Grand Prix 2015 Mexico Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Welcome to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico. We are back after 23 years.

1992 was the last race held here. The reasons it was cancelled were principally due to money issues, but also in no small part because of increasingly severe bumps on the track that they couldn’t afford to fix. This coupled with problems in Mexico City itself including increasing air pollution and a rapidly growing and increasingly lawless population saw the venue get the axe.

In 2015 Mexico city is the most populous city, with the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere, some 3 times larger than greater London. The visit Mexico brochures would describe it as colourful and wild, yet fail to mention the car jacking, gun battles, subway gangs and a murder rate over 5 times higher than London. I would love to visit, but you certainly want to make sure you read your guide book before you get off the plane as walking into the wrong area is definitely bad for your health. The city is set at a dizzying height of 2250m (7380feet) above sea level. Although the drivers may not exactly need oxygen masks, the cars at any rate will feel under powered here from the thinner air. Aero also works less efficiently in thinner air. With so many variables, I am hoping for a shake up in the running order as some teams nail the engine and areo settings and others mess it up.

The Hermanos Rodriguez Circuit has had $300 million thrown at it from state, federal and private investors in order to pay for what is now a heavily modified complex since our last visit here.

The old pits were demolished, the track, kerbs and crash barriers ripped up and the grandstands bulldozed. In early 2014 this place was literally a muddy field.

All the corners have been redesigned, mostly to accommodate safety run offs and aid overtaking, but most retain the spirit of the corner they replace such as the hair pin and the esses. A bigger change is the Peraltada that is now cut in half, with the ‘remaining’ half now slightly tighter and the removed half now one of the most fun stadium sections I have seen with the track going between 2 grandstands. I can already hear the groans about chopping up this famous corner, but the bottom line is the Peraltada had to be changed due to the proximity of the buildings preventing the existing small run off from being expanded. A hard concrete wall at the exit of a 186mph corner is simply not possible today. Some videos of the old corner and why it was changed are at the foot of this article.

The entire track has been laid anew to get rid of the horrendous bumps. No doubt they will return in time as the whole area is built on a lake bed next to 3 tectonic plate fault lines and is prone to earth quakes. But with any luck the track will get a good few years of smooth running.

As for the weather, at this point Hurricane Patricia seems to of been all talk and no trousers.Having said that there is little news of damage at the circuit. Maybe thats a good thing. Hopefully we will be getting a race. If we do, almost certainly it will be wet, the forecast is for thunderstorms all week.

So at this point in the season with 16 races down and just 3 to go, Merecedes and Lewis are our world champions :1st: and we are now just racing for kicks. which is absolutely fine by me. I’m looking forward to this one, lets hope it delivers.

The track mods.
Mexico_Track.png

The crashes.

Senna 1991

Mansell Berger. No crash just amazing.

Phillppe Alliot 1988 (not dead)
 
Last edited:
Well so much for my theory that Mercedes would be messing with their cars, now that they have bagged both championships. I thought Vettel and Ferrari would be way out front .
 
[QUOTE="FB, post: 296030, member: 120"What a ****ing stupid system.
[/QUOTE]

---------------------------

The stupidest thing about it is that most of the season we've had drivers (McLaren drivers more ofen than not) who only take to the track during quali to make sure everything's running OK, as opposed to actually trying to set a fast lap. What would be the point? They already know where they'll start beforehand anyway...
 
Last edited:
FB,

That just goes to show that the phrase "F1 circus" has never been more apt. And now, the clowns are running the show.
 
I'll be dancing on ice if it rains during the race. The drivers have already described the track as the "most slippery" they've driven on" in the dry. Put rain into the mix and you end up with a very, very busy safety-car indeed...
 
I've decided to go for the full live GP experience this weekend. So far, during the track parade, I made sure I was only able to see the drivers for about 45 seconds. I've set up two commentary feeds, one about 2 seconds out of sync with the other.

I've bunged up the toilet with toilet paper and pissed all over the floor to make sure it's really disgusting in the loo. My wife has just bought me a burger and a coke and charged me £14.95 for the pleasure. I've got an old, crappy plastic chair from the garage and will sit on that for the duration of the race to make sure my metrics are really sore by the end and I will only watch the TV for 20 seconds in every 1 1/2 minutes to make sure I have no idea what is going on.

Don't you love live sport ;)
 
A spot of orchestrated strategy by Mercedes?

Claims that the tyres were "down to 0%" when they weren't.
Forcing Hamilton to pit even though he was adamant the tyres were fine.
 
I am sorry but so much for free racing Toto


good to know Kimi got what he deserved from Valteri this time round
 
Last edited:
Vettel is under investigation.

The driver and team representative are required to report to the Stewards at 16:15 in relation to the incident below.

No / Driver 5 – Sebastian Vettel
Reason Alleged breach of Article 20.2 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations,
 
Intellicast's forecast "100% Thunderstorm" at race time was....fake.

Hamilton was right this circuit is not for overtakings.
Race was not very interesting.
 
But:
Hamilton says of the stadium section and its cheering crowd.
"In the entire time I've been in Formula 1, I've never seen anything like it."

May be 330000 spectators were in this weekend
 
A spot of orchestrated strategy by Mercedes?

Claims that the tyres were "down to 0%" when they weren't.
Forcing Hamilton to pit even though he was adamant the tyres were fine.

Meh, there is no suggestion that Rosberg's tyres were any worse than Hamilton's. Only fair to pit both cars with the huge advantage they had. Lewis sometimes forgets - he's an employee. A very good one, I'll grant you, but until you run / own the team, do as you're told.

There are two very different agendas at Mercedes. Basically, Lewis can get away with stuff, and Nico can't. Dress it up however you want, but that's the reality, and has been since Spa last year. Can you imagine the stink if Nico had punctured one of Lewis' Tyres at Austin in the first turn incident?
 
Back
Top Bottom