F1 Driver Form: Mexico City Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has won three of the last four races in Mexico. He has a 100% points-scoring record at the track, with a worst finishing position of ninth with Toro Rosso in 2015. Verstappen has qualified in the top three at the circuit in all of the last five races at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and took his first pole position at the track in 2019. However, he was demoted to fourth on the grid following a yellow flag infringement. 2018 is the only season that he has been out-qualified by a team-mate at the circuit.

In 2021, Sergio Perez became the first Mexican driver to finish on the podium at their home Grand Prix. 2018 is the only year in which Perez has failed to finish his home race, as well as the only time he has failed to score points at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. He retired from the race with braking issues. Perez has reached Q3 at the track only three times, in 2015, 2017 and 2021. He has a best qualifying result of fourth, recorded last year. 2015 and 2019 are the only times that he has out-qualified his team-mate at the circuit. Perez has gained at least one position from where he started in all five home races that he has completed.

Lewis Hamilton won the Mexico Grand Prix for a second time in 2019. He previously won the event in 2016, and finished as runner-up in 2015. He finished as runner-up once again last year. Hamilton has a 100% points finishing record at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The only occasions that he has not finished on the podium here were in 2017 and 2018, when he finished ninth and fourth respectively. Both of those results secured him World Championship victories. Hamilton has taken pole once at the Mexico Grand Prix, in 2016, with 2015 and 2021 being his only other front row starts. Though he qualified fourth in 2019, Hamilton has started from the top three on every appearance in Mexico. 2015 is the only season that Hamilton has failed to out-qualify his team-mate at the circuit. In 2019, his drive from third to the win marked the first time that he has finished the Mexico Grand Prix in a better position than where he started it from.

Charles Leclerc has scored on all three of his Mexico Grand Prix appearances so far. He finished seventh for Sauber in 2018, and bettered that result with a fourth place finish with Ferrari in 2019. He finished fifth last season. Leclerc has reached Q3 on every outing in Mexico, and qualified on the front row in the 2019 race here, before inheriting pole position as the result of a grid penalty for Max Verstappen. 2021 was the first time Leclerc has been out-qualified by his team-mate at the circuit.

Carlos Sainz scored in Mexico for the first time last year with a sixth place finish. Prior to 2021, his best result at the track was thirteenth, recorded in both 2015 and 2019. He retired from the race in both 2017 and 2018. Sainz has qualified in a position one better than his previous attempt on every visit to the circuit so far. He recorded his best qualifying result at the circuit last year, with sixth place. Sainz is yet to gain a position from where he has started at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

With an eighth place finish, Daniel Ricciardo scored at the Mexico Grand Prix in 2019 for the first time since his podium finish in 2016. Although he finished third in 2016, he never stood on the podium as the result was decided by penalties hours after the conclusion of the race. Ricciardo has left the circuit without scoring three times. He retired in both 2017 and 2018 and finished only twelfth last year. Ricciardo qualified on pole for the 2018 event, beating team-mate Max Verstappen to the front of the grid by just 0.026 seconds. In 2019, Ricciardo failed to reach the final part of qualifying at the track for the first time. He qualified seventh last year.

From his five previous Mexican Grand Prix appearances, Fernando Alonso has scored only three points. He finished tenth with McLaren in 2017, before recording a ninth place finish with Alpine last year. Alonso has recorded two retirements at the venue. While he finished thirteenth in 2016, he retired from the race in both 2015 and 2018. Alonso has never reached Q3 at the circuit and has a best qualifying result here of eleventh, in 2016.

Esteban Ocon has appeared four times previously at the Mexico Grand Prix: in 2016 with Manor, in 2017 and 2018 with Force India and in 2021 with Alpine. He has a 100% finishing record at the track, but his fifth place in 2017 is the only time that he has left the circuit having scored points. 2017 is also the only time he has reached Q3 here so far, qualifying in sixth place. 2016 remains the only time Ocon has been out-qualified by his team-mate at the track.

Pierre Gasly recorded his best result so far at the Mexico Grand Prix in 2021 with a fourth place finish. He has a 100% finishing record at the track and also scored in 2018 by finishing tenth and in 2019 with ninth place. 2019 marked the first time he appeared in Q3 at the circuit. He went on to record his best qualifying result at the circuit last year with fifth place. Gasly was eliminated in Q2 in 2018 and was out in Q1 in 2017. 2021 was the first time Gasly out-qualified his team-mate at this track. He has finished in a better position than where he started on all four appearances.

Sebastian Vettel finished as runner-up in both the 2018 and 2019 Mexico Grands Prix. Although he is yet to win at the circuit, he has finished in the top seven in all of the last five races at the track. He crashed out in 2015, making it the only time that he has failed to reach the chequered flag. Vettel has taken pole once at the track, in 2017. He also started from the front row in 2019, following a grid penalty for Max Verstappen. His Q2 exit last year was the first time he qualified outside of the top seven here. 2019 marked only the second time that Vettel has been out-qualified by a team-mate at the circuit.

Lance Stroll has scored once at the Mexico Grand Prix, with a sixth place finish on his first appearance in 2017. He has a 100% finishing record at the track Stroll has progressed past Q1 only once at the circuit, recording a best qualifying position of twelfth in 2017. 2018 is the only time that the Canadian has out-qualified his team-mate at the track. Stroll has gained at least four positions from where he started on all four of his outings in Mexico so far.

Valtteri Bottas took pole position at last year’s Mexico City Grand Prix but finished only fifteenth after a spin on the opening lap. It saw him lose his 100% points-scoring record at the eventx. He has a best finishing position at the track of second, in 2017, and has had two further podium finishes in 2015 and 2019. Bottas has reached Q3 on all six of his appearances, with his pole last year being the first time he qualified in the top three at the venue. Bottas crashed out of the final part of qualifying in 2019, making it the third consecutive year that he was been out-qualified by his team-mate. 2021 was the first time Bottas lost a position from where he has started at the Mexico Grand Prix.

Kevin Magnussen has raced four times in Mexico. He has scored points once, with an eighth place finish in 2017. 2016, on his only appearance here not with Haas, is the only time that Magnussen has progressed past Q1 at the circuit. He qualified fourteenth that year. 2018 is the only year that he has not out-qualified his team-mate.