Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez: The Ultimate Track Guide

Sainz led home a Ferrari 1-2 in the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, as Verstappen picked up two ten-second penalties for separate incidents with title rival Norris.

There were incident-packed free practice sessions at the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix. In Free Practice 1, a collision between Alex Albon and Ollie Bearman – in the Ferrari, one of five rookies in FP1 – brought out the red flags. George Russell was fastest in the opening practice session but crashed heavily in the extended 90-minute FP2.

Oscar Piastri had been fastest in the final practice session but found himself eliminated in Q1 along with home favourite Sergio Perez. Yuki Tsunoda crashed out in Q2, while both Haas cars reached Q3 in Mexico for the first time in the team’s history. Carlos Sainz secured his first pole position of the season, ahead of title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris plus Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen leapt into the lead at the start of the race, while midpack contact saw Tsunoda crash out for the second time in two days. Sainz had taken the lead back by cutting the opening chicane just before the Safety Car was called out.

At the start of Lap 9, Sainz took the lead back legitimately as Verstappen fell back into grasping distance of Norris. The McLaren driver made his move with an overtake around the outside on Lap 10, in which he was barged off track by the Red Bull. Later around the lap, Verstappen appeared to run his rival off the road once again, with Leclerc finding his way into second place as a result.

The stewards interjected with Verstappen’s antics and supplied the Dutchman with two ten second time penalties for the two incidents, one for forcing another driver off track and one for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

While Fernando Alonso retired early on his 400^th F1 weekend, Sergio Perez was finding himself involved in side-by-side midfield battles with Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll. Verstappen served his 20 second penalty when he pitted on Lap 27, with Sainz continuing to lead a Ferrari 1-2 up at the front.

It would remain a Ferrari 1-2 until the last ten laps, when Norris closed in on Leclerc. A mistake from the Ferrari driver at the end of Lap 62 – which would have resulted in a large impact if not for Leclerc’s quick reactions – allowed the McLaren through into second.

Sainz comfortably secured victory from Norris and Leclerc, with Verstappen finishing in sixth – behind the two Mercedes drivers, who battled for position in the closing stages, with Lewis Hamilton getting ahead of Russell. Perez struggled to make any progress from where he started and ultimately finished only 17^th, Piastri made his way through the field to finish seventh.

Verstappen secured another Mexican victory in the red-flagged 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix, where Perez crashed out on Lap 1 of his home race.

Daniel Ricciardo was the star of qualifying at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix, reaching Q3 for the first time in the 2023 season and setting the fourth fastest lap time. Max Verstappen qualified alongside his old team-mate on the second row of the grid, but the front row was locked-out by the two Ferrari drivers, with Charles Leclerc securing pole position by 0.067 seconds from team-mate Carlos Sainz.

Sergio Perez started fifth for the Mexico City Grand Prix but it was game over at the Mexican’s home race at Turn 1. Verstappen pulled between the two Ferraris at the start, making it three-wide on the run to the first corner. A good start from Perez allowed him to climb up to third and as Sainz dropped back slightly, Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez went three-wide into the opening turn. Contact between Leclerc and Perez sent the Red Bull flying.

Verstappen assumed the lead, with both Leclerc and Perez’s cars damaged. Perez pulled into the pits at the end of Lap 1 and did not return to the track. The next few laps passed without incident, aside from a brief yellow flag for contact between Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen at Turn 1 and a brief Virtual Safety Car period to remove debris from the Lap 1 collision.

Ricciardo had a strong start to the race, holding onto his fourth position. He was passed on Lap 11 by Lewis Hamilton, moving down to fifth. Hamilton then set off after those ahead of him, with Sainz’s Ferrari the next target; though he failed to pass before Sainz made his first pit stop on Lap 31. Hamilton had stopped earlier than the Ferrari and pulled off a successful undercut to gain track position.

After a wide moment on the main straight laps earlier, Kevin Magnussen crashed out of the race on Lap 33 following a failure at the rear of his car, suffering a big impact with the tyre barriers. The Safety Car was deployed before the red flag was shown a few laps later due to the tyre barriers requiring repairs.

Verstappen had pitted from the lead at the end of Lap 19, while Leclerc had pitted just a few laps before the red flag was shown; in hindsight wasting an opportunity to have led at the restart and make a free pit stop under the red flag.

The race resumed on Lap 36 with a standing start, at which Verstappen retained the lead. Leclerc came under pressure from Hamilton but the Ferrari driver was able to stay ahead. Hamilton later made his move on Leclerc on Lap 40, passing the Ferrari at Turn 1. The first corner was a hotspot for contact in the race, with Tsunoda and Oscar Piastri making contact there on Lap 48 and again on Lap 49, spinning the AlphaTauri and dropping an angry Tsunoda out of the points.

AlphaTauri lost another position on Lap 60, with Ricciardo having to relinquish sixth place to McLaren’s Lando Norris – who was on a fine drive from 17^th on the grid. Norris had passed his team-mate Piastri a few laps earlier in a co-ordinated move by the team. Piastri was unable to follow his team-mate through, with Ricciardo finishing seventh to secure his first points of the year.

Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas made contact in the stadium section in the closing stages but Verstappen had an unchallenged run to another victory, finishing ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. Sainz finished fourth, while Norris made up another position in the closing stages, passing George Russell for fifth place.

Verstappen cruised to a record-breaking 14^th win of the season in the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix. 

Charles Leclerc crashed out in Free Practice 2 at the Mexico City Grand Prix, wrecking his Ferrari. The Monegasque driver didn’t have the best Saturday either, managing to qualify only seventh on the grid. It was Max Verstappen who took pole position, with the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton setting the second and third fastest times. Sergio Perez lined up fourth for his home Grand Prix. 

Verstappen led away at the start, as Hamilton passed Russell for second place – narrowly avoiding contact – while Perez also made it past Russell on the opening lap. There were a number of side-by-side battles further down the order in the opening stages  – one seeing both Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly running wide off the circuit. Gasly picked up a time penalty for gaining an advantage in that incident.

While Hamilton reported his tyres were OK, Verstappen was not particularly happy with his and was first of the frontrunners to stop on Lap 26. Hamilton pitted four laps later. While Verstappen switched to mediums, Hamilton opted for the hard compound. 

Esteban Ocon pulled off an impressive move on Valtteri Bottas as the race reached its halfway point, while Hamilton reported that his hard tyres were not in optimal condition. Daniel Ricciardo made contact with Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri. The incident saw Ricciardo handed a time penalty, while Tsunoda was eliminated from the race. 

Despite his penalty, Ricciardo picked up the Driver of the Day accolade, performing a fine comeback drive after his final stop to finish seventh. An unhappy Fernando Alonso retired six laps from the end of the race with engine issues. 

In the end it was a familiar podium, with the top three finishing in the same positions as they had done in the 2021 race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Verstappen cruised to a record-breaking 14^th win of the season, while Hamilton finished second and Perez secured another home podium result.

Max Verstappen took another step closer to a maiden title win at the 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix, while team-mate Sergio Perez took a popular home podium finish.

While the dusty track conditions at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez caused some drivers issues early on in the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, Sergio Perez was looking speedy and set the fastest lap time in final practice. The thin air at the altitude of Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez suited the Honda engines but come qualifying it was Mercedes on top.

Lance Stroll brought out the red flags with a crash on the main straight in Q1 but it was a relatively drama free Saturday afternoon as Valtteri Bottas took pole position. Both Perez and Max Verstappen’s fastest laps were disrupted by Yuki Tsunoda, leaving Lewis Hamilton to join his team-mate on the front row.

Bottas, Hamilton and Verstappen went side by side into Turn 1, with the latter coming out on top. Things went from bad to worse for Bottas, who was spun by Daniel Ricciardo. The resulting carnage saw both Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher eliminated from the race, with the Safety Car being called out.

Verstappen comfortably led from the restart. He never relinquished his lead aside from when Perez led for a brief period following his team-mate’s pit stop. Perez closed in on Hamilton towards the end of the race, with his supporters on their feet willing him to make a move. Perez could not find a way past, but still made history and became the first Mexican driver to finish on the podium at his home race.

Max Verstappen’s misdemeanours in qualifying saw him relegated from pole position. Charles Leclerc inherited the pole, but it was Lewis Hamilton who won, taking one step closer to a sixth World Championship win.

In qualifying for the Mexico Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Valtteri Bottas crashed in the closing stages at the final corner, bringing out the yellow flags. Max Verstappen, who had already secured pole position, failed to back off while trying to improve his lap time and was handed a three-place grid penalty for ignoring the yellow flags. That promoted Charles Leclerc to pole position, with team-mate Sebastian Vettel alongside him on the front row.

Leclerc made a good start as Lewis Hamilton attempted to pass Vettel. Hamilton had nowhere to go and was squeezed by Verstappen through the opening corners, with the pair running across the grass. At the front, the two Ferrari drivers made light contact. Bottas and Verstappen battled for seventh place, with Verstappen picking up a puncture.

Sergio Perez gave the partisan crowd something to cheer about in a fight with Daniil Kvyat. He went on to equal his best result at the circuit with seventh place.

Lando Norris was having a good afternoon, until his pit stop, when he left the box with a loose tyre. Hamilton pitted for hard tyres to see him through to the end of the race. Vettel inherited the lead until he himself pitted for Hard tyres, while Leclerc came in for the same compounds six laps later but suffered a slow stop,

On the last lap, Kvyat made contact with Nico Hulkenberg, sending the Renault driver into a spin. The Toro Rosso driver received a post-race penalty for the incident. At the front, Hamilton was able to stay ahead of Vettel, while Bottas completed the podium finishers.

Daniel Ricciardo took a final pole for Red Bull but team-mate Max Verstappen took victory as Lewis Hamilton secured his fifth Drivers’ Championship.

In an exciting qualifying session at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Daniel Ricciardo took pole by just 0.026 seconds from his team-mate; who was far from happy with the result. Lewis Hamilton started from third with the title up for grabs, while Sebastian Vettel started fourth.

At the start, Hamilton made a great start as Verstappen assumed the lead and Ricciardo dropped to third. Vettel was last of the leaders to come in for his first pit-stop, emerging behind the leading three drivers once again, but he soon passed Ricciardo for the final podium spot and then slid past Hamilton for second. There were unhappy faces at Force India as Sergio Perez retired from his home Grand Prix for the first time.

No sooner had Ricciardo made his way back up to third than his engine gave up and he became another unhappy retirement. With the roles reversed from Saturday, Verstappen emerged as the winner with the Ferrari pair completing the podium. It was Hamilton who took the headlines though, with a fourth place finish being all he needed to be crowned World Champion for a fifth time.