Five fast facts about the Mexican Grand Prix

The Mexican Grand Prix takes place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City – named after brothers Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez, the country's first racing heroes. Ricardo remains the youngest driver to ever race for Ferrari in Formula 1, aged 19, but was tragically killed in practice for the first ever Mexican Grand Prix in 1962. Pedro went on to win in F1 and at Le Mans, only to also lose his life on track while racing sportscars in Germany in 1971. Mexico dropped off the F1 calendar following this painful double loss, but the brothers' legacy has lived on.

F1 returned to the rebuilt circuit in 1986, when Gerhard Berger claimed a famous first F1 victory for Benetton after completing the entire race on a single set of Pirelli tyres, while rivals were suffering high tyre wear on the abrasive and bumpy surface. Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell were both two-time winners of the race in subsequent years, although the latter perhaps became best-known in Mexico for his pass on Berger to claim second place in the 1990 race around the outside of the then-banked Peraltada corner. This corner has since been renamed in his honour, and Mansell was appointed a Mexican Grand Prix ambassador when the race returned to the calendar in the modern era.

In 2023, Mexico made another comeback with the circuit undergoing yet another major overhaul to bring it up to modern standards. The most notable change was to route the circuit through a former baseball field, the Foro Sol, bypassing the first half of the Peraltada corner: a decision that was made because there was no space to expand the run-off area on the outside. The result is a true stadium section with an incredible atmosphere to match, which is why the podium ceremony also now takes place there.

At an altitude of 2285 metres, Mexico City is Formula 1's highest racetrack by quite some margin, and the thinner air at this altitude impacts cars in various ways. While a normally-aspirated engine would lose up to 25% of its power, F1's modern turbocharged hybrid power units fare much better – although there are still significant challenges for cooling. The lower aerodynamic drag allows for incredible speeds in excess of 350 kph down the long main straight, but downforce in the corners is reduced. Teams try to compensate for this by running maximum wing levels, which they can do without losing too much in the way of straight line speed. In terms of car setup, Mexico is quite different from most places.

Mexico is a happy hunting ground for Max Verstappen, where the Dutchman champion qualified himself as the most successful driver in Mexican GP history, taking him past the three wins bagged by Jim Clark. But even if Max has collected a rich range of victories, the biggest cheers in the Foro Sol will surely be reserved for his Red Bull team mate, Mexican national hero Sergio Perez.