R20 – Tyre Selection

Formula 1’s America journey continues with a trip south for the Mexico City Grand Prix, one week on from the round in Austin.
As usual, the atmosphere inside the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez will be electrifying because of the exuberance of the fans who pack the grandstands in the spectacular Foro Solo stadium section.

The race is run over 71 laps of the 4.304 kilometres of Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez which boasts 17 corners.
Its main peculiarity is its altitude, which at over 2,200 metres above sea level means the air is very rarefield. Therefore the cars generate less downforce making car set-up and technical management particularly demanding for the teams.

The main straight is over 1.2 kilometres long, on which the cars reach very high top speeds, partly down to the minimal downforce. The track surface is very smooth and at the start of the weekend does not provide much grip, as it does not get used much.

As was the case in Austin last weekend, for the Mexican round there is again a jump in the compound selection between the hardest of the three and the medium.

While the Medium and Soft are the C4 and C5 respectively, as in 2024, the Hard will now the C2. For the Mexico City track, this compound is an extremely conservative choice, with a considerable delta in terms of lap time compared to the other two, while also offering less grip.

Last year, the soft only came into play in qualifying and then in the race, only in an attempt to secure the extra point for setting the fastest lap, but now the scenario could change considerably.

In 2024, all drivers, except Sergio Perez, adopted a one-stop strategy last year. Most started on the medium compound, while six driver, all of whom went on to finish outside the top eleven, preferred the hard for the first stint.