McLaren Racing – Everything you need to know about the Mexico City Grand Prix

It’s unlikely that Steve Winwood had the Mexico City Grand Prix in mind when he wrote the hit hit “Higher Love” in 1986, but at over 2,000 meters above sea level, Mexico City is huge and vibrant home to the highest station on the Formula 1 calendar and one of the sport’s most popular racetracks: the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

To find out exactly what is in store for you this weekend, scroll down for the thoughts of McLaren F1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo as well as team principal Andreas Seidl. We’ll also let you know why this popular route offers such a unique challenge and give you the details of our latest competition.

So follow you

What you say

“After almost two years away from Mexico City, it’s really great to be back. It’s a great city with a cool route right in the middle, which always creates a great atmosphere. It’s a pretty unique track but I enjoyed driving it in 2019 so I was disappointed when we didn’t ride there last year. Mexico marks the start of a long triple headset with an intense race over the next three weeks. Even so, I’ve been working hard on my sim preps and using the time since Austin to prepare for all three tracks. I feel ready to come back to it and I can’t wait to get back on track. “

“I’m looking forward to going back to Mexico, it’s been too long. The atmosphere is always amazing and this section of the stadium is a great part of the track, the fans are also some of the most passionate in the world. We’re really lucky to be racing there and in Brazil in a row because the excitement about the races is unreal. I’m expecting a similar fight to Austin, although I didn’t race there last year it’s hard to say where we will really be in terms of performance. We just focus on what we can do as a team, try to score as many points as possible, and see how the field does. About Mexico! “

“After an unbelievable atmosphere last time in Austin, we’re going to Mexico and expecting a lot from it. The Mexico City Grand Prix begins an intense racing phase for the team with three consecutive races and many long flights. This scenario presents a lot of challenges, but also a lot of opportunity, and we will work hard to get the maximum performance out of every race. Mexico presents a unique setup challenge that can often shake the competitive mandate. The high altitude and thinner air means we’re getting more downforce than we normally would on a track like Mexico, and that can be difficult to get right. We worked in the simulator to make sure we had as much data as possible before the weekend.

“With only five races left in the season, we know that every race counts and that we don’t have time to lose our vigilance. We know it will be a challenge to maintain our position in the Constructors’ Championship, but we are ready for that challenge. We will continue to focus on the variables that we can influence and keep the pressure on the people around us. “

Mexico City Grand Prix

What the statistics say

We won the Mexico City Grand Prix three times, in 1969, ’88 and ’89 with Denny Hulme, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. Fast forward to today and our current driver pairing both showed a lot of speed in Mexico. Lando seemed to be bringing home a sizeable score in 2019 after qualifying P8 and winning grid positions, just for a cross-threaded wheel nut that undid his and the team’s hard work. With the Covid-19 pandemic dwarfing last year’s race, the 2021 edition of the Mexico City Grand Prix will only be the second Mexico F1 race that Lando has participated in.

Daniel, meanwhile, has contested every edition of the race since it returned to the calendar in 2015 after a 23-year absence. His best result so far in Mexico is the third, although it was perhaps the bizarre podium of his career. In fact, he never made it to the podium. Max Verstappen crossed the finish line in third, but was docked five seconds after a curve. Sebastian Vettel was promoted to third and attended the award ceremony, but he was docked 10 seconds later due to dangerous driving and that put Daniel in third place, even though he crossed the finish line in fifth.

Choice of tire compound for the Mexico City GP

What to look out for

We will literally reach new heights this weekend. At an altitude of 2,285 meters above sea level, the air in the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez will be about 25% less dense than in Monza or Sakhir. This results in about 10% lower downforce levels than what the teams drive at Monza and a car that is skeptical to drive even though the teams will be driving at maximum downforce.

The challenges don’t stop there: As the end of another season approaches, aggregates with potentially several kilometers will be pushed to their limits this weekend – and possibly beyond. Turbochargers have to work even harder at this altitude to ensure that the pressure of the air supplied to the engine is high enough to prevent a drop in performance. That’s not all, because with less air, cooling becomes a problem for everything, from the aggregate to the brakes to the tires. It is notoriously difficult to simulate cooling. So expect teams to open up the bodywork of cars, run larger brake ducts, and choose to run behind another car for part of a long distance during practice to try to understand the kind of temperatures they might get in the race see.

Not only will the cars feel it this weekend, but the drivers too. With less oxygen in the air, and with only two weeks between the U.S. and the Mexican Grand Prix lacking time for proper altitude acclimatization, riders will have to put more effort into achieving the same level of performance, and driving will do so make more exhausting.

The stadium section of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez with 40,000 seats is a real feast for the eyes when it is full of fans and also serves as the venue for the spectacular award ceremony of the race. There are many lap times to be won and lost due to the stadium section. It’s very slow and the curbs are high making it easy to get knocked off the line. A clean exit from Turn 16 is important because it leads to a 1.314 km long start-finish straight that offers many overtaking opportunities into Turn 1, where braking is difficult due to the lack of downforce.

Weather forecast for the weekend

What to wear

You can still see the second half of Cap Week in the McLaren Store. With the help of our official headwear partner New Era, we have replenished old favorites and added some new designs, so there are many alternatives to choose from. There’s even a cap carrier to keep your collection in pristine condition.

Cap week

Refilled favorites and reissues, celebrate the mighty McLaren cap collection with official partners New Era

Plus one

Fancy a video call with Daniel? Of course you do! We’re hosting a Webex Fan Call to give you the chance to connect with the most popular Australian racers of all time – sorry, Mark Webber et al. All you have to do to speak to Daniel is make sure you’ve signed up for McLaren Plus using the form below, and then you have to … oh wait, that’s it. That’s all you have to do. That was easy!

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