Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in profile
Last Updated: 08/01/20 1:06pm
After a 23-year absence, Formula 1 returned to Mexico in 2015 at a revamped Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
And it's been a happy track since then for Lewis Hamilton, with the Englishman sealing two early title coronations - in 2017 and 2018 - at the track.
Much changed in both F1 and at the world at large in Mexico City's years away from the sport – not least the famous circuit itself. Gone was the fearsome banked final Peraltada corner, with the shortened 4.3km track undergoing a significant facelift to bring it up to modern-day racing and safety standards.
But what the new-look Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez may have lost in an iconic corner it has gained in one of the most atmospheric stadium sections anywhere in motorsport. The use of an old baseball stadium allows thousands of fans to literally peer down on the multi-million pound cars and stars as they navigate the complex of corners.
Named after Mexico’s famous racing brothers and F1 trailblazers Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez, the circuit opened in 1962 having been built within a public park. Aged just 20, Ricardo was making a name for himself in F1 with Ferrari but the circuit’s non-championship bow in the November of ‘62 was to be overshadowed by the local hero's death when driving a Lotus in practice.
A year later and, without its rising star, Mexico staged its official F1 race which the legendary Jim Clark won – although the Lotus driver lost out in the all-British three-way title decider 12 months later when John Surtees became world champion.
Problems with crowd control resulted in Mexico falling off the calendar for the best part of two decades from 1971 before the event returned in 1986 and provided the platform for maiden wins for Gerhard Berger and Benetton. But seven years later and the increasingly bumpy and outdated track was consigned to the F1 wilderness again.
The 2020 Mexican GP will take place on November 1.