Five things to look out for at the F1 Mexico GP

Formula 1 is back once again this weekend with the extremely popular Mexico Grand Prix, which comes simply 7 days after Kimi Antonelli romped to success in Austin.

That was the Mercedes chauffeur’s ninth win of the 2026 season after controling from pole in a race mainly specified by method with Antonelli nailing a one-stopper.

He was signed up with on the podium by two-stopping duo Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen at round 18 of the season.

As things stand, there are now simply 5 left, so it is quite business end of the season, where 2 titles might be clinched at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Here are 5 things to look out for.

Antonelli successfully there

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Picture by: Alex Bierens de Haan/ LAT Images by means of Getty Images

There is most likely more opportunity of Pastor Maldonado making an F1 return than there is Antonelli not ending up being world champ this weekend. The 20-year-old experience has actually eliminated the competitors, holding a particular 123 and 124-point benefit over the last staying title competitors in George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

This is with 125 points left readily available in the 2026 project-supplied the Middle Eastern rounds go on-so all the

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This ought to be the weekend that Antonelli enjoys his crowning, and what a deserving minute it will be. From round 2 in China he has actually been a cut above, taking 9 wins, 15 podiums and 7 poles while never ever truly putting a foot incorrect in the W17 regardless of battles being ever-present on Russell’s side of the garage.

Antonelli will end up being F1’s youngest world champ by 3 years -taking the record from Sebastian Vettel in 2010-and there is no doubt that more crowns will follow.

-Ed Hardy[ 19659016]What about the fitters’ title?

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Image by: James Sutton/ LAT Images by means of Getty Images

Antonelli is set to provide Mercedes its very first chauffeurs’title because Hamilton took a record-equalling seventh crown in the 2020 season. The Silver Arrows ‘wait on a contractors’champion is a little much shorter, nevertheless, as its last can be found in 2021 before 4 years of battle in the ground-effect age.

As anticipated, Mercedes mastered the 2026 guideline switch thanks mainly to its extremely effective power system and it came out of the blocks quickly by winning the opening 6 grands prix from pole. Other groups- Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull -consequently closed the space by fitting upgrades and taking wins of their own, however insufficient to genuinely challenge Mercedes’ constant supremacy over the competitors.

Heading into Mexico, it holds a 133-point benefit over second-placed Ferrari with 215 left offered-an overall that will minimize to 172 after this weekend. That does for that reason make it possible for the German marque to take its ninth builders’ title in Mexico-provided there are 43 points available-however that is not likely to take place.

To do so, it should outscore Ferrari by 39 points, which involves either completing very first and 2nd or, at worst, initially and third. If Mercedes takes a 1-2, then it’ll need the Italian marque scoring no greater than 4 points while for the latter, Ferrari can not take a return of more than 2 for the title to be chosen in Mexico City.

The most likely circumstance is Mercedes winning the champion next weekend at Interlagos.

– Ed Hardy

Will Red Bull’s 2 most significant concerns continue?

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Picture by: Alex Bierens de Haan/ LAT Images through Getty Images

Throughout current days, Motorsport.com’s Ronald Vording has actually been hot on the case, reporting on 2 problems that are still afflicting Red Bull amidst its late-season renewal. Poor race begins and technical issues on radio.

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Beginning with the previous, this is something that has actually cost Red Bull throughout 2026 and has actually up until now culminated in Isack Hadjar declaring in Austin that the group requires to revamp its clutch. It followed both he and team-mate Max Verstappen respectively dropped 2 and one position at lights out.

When it comes to the latter, this issue emerged in Singapore with Verstappen, who was likewise impacted at COTA as was Hadjar for the very first time this year. The method things are going, anticipate additional concerns to Red Bull surrounding these 2 problems, specifically as the race-start issue is extremely made complex and most likely to continue into 2027 according to group employer Laurent Mekies.

Due to the fact that beyond that, the environment is mostly favorable at the Austrian attire as it has actually now surpassed McLaren for 3rd in the champion with Verstappen on a podium streak of 6 grands prix- consisting of 2 triumphes.

Success wasn’t most likely in Austin offered the rate of Verstappen on the softs compared to the difficult runners, however the reality that he was still able to complete on the podium amidst difficulties, demonstrates how much the group has actually advanced from the start of 2026, when it was strongly fourth-best.

-Ed Hardy

Will Ferrari complete the

task in Mexico after falling brief in Austin?

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Image by: James Sutton/ LAT Images by means of Getty Images

Ferrari has actually completed on the podium at 3 successive grands prix and outscored every other group throughout the previous 2. The disadvantage? Its winless run now extends to 9 races. It searched course to end that dry spell in Austin, just to fail.

Fred Vasseur’s evaluation on Sunday at COTA was that Ferrari had actually got whatever right other than its Q3 laps. Those expensive Saturday drawbacks left Leclerc and Hamilton even more down the grid and required them to go on the attack in the race.

Leclerc still came away with 2nd, and Ferrari left Austin motivated, with more proof that the SF-26’s competitiveness is no longer based on circuit attributes. Ferrari’s heritage requires more than podium surfaces.

Will Mexico offer the phase for its 3rd success of 2026?

At more than 2,200 metres above water level, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez provides a really specific difficulty. Vasseur is positive the bundle is working, with the distinction in between winning and falling brief on any provided weekend coming down to the great margins of the tire operating window and set-up. A Ferrari success in Mexico on Sunday is definitely not out of the concern.

– Federico Faturos

Sergio Pérez’s 300 races and what they genuinely imply

Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing

Image by: Sam Bloxham/ LAT Images by means of Getty Images

Going beyond the 300-race turning point in Formula 1 is an accomplishment booked for a really unique group, and this Sunday Sergio Perez will sign up with legends like Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, and Michael Schumacher.

This figure brings a much deeper significance that possibly just Mexicans and Latin Americans totally grasp, however that the world requires to understand. Reaching 300 Grands Prix implies 300 celebrations in which ‘Checo’shattered the “pay driver” preconception -that misconception associating his arrival at the Pinnacle of racing exclusively to the support of his sponsors.

3 hundred races later on, the Guadalajara native boasts a runner-up surface worldwide motorists’ title, the record as the most effective Mexican motorist in F1 history, and a return with Cadillac that required a number of his critics to confess their error following his bitter exit from Red Bull at the end of 2024.

The background for this event will not be perfect. Long gone are the days when he defended podiums at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. In 2026, merely crossing the goal with Cadillac will represent the greatest triumph of the weekend in itself.

Nevertheless, when Perez takes the start in his 300th race, he will not simply leave his mark through numbers on the grid. His real tradition depends on having actually been the driving force behind Formula 1’s go back to Mexico and in leading the way for brand-new generations to pursue their own dreams, assisted by the slogan ‘Checo’ has actually etched on his helmet: “Never give up.”

– Luis Ramirez

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