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
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.
The crashes.
Senna 1991
Mansell Berger. No crash just amazing.
Phillppe Alliot 1988 (not dead)
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
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.
The crashes.
Senna 1991
Mansell Berger. No crash just amazing.
Phillppe Alliot 1988 (not dead)
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