Site icon Lights Out ●●●●●

F1 Team Form: Mexico City Grand Prix

Red Bull hold the record for most wins at the Mexico City Grand Prix having won five of the last seven races here, while 2024 was the first time Haas reached Q3 here. Here’s everything you need to know about each team’s history at the Mexico City Grand Prix!

RED BULL

WINS: 5, POLES: 2, PODIUMS: 8 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: VERSTAPPEN 6th, PEREZ 17th

In the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was handed two ten-second time penalties and ultimately finished sixth, while Sergio Perez could finish no higher than 17th. It marked the first Mexican race in which neither Red Bull driver finished in the top five and ended a three-year winning streak for the team at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

From 2017 to 2023, Red Bull won all but one of the six races held in Mexico, including three consecutively from 2021 to 2023. Verstappen is the team’s only winner here, having been victorious in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Red Bull’s 2022 victory at the circuit saw them overtake Lotus as the team to have the most wins in Mexico City.

Sergio Perez also finished on the podium in 2021 and 2022, recording the team’s first double podium finishes in Mexico City. Verstappen’s 2023 win took their total number of podiums at the track to eight.

Red Bull’s only retirements so far at the Mexico City Grand Prix came in seasons that they won, with Daniel Ricciardo failing to finish in both 2017 and 2018 and Perez being eliminated on the opening lap in 2023.

Aside from the 2024 race, their three non-finishes and Alex Albon’s sixth place in 2019, Red Bull have finished in the top five on every attempt.

Red Bull have set the pole position time in 2018, 2019 and 2022. While Daniel Ricciardo beat Max Verstappen to pole in the 2018 event by just 0.023 seconds, Verstappen set the pole time in 2019. After qualifying, Verstappen was demoted on the grid after failing to slow for yellow flags. He started from pole for the first time in 2022.

The team secured their only front row lock-out here to date in 2018. They also started from the front row with Verstappen qualifying in second in 2017 and second in 2024.

In 2024, a Q1 exit for Sergio Perez saw him become the first Red Bull to miss out on reaching the final part of qualifying at this track. It’s the only time a Red Bull driver has qualified outside of the top seven in Mexico.

MERCEDES

WINS: 3, POLES: 3, PODIUMS: 10 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: HAMILTON 4th, RUSSELL 5th

Mercedes dominated on their first two appearances at the Mexican Grand Prix when the track re-joined the calendar in 2015, scoring 1-2 finishes in both 2015 and 2016. Mercedes won for the first time since 2016 at the event in 2019, with Lewis Hamilton taking victory. Valtteri Bottas also finished on the podium.

The team have not won since 2019, but Hamilton finished as runner-up in every season from 2021 to 2023. Since 2015, 2018 and 2024 are the only occasions that neither driver has appeared on the podium in Mexico – though on both occasions the two cars finished in fourth and fifth.

Until 2021, Hamilton’s ninth place in 2017 – which was enough to win him the Drivers’ Championship – was the team’s lowest finishing position in Mexico to date. However, Bottas finished only 15th in 2021 after being spun on the first lap. Mercedes remain yet to record a retirement in Mexico.

Mercedes have never failed to reach the final part of qualifying in Mexico. The team have taken three poles in Mexico City – in 2015, 2016 and 2021. Each time they have taken pole, they have also locked out the front row.

Aside from those three seasons, George Russell’s second place in 2022 is the only other time that Mercedes have recorded a front row qualification here.

Until 2023, the team had never qualified outside of the top six in Mexico. Mercedes’ worst qualifying position at the track up to that point was sixth, recorded by Valtteri Bottas after crashing out heavily in Q3 in 2019. In 2023, however, Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth, while George Russell qualified only eighth.

FERRARI

WINS: 3, POLES: 5, PODIUMS: 14 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: SAINZ 1st, LECLERC 3rd

Ferrari have appeared in every Mexico City Grand Prix except the 1966 event. Having already lost the Constructors’ Championship in the USA, the team saw no point in sending their cars on to Mexico.

Ferrari have won in Mexico three times, with Carlos Sainz’s 2024 victory being their first here since 19990. Jacky Ickx was victorious with the Scuderia in 1970 and Alain Prost won with the team in 1990. 2018 saw the team take their first double podium finish at the track since 1990 – a feat which they repeated in 2024.

2021 was the first time since 2016 that neither Ferrari driver finished on the podium at the Mexico City Grand Prix. They’ve recorded double top six results in all of the last eight races in Mexico City.

The team have had a low finish rate here historically, with just over half of their entries reaching the finish line. The team has suffered double DNFs on seven of their appearances here, most recently in 2015.

Kimi Raikkonen’s Q2 exit in 2015 is the only time Ferrari have failed to reach the final part of qualifying in Mexico since the event’s return to the calendar. The team have taken pole here five times, with Clay Reggazoni setting the fastest time in 1970, Sebastian Vettel taking pole in 2017, Charles Leclerc taking pole in both 2019 & 2023 and Carlos Sainz securing the fastest Saturday lap time in 2024.

Though Leclerc started from pole in 2019, he didn’t actually set the fastest time. He was promoted to pole after Max Verstappen’s grid penalty.

With Carlos Sainz qualifying second in 2023, Ferrari locked-out the front row in Mexico for the second time, after 2019.

McLAREN

WINS: 3, POLES: 3, PODIUMS: 10 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: NORRIS 2nd, PIASTRI 8th

McLaren have won the Mexico City Grand Prix three times, and recorded a 1-2 finish here in 1988. Until 2022, the team had scored only six points in Mexico since the event’s return to the calendar in 2015.

Both Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris finished in the points in 2022, recording the team’s first double points appearance in Mexico since their last win in 1989. Both drivers scored again in 2023, with Norris finishing in the top five despite starting only 17th. In 2024, Norris became the first McLaren driver to finish on the podium in Mexico since Ayrton Senna in 1991.

Aside from the last three years, McLaren’s other points-scoring appearances since Mexico’s return to the calendar came courtesy of Stoffel Vandoorne who finished eighth in 2018, Fernando Alonso who finished tenth in 2017 and Norris who also finished tenth in 2021.

1987 is the only year in which neither McLaren driver crossed the finish line in Mexico, as well as the only occasion between the 1969 and 1991 events where neither McLaren driver appeared on the podium. 2022 was only the fourth time from the previous ten Mexico races that both McLaren drivers crossed the finish line.

McLaren reached Q3 at the Mexico City Grand Prix for the first time in 2019, marking the first time they had qualified in the top ten at the track since 1992. Both drivers reached Q3 again in 2021.

In the last two seasons, one McLaren driver has reached Q3 while the other has exited in Q1. Norris’ third place in qualifying in 2024 was the team’s first top three qualifying result in Mexico since 1991.

2015 is the only season that McLaren have recorded a double Q1 elimination at the track. The team took three consecutive poles at the track between 1988 and 1990, and locked-out the front row in both 1988 and 1989.

ASTON MARTIN

WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: STROLL 11th, ALONSO DNF

From their nine appearances since F1’s return to Mexico, the Silverstone-based team have failed to score at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez only four times – with three of those being in the last three years. In 2023, the team recorded their first double DNF at the track since 1992.

Esteban Ocon finished fifth in 2017, recording the Silverstone-based team’s best result at the circuit since Andrea de Cesaris finished fourth for Jordan on the team’s first appearance in 1991.

In the last six Mexico races, seventh places for Sergio Perez in 2019 and Sebastian Vettel in 2021 are the only times that the team has scored points.

Neither of the Silverstone-based team’s cars have reached Q3 in any of the last six Mexico City Grands Prix. Lance Stroll recorded the team’s first Q1 exit at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in 2019 and was out in Q1 again in 2021 following a crash. Both drivers were out in Q1 in 2022 , only Fernando Alonso progressed to Q2 in 2023 and both drivers appeared in Q2 in 2024.

As Force India, the team reached Q3 with both cars in 2015 and 2017, while Nico Hulkenberg recorded their best qualifying result at the track in 2016 with fifth on the grid.

ALPINE

WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: GASLY 10th, OCON 13th

The Enstone-based team won on their first appearance at the Mexico City Grand Prix in 1986, with Gerhard Berger taking victory for Benetton. The team has recorded a single podium finish since then – a third place for Michael Schumacher; his first of 155 top three career finishes.

Since F1’s return to Mexico in 2015, the Enstone team has not finished above sixth place. Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth in 2018, while 2019 marked the first time since 1990 that both of the team’s drivers finished in the points at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The team has picked up at least one point in all of the last six races in Mexico.

In the last seven Mexico races, the team have recorded four DNFs. Both drivers retired in 2017, Carlos Sainz was eliminated with battery issues in 2018 and Fernando Alonso ran into engine problems in the closing stages of the 2022 race.

Team Enstone’s best qualifying result at the Mexico City Grand Prix is third place, recorded by Michael Schumacher for Benetton in 1992. Renault reached the final part of qualifying at the Mexico City Grand Prix with both cars in 2017 and 2018, while Alpine did so for the first time in 2022.

Nico Hulkenberg recorded the team’s best qualifying position since F1’s return to the track in 2018, with seventh on the grid. Jolyon Palmer, who failed to set a time in 2016, Fernando Alonso, who qualified 16th in 2021 and Esteban Ocon in 2023 and 2024 are the only drivers to record a Q1 exit for this team in Mexico.

WILLIAMS

WINS: 3, POLES: 3, PODIUMS: 8 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: COLAPINTO 12th, ALBON DNF

Williams have taken more 1-2 finishes at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez than any other team. All three of their wins in 1987, 1991 and 1992 also featured their other car finishing as runner-up.

From Williams’ first ten appearances in Mexico (up until 2017), their double DNF was the only time that the team failed to score at the track. In their six appearances since, they’ve picked up points only once, thanks to a ninth place finish for Alex Albon in 2023.

2015 is the team’s most recent podium finish here, while 2016 is the last time both Williams drivers finished in the points in Mexico. Lance Stroll’s sixth place in 2017 remains the team’s best result since their 2015 podium.

Williams have taken three poles in total here and secured front row lock-outs in both 1991 and 1992.

The Williams team suffered a decline in pace since 2017 at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Both cars reached the final part of qualifying in both 2015 and 2016, while both cars could only reach Q2 in 2017, and both were eliminated in Q1 in 2018 and 2019. The team recorded another double Q1 exit in 2022, setting the two slowest lap times, while Albon was able to reach Q2 in 2023.

In 2024, Albon recorded the team’s first Q3 appearance in Mexico since 2016, qualifying in ninth, while Franco Colapinto made it the sixth consecutive Mexican race in which a Williams driver was eliminated in Q1.

VISA CASH APP RB

WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: LAWSON 16th, TSUNODA DNF

Until 2021, Toro Rosso scored only five points at the Mexico City Grand Prix: the second-fewest of any current team. On their first appearance as AlphaTauri in 2021, Pierre Gasly recorded the team’s best result at the track with fourth place. Daniel Ricciardo added more points to the team’s tally in 2023, finishing seventh.

Prior to 2021 the team had scored on three occasions: Max Verstappen finished ninth in 2015, while Gasly picked up one point with a tenth place finish at the track in 2018 and two points for ninth place in 2019. Neither diver scored in 2022, while 2024 (their first appearance at the track under their new RB guise) was the team’s second point-less race here since 2018.

The team have recorded four DNFs so far at the track: Brendon Hartley was forced out of the race with engine problems in 2017, while Yuki Tsunoda crashed out on Lap 1 in both 2021 and 2024 and was eliminated in a collision with Daniel Ricciardo in 2022.

2019 marked the first time that both Toro Rosso drivers reached Q3 at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Daniil Kvyat qualified ninth, while Pierre Gasly qualified in tenth. Gasly bettered that result in 2021, qualifying fifth, as both of the team’s drivers reached Q3 once again.

Daniel Ricciardo recorded the team’s best qualifying result in Mexico to date at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix, setting the fourth fastest time in Q3.

Kvyat, in 2016, and Gasly, who failed to set a time in 2017, are the only Toro Rosso drivers who have been eliminated in Q1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Both drivers were out in Q2 in 2024 after a late-session crash by Yuki Tsunoda prevented either him or Liam Lawson from setting faster lap times.

SAUBER

WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: BOTTAS 14th, ZHOU 15th

2018 is the only season that Sauber scored points with both cars at the Mexico City Grand Prix. That year, Charles Leclerc finished seventh while Marcus Ericsson finished ninth. As Alfa Romeo the team scored twice, but never with both cars, with Kimi Raikkonen finishing eighth in 2021 and Valtteri Bottas finishing tenth in 2022.

The team has finished 14th and 15th in each of the last two seasons at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The team have recorded three retirements in total here: Felipe Nasr in 2015, Marcus Ericsson in 2017 and Raikkonen in 2019.

In 2022, Valtteri Bottas recorded the Sauber-owned team’s best Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying appearance to date with sixth place. The team have reached Q3 here in only two other seasons: 2018 and 2023, both seasons in which both drivers reached Q3.

All of the team’s first three visits to the track resulted in at least one Q1 elimination, and both cars were out in Q1 in 2017. Both Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi were eliminated in Q2 in 2019 and 2021.

HAAS

WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0 | 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RESULT: MAGNUSSEN 7th, HULKENBERG 9th

With Kevin Magnussen finishing seventh and Nico Hulkenberg ninth in the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, Haas had their best-ever afternoon in the country. Magnussen’s seventh place was the team’s best result to date at the circuit and it was the first time the team had seen both drivers score points in a single race here.

Prior to 2024, Magnussen’s eighth place in the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix was the Haas team’s only points-scoring appearance in Mexico. The team held a 100% finish rate at the circuit until 2021, when Mick Schumacher was eliminated on the first lap. Magnussen recorded the team’s second DNF here in 2023, crashing out of the race.

Aside from their three points-scoring appearances, Hulkenberg’s 13th place at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix is the only other time that a Haas driver has finished in the top 14 in Mexico.

Until 2024, Haas had never previously reached Q3 at the Mexican Grand Prix. Both drivers progressed to the final stage of qualifying in 2024, with Kevin Magnussen recording the team’s best Saturday result to date at the track with seventh place.

Up until 2024, Nico Hulkenberg’s 12th place in qualifying for the 2023 Mexico Grand Prix was the team’s best qualifying result to date at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. It was only the second time – after Kevin Magnussen in 2022 – that a Haas driver had made it out of Q1 in Mexico.

Despite their many Q1 exits, the team has never qualified in last position for the race.

Exit mobile version