30 October - 1 November 2026
Mexico City GRAND PRIX ROUND 20
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
- FP1Fri 30 Oct18:3019:30
- FP2Fri 30 Oct22:0023:00
- FP3Sat 31 Oct17:3018:30
- QualifyingSat 31 Oct21:0022:00
- RaceSun 1 Nov20:0022:00
SECTORS
DRS
FIRST GP
1963
LAPS
71
CIRCUIT LENGTH
4.304
DISTANCE
305.354
A burst of sound and vision in Mexico City
The Mexico City Grand Prix can stake a claim to be one of the loudest on the F1 calendar. Returning to F1 in 2015 after a 23-year hiatus, the size of the crowd and the atmosphere generated within the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez made everyone in the pit lane question why the race had ever gone away.
The current era represents Mexico’s third go at hosting Formula 1. Always held at this venue, the race first ran from 1963 to 1970. It returned for a second stint from 1986 to 1992, producing a string of famous events that gave international fame to the fearsome, banked, Peraltada. The revamped circuit for the third act of F1 in Mexico no longer features that particular challenge: a baseball stadium now sits on the corner, around which there simply isn’t enough room for a modern, high-speed sweep. Instead, the new circuit cuts through the centre of the stadium which, consequentially, forms an awe-inspiring cauldron of spectator noise.
The big setup criteria in Mexico is based around altitude rather than layout. The circuit is 2,285m (7,497ft) above sea level – that’s way beyond the usual envelope, with the next highest circuit being Interlagos at a comparatively paltry 800m (2,625ft). While the thinner atmosphere does not create a power loss for turbo cars (though the turbo itself will have to work harder), which would have been sustained by normally-aspirated engines, it reduces aerodynamic grip and cooling efficiency. Consequentially, teams have to run with more wing, and with the car more ‘open’ than would be the case at sea-level.
Our Mexico City Grand Prix heritage includes four victories, the first from Denny Hulme in 1969. When the race returned in the 1980s, both Alain Prost (1988) and Ayrton Senna (1989) took wins for McLaren, while Lando Norris secured our most recent win at the circuit in 2025.
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The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is great for overtaking opportunities, which really gets the passionate Mexican crowd on their feet.
The action begins at the first turn - a heavy braking zone that directly follows a 1.2km straight, which can see drivers reach 320km/h - and continues through the next few corners. After the slipstream-friendly straight has bunched up the field, the first three turns take drivers right, left and then right again before another heavy braking zone at Turn 4, giving them a second overtaking opportunity.
The circuit’s most famous section arrives at Turn 12, when the drivers weave through an old baseball stadium, the Foro Sol, previously home to the Diablos Rojos del México. What this section lacks in overtaking opportunities, it more than makes up for in the party atmosphere created by the surrounding fans.
But neither of these provides as big a challenge for the drivers as the circuit’s altitude. At 2,285m above sea level, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is the highest point of the calendar by some distance. The lack of oxygen in the air, around a quarter less due to the high altitude, makes for an exhausting 71 laps.
The air is also less dense, and this impacts aerodynamics - with less downforce and grip being generated - and cooling, with the thinner air not able to cool down the car as quickly.
Mexico City is a spec-taco-ular location. For regular readers of our previews, it will shock no one that we’re excited for the food in Mexico, with tacos, enchiladas and quesadillas all on the menu over the next few days. We’ll also be tucking into some warming pozole and dipping everything we can in guacamole.
Stuck for conversation with your F1-loving friends? Spark up a discussion with our F1 icebreaker…
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was opened in 1962 in the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City, which hosted several Olympic events during the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Looking back on 2025
