The 2024 Formula 1 season continued its thrilling journey across the Americas, landing in Mexico City for the highly anticipated Mexico City Grand Prix. Set at the historic Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, named in tribute to Mexico’s racing legends, Pedro and Ricardo Rodríguez, this event marks the second stop in the three-race Americas tour. As teams geared up for the challenges unique to this high-altitude circuit, fans could expect an electric atmosphere from the vibrant city and its culture as drivers navigate the track’s iconic corners and long straights. With championship points on the line in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’, the stakes were higher than ever in the season’s final five races.
Race Guide
Race weekend: 25 October 2024 – 27 October 2024
Race date: Sunday, 27 October, 2024
Race start time: 14:00 local time
Circuit: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Laps: 71
Circuit length: 4.304km
2023 winner: Max Verstappen
| Pole position | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:15.946 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:18.336 on lap 71 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | |
| Second | Lando Norris | McLaren | |
| Third | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | |
Perched over 2,000 meters above sea level, Mexico City’s high altitude significantly shapes car performance at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The thinner air here reduces aerodynamic downforce but allows for exceptionally high top speeds on a track that typically demands maximum downforce. In fact, the circuit holds the speed record in Formula 1 history as of 2024, with Valtteri Bottas clocking in at 372.5 km/h in his Williams in 2016. However, this attitude also increases tyre graining, and on long straights—such as the main stretch and between turns 3 and 4—cooling tyre temperatures can challenge drivers as they approach turn 1, where they must be careful to avoid locking the brakes.
Mexico’s passion for Formula 1 is undeniable despite hosting only 23 championship races, all held at this iconic circuit since its 1962 opening. These events have span three eras: 1963-1970, 1986-1992, and from 2015 onward, with the race rebranded in 2021 as the Mexico City Grand Prix. Across these eras, and as of 2024, 15 different drivers have claimed victory, with Max Verstappen leading as the most successful with five wins. His team, Red Bull, also shares this record in the teams’ stakes, while Jim Clark holds the most poles (four), and Lewis Hamilton leads podiums with six. Lotus tops the pole count among teams with six, while Ferrari has the most podium finishes at 12.
Weekend schedule
| Date | Session | Local Time |
|---|---|---|
| 25 October 2024 | Free Practice 1 (FP1) | 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm local time |
| 25 October 2024 | Free Practice 2 (FP2) | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm local time |
| 26 October 2024 | Free Practice 3 (FP3) | 11:30 am – 12:30 pm local time |
| 26 October 2024 | Qualifying | 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm local time |
| 27 October 2024 | Race | 2:00 pm local time |
In Saturday qualifying, Carlos Sainz claimed a thrilling pole position for the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, outpacing title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Sainz secured his first pole in over a year with two strong laps in Q3, while Verstappen salvaged his qualifying with a clean second lap after his initial effort was deleted due to track limits. Verstappen finished 0.225 seconds behind Sainz but would start just ahead of Norris. McLaren had entered qualifying as favourites, but Norris couldn’t extract the necessary pace when it counted and would aim to overtake Verstappen on the long run down to Turn One.
On Sunday, Carlos Sainz delivered a commanding victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix, claiming his fourth career win in Formula 1 for Ferrari. Initially overtaken by Max Verstappen at the chaotic race start, Sainz regained control on Lap 9 and held his lead to the chequered flag. Verstappen’s early advantage was short-lived, as he soon found himself in a fierce battle with title rival Lando Norris. Their heated exchange resulted in two separate 10-second penalties for Verstappen due to aggressive moves against the McLaren driver, allowing Charles Leclerc to slip into second place behind Sainz. From there, the Ferrari duo held firm at the front, largely unchallenged, until Norris closed in on Leclerc in the race’s final stages. A wide turn from Leclerc allowed Norris to seize second place, though he couldn’t cut Sainz’s lead in time, finishing 4.7 seconds behind the Spaniard. Leclerc completed the podium, securing a double Ferrari finish, with the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell following in fourth and fifth. After a 20-second penalty, Verstappen managed a recovery drive to finish in sixth, capping off a challenging day for Red Bull.
Championship background
After leaving the Circuit of the Americas, Max Verstappen strengthened his lead in the 2024 Drivers’ Championship to 57 points over Lando Norris, with just five rounds remaining. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s impressive one-two finish rekindled their hopes for a late surge in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship, narrowing their gap to second-place Red Bull to a mere eight points and reducing the distance to front-runners McLaren to 48 points.
While Verstappen and Red Bull had claimed victory on F1’s last three visits to Mexico City, recent races, including Austin, showed that past success isn’t a guaranteed predictor as the competitive order among the top teams shifted from race to race.
For Mexico’s Sergio Perez, this race holds special significance. A national hero, Perez was eager to break his recent run of poor form on home soil, hoping to bolster Red Bull’s campaign while reinforcing his position within the team.
It also featured Fernando Alonso’s record 400th race weekend.
Race entries
Four teams opted to fulfil the requirement of running a rookie driver in at least two practice sessions during the season. IndyCar star Pato O’Ward stepped into Lando Norris’ car, while Kimi Antonelli took over Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, set to replace the seven-time champion next year. Meanwhile, rookies Felipe Drugovich jumped into the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, Robert Shwartzman into the Sauber for Zhou Guanyu, and Oliver Bearman for Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.
Aside from the roookie drivers in FP1 and Franco Colapinto, who was now driving for Williams after replacing Logan Sargeant in Round 16, and Lawson in for Ricciardo after Round 18, all the drivers from the start of the season took to the track during FP2, FP3, Qualifying, and the Grand Prix. Notably Alex Albon didn’t take part in FP2 after suffering a serious crash in FP1.
Tyre choices
For the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, teams would have the C3 as Hard (marked white), C4 as Medium (marked yellow), and C5 as Soft (marked red)—one step softer than in previous years, a decision aimed at enhancing strategic flexibility during the race. Friday’s track sessions on October 25 featured a unique schedule: the second free practice would be entirely dedicated to testing Pirelli’s 2025 tyre compounds (C4, C5, and C6) in an extended 90-minute “in-competition” test. During that session, all teams had to follow a Pirelli-prescribed program for evaluating the new compounds.
For this weekend, each driver received a specific dry tyre allocation—two sets of Hard, three of Medium, and seven of Soft—plus two additional test sets: a baseline tyre identical to the current race weekend compound and a prototype option in the 2025 specification. These test sets, without colour bands, would allow teams to perform both performance and long runs, adhering to uniform lap and fuel load requirements. If any race driver was replaced in FP1 for a young driver, they would conduct the Pirelli test for only 60 minutes in FP2 and receive an additional Medium set to aid in data collection for the weekend.
The data gathered from these sessions would be crucial for Pirelli as they refined the 2025 compounds ahead of a comprehensive test in Abu Dhabi, scheduled for the Tuesday following the 2024 season’s final round. With this altered Friday schedule, teams would have only two practice sessions—FP1 on Friday and FP3 on Saturday—to prepare their cars for qualifying and race setups.
Strategically, the Mexico City Grand Prix often plays out as a one-stop race. In 2023, most drivers aimed to extend their first stint on Medium tyres. However, a Safety Car and later a red flag after Kevin Magnussen’s off-track incident in the Haas led many drivers to switch strategies, resulting in almost the entire field using three sets of tyres and a race divided into two distinct parts.
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Free Practice
In FP1, George Russell topped the timesheets in the first practice session, as championship leader Max Verstappen faced engine issues. Alex Albon had a major crash in his Williams following contact with Oliver Bearman, temporarily halting the session. Despite the interruption, Russell delivered an impressive start for Mercedes, clocking in 0.317 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
During FP2, Max Verstappen’s struggles with engine issues continued to limit the championship leader’s running at the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, while George Russell’s crash halted the second practice session. This extended practice session, lasting 90 minutes to accommodate testing for next season’s tyre compounds, saw Verstappen complete only four laps without setting a time. Earlier in the day, his first practice was also cut short due to an engine problem, which team principal Christian Horner initially downplayed as “minor,” only for it to resurface in the second session. Carlos Sainz led the session for Ferrari, though lap times were hard to interpret without public information on the tire compounds each driver used. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri came in second, while Norris, Verstappen’s closest title contender, finished in fifth.
In FP3, McLaren made a bold statement with their pace, as Oscar Piastri led a one-two finish for the team, just ahead of his title-contending teammate Lando Norris. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, was half a second off McLaren’s pace, coming in fourth. In the first representative session of the weekend, following disrupted practice on Friday, McLaren excelled during low-fuel qualifying simulations late in FP3. Piastri topped the timesheets with a fastest lap of 1:16.492, just 0.059 seconds ahead of Norris.
Full Free Practice Reports
Free Practice 1 Classification
FP1 was held on 25 October 2024, at 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm local time.
Free Practice 2 Classification
FP2 was held on 25 October 2024, at 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm local time.
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:17.699 | 34 | |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:17.877 | +0.178s | 30 |
| 3 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 1:17.878 | +0.179s | 30 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:17.887 | +0.188s | 31 |
| 5 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:17.948 | +0.249s | 36 |
| 6 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:18.239 | +0.540s | 34 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:18.279 | +0.580s | 36 |
| 8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:18.351 | +0.652s | 32 |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:18.392 | +0.693s | 32 |
| 10 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda RBPT | 1:18.560 | +0.861s | 29 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:18.579 | +0.880s | 35 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 1:18.621 | +0.922s | 34 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:18.656 | +0.957s | 30 |
| 14 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:18.890 | +1.191s | 34 |
| 15 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | 1:18.908 | +1.209s | 30 |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:18.942 | +1.243s | 30 |
| 17 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:18.980 | +1.281s | 37 |
| 18 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:19.041 | +1.342s | 4 |
| 19 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 4 |
Free Practice 3 Classification
FP3 was held on 26 October 2024, at 11:30 am – 12:30 pm local time.
Qualifying
Title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris would line up second and third on the grid for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, just behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who clinched pole position.
Norris qualified his McLaren only 0.089 seconds behind Verstappen, but Sainz was in a class of his own, securing pole by a margin of 0.225 seconds over the Dutchman, highlighting Ferrari’s recent surge in performance.
Charles Leclerc, who dominated the previous weekend’s United States Grand Prix in his Ferrari, would start from fourth, followed by Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in fifth and sixth.
Full Qualifying Report
Qualifying Classification
Qualifying was held on 26 October 2024, at 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm local time.
2024 Mexico City Grand Prix Starting Grid
The Grand Prix starting grid, with or without penalties, after the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix Qualifying session.
What happened in the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix?
Lando Norris reduced Max Verstappen’s championship lead to 47 points and called his rival’s driving “dangerous” as tensions escalated at the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Verstappen received two separate 10-second penalties for his actions against Norris during two incidents on the same lap but still managed a sixth-place finish.
Norris claimed second place, overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with nine laps remaining, while Carlos Sainz secured a dominant victory for Ferrari.
Verstappen received two penalties: the first for forcing Norris off track at Turn Four on lap 10 and the second for leaving the track and gaining an advantage just four corners later.
This marked a shift from the previous week’s 2024 United States Grand Prix, where Norris was penalised for going off track while attempting to overtake Verstappen, with Verstappen avoiding penalties despite many rivals feeling he had forced Norris wide.
In Austin, Verstappen was ahead at the corner apex, allowing him to use the track edge according to F1’s rules. However, before the Mexico City race, several drivers voiced that Verstappen’s tactics in Austin were unfair and backed the FIA’s intent to update racing guidelines to address his driving style.
Despite the discussions, the guidelines remained unchanged for Mexico. Verstappen commented that “nothing changes” in his approach. However, at Turn Four in Mexico, Norris managed to maintain a slight lead at the apex, meaning Verstappen was required to leave him space, making the penalty inevitable when he didn’t.
After being overtaken by Carlos Sainz for the lead on lap nine, Max Verstappen attempted a similar move to his tactics in Austin.
With Norris pressing him from the outside at Turn Four—three laps after a safety car restart following a first-lap crash—Verstappen braked late on the inside, pushing Norris off the track at the corner’s edge.
Norris regained his position by cutting across the grass, bypassing the right-hander of the chicane at Turns Four and Five. Then, at Turn Eight, Verstappen made another attempt to retake the spot. Post-race, Norris explained he wasn’t allowing Verstappen to pass, believing he wasn’t obligated to, and as Verstappen lunged inside, both cars ended up off the track.
Speaking about the Turn Four clash over the radio, Norris remarked, “I was ahead the whole way through the corner. This guy is dangerous. I have to avoid a crash.”
Verstappen was unhappy with the penalties, and his race engineer, Giampiero Lambiase, mentioned they resulted from significant “whingeing.”
Norris held the fastest lap point for much of the race, only to lose it first to RB’s Liam Lawson, who pitted late for fresh tyres, and then to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who did the same with two laps remaining.
Sainz’s win, combined with Leclerc’s third-place finish and fastest lap, pushed Ferrari ahead of Red Bull to second in the constructors’ championship. McLaren still led, but Ferrari were now only 29 points behind, with a 25-point cushion over Red Bull.
At the front, Carlos Sainz secured a third Ferrari team victory in five races, converting his pole position into a win despite briefly losing the lead to Max Verstappen on the first lap.
The race immediately saw a safety car deployment after a collision involving Williams’ Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda’s RB. Tsunoda crashed out at the first corner, while Albon pulled off with damage after Turn Three.
Once the race resumed, Sainz wasted no time, reclaiming the lead from Verstappen at Turn One, setting the stage for Norris to close in, triggering the intense rivalry between the title contenders.
The squabble also allowed Charles Leclerc to move into second, where he initially tracked Sainz closely and stayed within a second of his teammate by lap 14. Leclerc remained within two seconds of Sainz for several laps before gradually dropping back, eventually trailing by nearly eight seconds before both pitted.
From that point, Sainz maintained his lead without issue, while Leclerc held second comfortably until Norris began to close the gap post-pit stop. Leclerc’s advantage of 4.7 seconds steadily diminished as Norris chipped away, bringing the gap down to nearly nothing with 10 laps remaining.
On lap 62, Leclerc ran wide at the final corner, drifting onto the dusty outer track and off the circuit, allowing Norris to sweep into second place.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes teammates were locked in a close battle. George Russell overtook Lewis Hamilton on lap 14, holding position until their pit stops. In the second stint, Hamilton closed back in and eventually passed Russell at Turn One with five laps to go.
Verstappen, struggling after his penalties, had a lonely race to finish in sixth, lacking the pace to advance further.
Behind him, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished seventh, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri charging from 17th on the grid to take eighth. Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top ten.
Fernando Alonso’s 400th Grand Prix ended prematurely with brake overheating issues, while Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez endured a difficult race. Penalised for a false start due to an incorrect grid position, Perez later damaged his car in a clash with RB’s Liam Lawson at Turn Four, ultimately finishing last after a failed late-race attempt for the fastest lap with fresh tyres.
2024 Mexico City Grand Prix race results
The 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix Race was held on 27 October 2024, at 2:00 pm local time.
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 71 | 1:40:55.800 | 25 |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 71 | +4.705s | 18 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc1 | Ferrari | 71 | +34.387s | 16 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 71 | +44.780s | 12 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 71 | +48.536s | 10 |
| 6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 71 | +59.558s | 8 |
| 7 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 71 | +63.642s | 6 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 71 | +64.928s | 4 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 70 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 70 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 70 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 12 | 43 | Franco Colapinto2 | Williams Mercedes | 70 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 70 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 70 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 70 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda RBPT | 70 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 70 | +1 lap | 0 |
| NC | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 15 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 0 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 0 | DNF | 0 |
2Colapinto received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.
2024 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings
Championship standings for Drivers’ and Teams after the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.
2024 Post-Race F1 Drivers’ Championship Standings
| Pos | Driver | Nationality | Car | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 362 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren Mercedes | 315 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Ferrari | 291 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren Mercedes | 251 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Ferrari | 240 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes | 189 |
| 7 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes | 177 |
| 8 | Sergio Pérez | MEX | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 150 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Aston Martin Mercedes | 62 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | Haas Ferrari | 31 |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Mercedes | 24 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | RB-Honda RBPT | 22 |
| 13 | Kevin Magnussen | DEN | Haas Ferrari | 14 |
| 14 | Alexander Albon | THA | Williams Mercedes | 12 |
| 15 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | RB-Honda RBPT | 12 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Alpine Renault | 9 |
| 17 | Oliver Bearman | GBR | Ferrari / Haas Ferrari | 7 |
| 18 | Franco Colapinto | ARG | Williams Mercedes | 5 |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine Renault | 5 |
| 20 | Liam Lawson | NZL | RB-Honda RBPT | 2 |
| 21 | Zhou Guanyu | CHN | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 0 |
| 22 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams Mercedes | 0 |
| 23 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 0 |
2024 Post-Race F1 Constructors’ Championship Standings
| Pos | Team | PTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLaren Mercedes | 566 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 537 |
| 3 | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 512 |
| 4 | Mercedes | 366 |
| 5 | Aston Martin Mercedes | 86 |
| 6 | Haas Ferrari | 46 |
| 7 | RB-Honda RBPT | 36 |
| 8 | Williams Mercedes | 17 |
| 9 | Alpine Renault | 14 |
| 10 | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 0 |
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