Mexico City Track Preview
Antonelli’s second chance to take the 2026 title is in Mexico City, where the vibrant atmosphere is filled with music and all eyes will be on the young Italian. Before the lights go out, there are a few things you should know about the Gran Premio De La Ciudad De Mexico.
We first raced on the 4.304km track in Mexico City in 1963. It's obvious why all the fans adore the Stadium Section, with the cars passing them 71 times during the Grand Prix and it is where the post-race interviews are held. In 2021, Valtteri Bottas set the fastest lap around the track at 1:17.774s, but will we see anyone on the grid beat the record this weekend? Key overtaking opportunities are at turn one following the 1.2km start-finish straight, turn four with the 90-degree left-hander being a prime spot to lunge under braking, and finally, turn 13 in the Stadium Section.
2025 Recap
The 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix was one spectacle from Lando Norris. The Briton had strong pace across the weekend, taking pole position by over half a second and converting it into 25 points with the largest winning margin of the season at 30.3 seconds. The statement drive also saw him take the championship lead from his teammate, who finished in P5. Despite being a considerable deficit of points compared to the papaya team, Verstappen closed the gap once again with a third place finish.
Ferrari had a fairly successful weekend too as their drivers contended for a front-row lockout in qualifying, ultimately lining up in second and third. Charles joined Norris and Verstappen on the podium, as Lewis succumbed to penalties that left him eighth in the finishing order. Speaking of Ferrari, their academy driver, Oliver Bearman, attracted quite the attention post-race after finishing in P4 with Haas, five places higher than his more experienced teammate, Esteban Ocon.
There were four drivers who didn’t get to see the chequered flag at the high-altitude circuit in Lawson, Hulkenberg, Alonso, and Sainz. Starting with Liam Lawson, the Kiwi managed just 5 laps of the race after sustaining heavy aerodynamic and bodywork damages in the multi-car incident on lap one where Sainz made contact with his Racing Bulls. Next to have their race abruptly ended was Nico Hulkernberg. His Kick Sauber was no match for the altitude of Mexico City and had a power unit failure, retiring on lap 25. The third driver to retire was, “The Rookie” Alonso; the Spaniard was forced to retire his Aston Martin due to concerns surrounding an arising issue with brake cooling - not the way the two-time champion hoped to end his 400th race start. The other Spaniard in Carlos Sainz, was also forced to retire with just four laps to go because of an issue in his Williams.
2026 Expectations
Looking to this weekend, with the championship point being up for grabs again for Antonelli, what is the result that the Mercedes’ driver needs in Mexico?
For Kimi to take his first championship and become the youngest world champion in F1, he would need to claim just two points (finish P9) to his name, regardless of where Russell and Hamilton place.
We know that Mercedes will be the team to beat despite them being in the lower end of the points last time out. Ferrari will be right behind them as they are in the team standings. The Tifosi have had many fruitful races in Mexico such as Sainz’s win in 2024 so we can expect them to be battling for gold. The other two teams we can expect in the top five include McLaren and Red Bull. McLaren and Norris were the last to win Mexico so we can assume they’ll be in the front runners. However, can they execute the right strategy? Austin saw the team lose out on a podium finish with a one-stop strategy, will the team learn from their mistakes? Last but by no means least is Red Bull. Out in Texas the team qualified second and third with Verstappen taking home a podium finish while Hadjar placed sixth following a slow getaway at the lights that tumbled him down the order. The Austrian team is seemingly strengthening each race and are now level on points with McLaren.
So can Kimi take the championship and which team will emerge victorious?
Weekend Schedule (CST)
Free Practice One:
Friday 30th October 12:30 - 13:30
Free Practice Two:
Friday 30th October 16:00 - 17:00
Free Practice Three:
Saturday 31st October 11:30 - 12:30
Qualifying:
Saturday 31st October 15:00 - 16:00
Grand Prix:
Sunday 1st November 14:00 - 16:00
Article written by Alice Seager ©️Alice Seager 2026
