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The Mexican Grand Prix – Information, schedule and predictions

The Mexican Grand Prix, the nineteenth race of the originally planned twenty-three, is scheduled for the weekend of 27-29 October. What is the schedule and where can you follow the race weekend?

Published

1 year ago

24. 10. 2023

Tomáš Myšák

Zdroj: Jiří Křenek, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1

The Mexican Grand Prix, the nineteenth of the originally planned twenty-three races, is scheduled for the weekend of 27-29th of October. What is the schedule and where can you follow the race weekend?

The first race in Mexico took place in the Formula One Championship in 1963, with the circuit being built in 1959, nine years after the official World Championship began.

The father of Mexico’s most famous racing brothers, Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez, was an advisor to Mexican President Adolfo Lopez Mateo, and it was from there that the idea of building a race circuit was first conceived. The subsequent work was completed in less than a year.

However, the Queen of Motorsport had already visited the circuit in Mexico in 1962, even though it was a non-championship event. It was not until the following year that the Mexican Grand Prix was included in the World Championship, with Jim Clark being the first winner.

Mexico City thus became a traditional venue for Formula One races until 1970. The Mexican Grand Prix then returned to the calendar for the 1986 season, only to take an enforced break after seven events. Since the 2015 season, the race has once again been a traditional part of the World Championship, except of course for 2020, when it was not run due to a coronavirus pandemic.

The fastest lap here is held by Valtteri Bottas, who set a time of 1:17.774 in 2019. Last year, Max Verstappen dominated the Mexican Grand Prix and was joined on the podium by Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Pérez.

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

The track itself is 4.304 km long and consists of seventeen corners. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, as the official name of the circuit is, offers three DRS zones, but only two detection points. The first is located before turn 10, the second before turn 15.

The first DRS zone can then be found in the start/finish area, the second on the straight between turns 3 and 4 and the third shortest one between turns 11 and 12. Formula 1 has scheduled the Mexican Grand Prix for a standard 71 laps, during which the drivers will cover over 305 kilometres.

But as well as the detection points, you can also see the average speeds that the drivers reach at each corner, and what gear they usually shift into at that corner.

Mexican Grand Prix – programme

The Formula 1 cars will take to the track for the first time on Friday 27 October, at 20:30, as part of the first practice session (officially called Free Practice 1 – ed.). This will last the standard one hour.

FP2 will start at exactly midnight. The third and final free practice is scheduled for Saturday, October 28, from 19:30 to 20:30.

At the stroke of 11pm, drivers and teams will qualify for Sunday’s Grand Prix, which F1 has scheduled to start at 21:00.

Mexican Grand Prix – Predictions

Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing team will again be the biggest favourites to win in Mexico. Mercedes showed a very good race pace in Austin and could be breathing down the Austrian stable’s neck at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Lando Norris celebrated four consecutive podiums in the US Grand Prix, McLaren will also attack the podium. There will be a real battle for the podium, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz also looking to join the fray.