Stoffel Vandoorne says the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is a tricky one to get right thanks to the necessity of a high downforce set-up, which is required due to the high altitude of the venue, with the Belgian expecting an interesting weekend.
The McLaren F1 Team racer, who will exit Formula 1 at the end of 2018 to join the FIA Formula E championship with HWA Racelab, is also interested to see how Pirelli’s softest compound, the Hypersoft, will work around the 2.674-mile circuit.
“The track in Mexico is very special because of the altitude,” said Vandoorne. “We all run maximum downforce, but because of the altitude it actually makes it lower than Monza.
“That makes the cars very tricky to drive. We will also return to the Hypersoft tyre this year, so it’ll be interesting to see how that behaves.”
Vandoorne is hopeful of a fun, but more important, positive weekend in Mexico as he bids to end his dreadful run of results, with his final points finish coming in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the end of April, where he finished ninth.
“The Stadium section is amazing – I remember the fans last year were going crazy there,” said the Belgian, who finished twelfth in his first Mexican Grand Prix twelve months ago. “It was a packed race and they were cheering for everyone as they drove through, which made for a great atmosphere.
“Mexico City is a cool place. Everyone is really friendly and the food is great too. I’m looking forward to a fun weekend and hopefully some positive results on track.”
