, the sport is extremely popular in the country. And this is due to the brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez, the first Mexicans to be glorified in international motorsport (in F1 and especially in Sportscars).

• The Rodríguez brothers’ father was an adviser to the country’s President Adolfo López Mateo, and suggested that they build a Formula 1 track in the surrounding area of ​​the capital’s Magdalena Mixiuhca Sports Center. The President liked the idea.

• By 1962 the “Hermanos Rodriguez” circuit had been established and – after the non-championship GP of ’62 – F1 visited it in three periods: 1963-’70, then 1986-’92 and now from 2015 until today. Consequently, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have the record (5) wins there, while the most pole position (4) is still held by the great Scotsman Jimmy Clarke from the 60s, with Lotus.

• The track is more than 2,000 meters above sea level, and the increased altitude means the air is thin and oxygen limited. In turn, this means that the “breathing” of the engines is limited, as is the generated lift (vertical force) of the cars. So even though the track design is typical of a high lift tuning track, their top speed is very high.

• The only major difference in the track’s design from 1963 is that the spectacular, if terrifying, Peralta corner, where Ayrton Senna had one of the few times he lost control of his car in qualifying tests in 1991, has been removed in modern times and ended up in the barriers (before his McLaren-Honda landed upside down in the sand trap). In place of this bend now stands the impressive Foro Sol, the passage through a former baseball stadium.