JAMES ROBERTS
“A dose of unpredictability is just as valuable” able”
It was at Toto Wolff’s media briefing on Saturday afternoon where we were invited to “speak up” with our questions for the Mercedes boss. Unlike most races, the Mexican GP organisers had a DJ playing a very loud dance set in the middle of the paddock. For Mercedes on Saturday, the party hadn’t started yet. There was still a job to do and so it was an unnecessary distraction.
This lively area included a free bar, food stall, table football and even a barber’s – removing beards but retaining moustaches in aid of the charity foundation ‘Movember’.
These paddock initiatives were unheard of in Bernie Ecclestone’s era, but their introduction into the sport is a sign of F1’s more open and fun vibe. Still, with engineers trying to pour over screens of data, having a thumping soundtrack, would not have helped their concentration.
The packed grandstands makes this GP one of the best of the season. In the past three years, the race has won the FIA’S ‘Promoter of the Year’ award at the prizegiving gala.
Since the race returned to the calendar in 2015, it has consistently set the bar for how a grand prix in the modern era should look and feel. Entry and exit out of the circuit takes you through the giant converted baseball stadium – the Foro Sol – at the final sequence of corners and it’s an extraordinary place to watch a sporting event.
While originally bemoaning the loss of the great Peraltada corner, the new tight, twisty section – that also features the podium – is a brilliantly atmospheric amphitheatre which holds 30,000 fans of the 130,000 capacity of the circuit.
But it’s not just the work the organisers do, because by a quirk of its locality, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez brings its own challenges. Situated 2,300 metres above sea level, the track is by far the highest on the calendar, a further 1,500 metres higher than F1’s next highest: Interlagos in Brazil.
The altitude means the air is thinner, so teams run higher levels of downforce. There is also less oxygen going into the engine and to create the necessary pressure the turbo has to spin faster, putting increasing demands on the power unit.
That, combined with the slippery and smooth surface meant that Red Bull came to the fore and locked out their first frontrow in the turbo-hybrid era (since the start of 2014). Aside from Hamilton’s title win, it was great to see Ricciardo on pole and Verstappen take the victory. For all the work the circuit does, F1 needs to understand that a shake-up of the established order and a dose of unpredictability is just as valuable.
Thompson will remain with Team Hard