Formula 1 continues its triptych in the Americas. The stage in the USA saw triumph once again Max Verstappen, with McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari ad to stalk. For this appointment, we fly in Mexico.
A "high-speed" story for the Mexican GP circuit
The Circuito Hermanos Rodríguez is a permanent track built in Mexico City. Opened in 1962, hosted F1 from 1963 to 1970, from 1986 to 1992, and finally returned to the calendar on a permanent basis from 2015, skipping only the edition 2020 due to Covid-19. Here, the record for the highest speed ever achieved by an F1 was set, 372,5 km/h. The car was the Williams of the season 2016, and he was there to guide it Valtteri Bottas. Modified several times throughout its history, it has been completely modernized to once again host the highest category of motorsport. The architect in charge was Hermann Tilke, the one who took care of many circuits where racing takes place during the season. To date, the track is long 4304 meters, Presents 17 curves e 3 DRS zones, one on the main straight (also long 1,2 km), one between 3 and 4, and the last between 12 and 13. The absolute circuit record belongs to Max Verstappen, which in the qualifications of 2019 set the time for 1'14 "758. The official track record belongs to Valtteri Bottas, who stopped the clock in the 2021 race 1'17 "774.
Altitude and rarefied area: this is what you need to look at to do well in the Mexico circuit
The main feature of this grand prix is the fact of run high. In fact, the track is built at a height of 2238 mt asl, then the air will be very rarefied. It will therefore be normal to see a car with some aperture in the bellies to try to cool as much as possible the engine. The machines that do not have overheating problems will therefore be those more advantaged. The track itself should result in teams using a set-up from medium-high load. However, everything will depend on the efficiency in terms of full speed that the car manages to develop. You could then see a configuration more extreme from medium load. The main negative factor of this choice, however, would be precisely the altitude. Degradation should not be too accentuated, even if the use of softer compounds, i.e. C3, C4 and C5. This could lead to doing at least 2 stops so as not to risk reaching the end of the race with no more tyres. They will be worth keeping an eye on the brakes, always Messi very testing on the Mexican circuit.
Max the favorite in Mexico, Ferrari to keep up with Mercedes and McLaren
Even if the championship has already been awarded, Verstappen remains the number one favorite to win. Mexico City has always been hunting ground of SuperMax, which boasts well 4 victories on this track. To keep an eye on will be the Classic Ferrari for sale. The Maranello cars are called to respond to the onslaught of Classic Mercedes for sale e McLaren. On a track where this, where the traction is fundamental, the Reds could to do well, perhaps even in style Singapore.
Article by Francesco Orlando
