Mexican GP: Williams Racing Grand Prix Preview

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
The circuit in Mexico City is characterised by the altitude; sitting 2200m above sea level means that the air pressure is low. The low pressure means that despite running large rear wings, the drag and downforce of the cars is low. Cooling the PU and the brakes is also difficult, and the turbo needs to work very hard to keep the ICE running correctly.

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues is a 4.3km track with three DRS zones, a high-speed section and three low-speed sections. The final sequence of corners takes the cars through the baseball stadium and back out onto the main straight. The cars need to be agile in the low-speed but remain stable in the high-speed section.

The wind and temperature are normally quite stable and predictable in October and we can expect mostly benign conditions throughout the weekend. However, there is a threat of rain early in the weekend and this may affect track running.

As this is a standard event format, we have an opportunity to conduct some testing during the three free practice sessions. This will include testing some development tyres that Pirelli have provided to each driver. With Las Vegas being a new track and Brazil a sprint event, this is the final serious opportunity to test before the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Logan Sargeant:
I’m really looking forward to getting back in the car in Mexico this weekend. It’s a unique track with unique characteristics so nice to be back to a normal format weekend. Hopefully we can build off a good result in Austin and keep progressing forward.

Alex Albon:
We head to Mexico next on the triple header and I’m looking forward to returning here as the weekend has a great atmosphere, with very passionate fans. The track is quite unique which can make things challenging and mightn’t suit our car necessarily, but I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do with a normal weekend format, which we haven’t had for a while.