GP Mexico: times, standings, circuit info, weather

GP Mexico times

The Mexican Grand Prix starts on Sunday at 9pm and that’s not the only time you’ll have to turn on late in the day. The entire weekend is evening and night work. It is again a regular race weekend, so Saturday evening (qualifying) and Sunday evening are especially important to put in your agenda.

Championship standings

Partly thanks to the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris has made a leap in the championship, moving from seventh to sixth place. For Sergio Pérez, the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton was particularly important, because it extended his lead, while it would otherwise have shrunk. It is also noticeable that Lance Stroll has dropped out of the top 10. Now Pierre Gasly is in P10.

There is also bad news for Aston Martin in the constructors’ championship. That drops from P4 to P5. McLaren climbs to fourth place and given the current form of that team, it will probably not give up that place again. As strong as Aston Martin started this season, things are now going so disappointingly for the British team. Meanwhile, slightly higher up in the championship, it remains extremely exciting whether Ferrari or Mercedes will finish second this year.

Circuit

The Mexican Grand Prix is ​​held at the Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. A circuit that has changed considerably over the years, especially when the last part of the circuit was moved in 2015 so that the cars can drive through the stadium. The circuit is named after the Mexican drivers Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez who died during races. Ricardo Rodríguez actually died on this circuit in 1962, older brother Pedro nine years later at the Norisring in Germany. The circuit hosted Formula 1 for the first time in 1986 and also in the following years up to and including 1992. In 2015, after thorough renovation and adjustments on numerous points, it was added to the calendar again.

The circuit has a number of notable features. Besides the stadium section from Turn 12 to Turn 16 (which is packed with enthusiastic Mexicans during the race), there is a very long straight, followed by a right-angle bend. At the start this usually produces quite a spectacle, because the drivers arrive at the first corner with immense speed. Max Verstappen managed to go from P3 to P1 at the start here last year by outbraking the two Mercedes drivers.

An additional challenge of the circuit is that it is very high; no less than 2.2 km above sea level. The air here is thin and that means that the engines of the F1 cars have a harder time. This evens out any power differences between the power sources. The latter helped Max Verstappen in his Red Bull (despite the inferior Renault engine) on his way to victory in 2017 and 2018. Verstappen won the race for the fourth time last year, but it was George Russell who took the fastest race lap with 1:20.153. Max Verstappen took pole position earlier in qualifying with a lap time of 1:17.775. Next Sunday, the drivers will drive 71 laps around the relatively short circuit to achieve a race distance of more than 305 km.

Weather

It will be pleasant late summer weather in Mexico City this weekend. Although there may still be some showers this week, it appears to remain dry over the weekend. With temperatures of around 25 degrees, fortunately for the drivers it is also less hot than in recent races. There may also be a small drop on Sunday, although in practice it will probably not mean that rain tires will actually be used.