NZ driver welcomes natural high in Mexico

New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley will add a new challenge to his Formula One initiation at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix — altitude.

The Mexican Grand Prix is at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, more than t wo kilometres above sea level meaning there i s significantly less oxygen at this venue than any other on the calendar.

That means an adjustment i s needed from both driver and engineer.

“It is quite a tricky track for the engineers,” Hartley told Radio Sport. “It is 2200 metres up, which means the air is very thin so there is much less down force and drag. You are trying to get as much down force on the car as you can.

“On the other side it is getting the engine tuned with much less oxygen”.

A big issue for the teams is finding ways to keep the cars cool. These cars are designed to run within a specific temperature range and cannot overheat so the altitude creates problems. “Even just cooling the brakes the amount they need to is a very complicated issue or cooling the engine [ is a problem].

“For the engineers it is a bit of a headache, for the drivers not so much. Obviously there i s a bit less oxygen to breathe but we all like to think we are trained athletes and can deal with that.”

Hartley has experienced the alti- tude in Mexico on a number of occasions. He knows the track well from his World Endurance Championship visits with the factory Porsche team.

“It i s a tricky venue for a lot of reasons but it is one of my favourite tracks so I couldn’t be happier that I got to make my debut at Austin, which i s another track I know, and then come to Mexico where I have driven for the last couple of years. It has worked out very well for me,” the 27- year- old said.

“The Mexico race is meant to be wild. There are supposedly 300,000 people that are going to be attending over the weekend, which is meant to be an amazing atmosphere. You come into the last section and the stadium is full and it is cool.

“I try to take myself a step back and not over- think it but it is a cool place to be.”

Hartley will take part in two practice sessions today before qualifying tomorrow and the race on Monday.

Meanwhile, for Mexican driver Sergio “Checo” Perez, the race is a chance to embrace the role of ambassador for the sport and his country in a time of need.

Perez was in his hometown of Guadalajara when the magnitude 7.1 quake struck on September 19, and he quickly donated about US$ 165,000 to victims.

The track itself became a staging area for relief supplies in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Perez will wear a special helmet this week with a map of Mexico and the quake zone on top with the phrase “Todo Mexico Unido! ( All Mexico United!)”

“It’s been a very tough couple of months for my country. What happened was horrible, but it was amazing to me not just how Mexico responded but the whole world,” Perez said. “I knew that I needed to do something for my people . . . ( the helmet) is to remind everyone that we are together.”

With a race weekend expected to draw more than 300,000, the Mexican Grand Prix has a chance to throw a grand party for Lewis Hamilton.

The Mercedes driver is closing in on a fourth career F1 drivers’ championship. He is aiming for his 10th win of the season and would need only to finish fifth or better on Monday to win the championship.

There’s no chance Hamilton will hang back and let others fight it out up front.

“I’m here to win,” Hamilton said. “I’m not going for anything else but No 1 . . . I think to myself, how would I feel if finish fifth and win the world championship? I wouldn’t feel great. You want to be on top of the podium.”