1. On this third visit to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, we are beginning to get used to the fact that the altitude in Mexico City has some interesting effects. Less dense air means less wind resistance for the cars but also less downforce for a given amount of wing. So the cars are run in much the same specification as in Monaco or Hungary to try and get some of that downforce back, and yet we still see the fastest speeds of the entire calendar, thanks to the use of turbocharged engines which compensate for that low air density from a power aspect. The 2017 spec cars are likely to be a little bit slower in a straight line than last year’s machines due to to the wider tyres and the fact that they run more downforce and therefore drag as standard, but in 2016 the Williams team recorded Bottas at 231.96mph. Bearing in mind that brake cooling is also reduced by around 25% for similar reasons, and it becomes clear that setting a car up for Mexico is not an easy task.
2. Lewis Hamilton is likely to win the title this weekend unless he suffers a non finish. Fifth place is all he needs no matter what anyone else does, but he’s on such a roll at the moment that anything less than a race win will be disappointing to him. British drivers have wrapped up the title here in Mexico on two previous occasions. 1964 was a titanic battle between 3 Brits; Graham Hill in the BRM, John Surtees for Ferrari and Jim Clark in a Lotus. During the race, Hill was holding on to 3rd place which was enough for him to become champion, but a controversial clash with the other Ferrari of Lorenzo Bandini put paid to that. Clark had been leading throughout and was now in position to claim his second title when an oil leak saw him grind to a halt with just over a lap to go. Surtees was now in 2nd, way behind Dan Gurney, but that was enough for the multiple motorbike world champion to become the only winner on both 2 and 4 wheels. Graham Hill did go on to win his second title here in Mexico, again helped by poor reliability afflicting his rivals, in this case Denny Hulme and Jackie Stewart. So while Lewis is odds-on to wrap it up this weekend, reliability has often been a factor here.
3. The track that Jim Clark and Graham Hill raced on in the 1960s, and the slightly revised version that the likes of Mansell and Senna competed at in the the 80s was a more challenging circuit than the modern version, a circuit that demanded bravery and commitment and took no prisoners. It was similar in many ways to Suzuka (without the elevation change) but the requirement for bigger run-off areas yet staying within the confines of a municipal park have led to an emasculation of the better corners. On the other hand, from a spectators point of view the atmosphere here is awesome. Not only in the Foro Sol stadium section at the end of the lap but also in the grandstands at the Turn 1 complex and at Turn 4. Mexican fans are super passionate, the place is a sell-out and the fever is electric.
4. Sergio Perez adorns the advertising across the city, but has yet to finish in the top seven at his home race and its hard to see it being much better this time when Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull tend to take the top 6 places on the grid with quite a gap to the next group, which is as tight as ever between Renault, Force india, Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso and Haas. Thanks to Carlos Sainz, Renault have moved back ahead of Haas and are catching Toro Rosso who”ll be depending on new boys Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley. That mid field group is going to be hard fought for the remaining 3 races.
5. Track limits. I didn’t really want to mention them, after the furore of Austin, but they are a factor here as Max Verstappen discovered when he lost another podium 12 months ago. Hamilton got away with straight-lining the first chicane at Turn 1 on the very first lap but Max was done later in the race for a similar move. The stewards purposefully allow more leeway on the opening tour, but once again, consistency of approach is all we ask for, so that we can have some idea as to what’s going on.
2. Lewis Hamilton is likely to win the title this weekend unless he suffers a non finish. Fifth place is all he needs no matter what anyone else does, but he’s on such a roll at the moment that anything less than a race win will be disappointing to him. British drivers have wrapped up the title here in Mexico on two previous occasions. 1964 was a titanic battle between 3 Brits; Graham Hill in the BRM, John Surtees for Ferrari and Jim Clark in a Lotus. During the race, Hill was holding on to 3rd place which was enough for him to become champion, but a controversial clash with the other Ferrari of Lorenzo Bandini put paid to that. Clark had been leading throughout and was now in position to claim his second title when an oil leak saw him grind to a halt with just over a lap to go. Surtees was now in 2nd, way behind Dan Gurney, but that was enough for the multiple motorbike world champion to become the only winner on both 2 and 4 wheels. Graham Hill did go on to win his second title here in Mexico, again helped by poor reliability afflicting his rivals, in this case Denny Hulme and Jackie Stewart. So while Lewis is odds-on to wrap it up this weekend, reliability has often been a factor here.
3. The track that Jim Clark and Graham Hill raced on in the 1960s, and the slightly revised version that the likes of Mansell and Senna competed at in the the 80s was a more challenging circuit than the modern version, a circuit that demanded bravery and commitment and took no prisoners. It was similar in many ways to Suzuka (without the elevation change) but the requirement for bigger run-off areas yet staying within the confines of a municipal park have led to an emasculation of the better corners. On the other hand, from a spectators point of view the atmosphere here is awesome. Not only in the Foro Sol stadium section at the end of the lap but also in the grandstands at the Turn 1 complex and at Turn 4. Mexican fans are super passionate, the place is a sell-out and the fever is electric.
4. Sergio Perez adorns the advertising across the city, but has yet to finish in the top seven at his home race and its hard to see it being much better this time when Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull tend to take the top 6 places on the grid with quite a gap to the next group, which is as tight as ever between Renault, Force india, Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso and Haas. Thanks to Carlos Sainz, Renault have moved back ahead of Haas and are catching Toro Rosso who”ll be depending on new boys Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley. That mid field group is going to be hard fought for the remaining 3 races.
5. Track limits. I didn’t really want to mention them, after the furore of Austin, but they are a factor here as Max Verstappen discovered when he lost another podium 12 months ago. Hamilton got away with straight-lining the first chicane at Turn 1 on the very first lap but Max was done later in the race for a similar move. The stewards purposefully allow more leeway on the opening tour, but once again, consistency of approach is all we ask for, so that we can have some idea as to what’s going on.