The race in Mexico is a very special one on the Formula 1 calendar every year. Because the race track in Mexico City is 2,285 meters above sea level, the cars are once again exposed to very special stresses this weekend.
Because of the thin air, cooling the cars is a big problem, which means that drivers have to constantly manage the temperatures of the tires, engine and brakes – which, according to George Russell, feels “a bit strange”.
“It’s a very difficult scenario because as a racing driver you want to drive every single lap as quickly as possible, and that’s why qualifying is often quite easy because you don’t have to think about it too much,” explains the Mercedes driver.
He gives examples: “You probably can’t brake as hard as you would like because the… [Temperaturen der] Brakes go through the roof. You probably can’t follow the cars for several laps in a row because the engine overheats.”
“If you have to take your foot off the accelerator 100 meters before every single braking zone, driving feels quite unnatural,” he emphasizes. Actually, as a racing driver, you’ve been used to almost always going full throttle since karting.
“In Formula 3 or Formula 2 you would never use these techniques to cool the engine, tires and brakes because these racing cars are probably not pushed to the limit as much as a Formula 1 car,” reveals Russell.
What are the chances for Mercedes in Mexico?
Because these challenges in Mexico are the same for all teams, Mercedes has no particular disadvantage here, which is why Russell also explains that he is “optimistic” about the weekend. At least “on paper” you should have a good chance.
“I would say this track suits us better than Austin, Qatar and Japan, where we were pretty competitive,” said Russell, who qualified second in Mexico last year, while teammate Lewis Hamilton then finished P2 in the race.
A glimmer of hope for Mercedes after the race in Austin ended in disappointment. Hamilton finished second on the track, but was subsequently disqualified. Russell himself didn’t get past P5 after a difficult weekend.
“The upgrades [in Austin] “We definitely worked well,” the Brit clarifies and recalls that he simply had to struggle with some “limitations.” “I didn’t have enough fuel and had to manage with fuel for half the race.”
“That really set me back. But in the last stint we just pushed hard and the pace was probably the strongest out there, which definitely bodes well for the end of the season,” explains Russell.
The Brit’s last podium finish was almost five months ago. At the beginning of June he was third on the podium in Barcelona – also his only podium appearance so far in 2023.