IT'S RACE WEEK: 5 storylines we're excited about ahead of the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix

From one huge event in Austin to another in Mexico, the action continues thick and fast as Kimi Antonelli moves closer to wrapping up the title. Aside from championship permutations, there’s plenty more to look forward to as we prepare for our latest visit to the fiesta that awaits in Mexico City.

Antonelli on the verge of the championship

It was so nearly a crowning weekend for Kimi Antonelli in Austin but he will get another chance to seal the deal and become the youngest World Champion just seven days later.

Victory in the United Sates Grand Prix opened the door for Antonelli to become champion, but Lewis Hamilton (fourth) and George Russell (eighth) each finished just one position higher than the Mercedes driver had needed them to be, ensuring the celebrations would have to wait for at least a week.

The equation is far more simple for Antonelli now. A top-nine finish in Sunday’s race will confirm him as World Champion, and even if misfortune befalls him and he finishes tenth or lower, he will still be champion if neither Russell nor Hamilton win the race. Tenth will even be enough if it’s Hamilton who wins, with only a Russell victory in that scenario preventing a title party.

Red Bull moves level with McLaren

Max Verstappen might not have been able to make it three wins in a row in Austin, but he did extend his podium streak to six consecutive top three finishes, and if you go back to his first podium of the year – at round five in Canada – he has only failed to finish on the podium when he’s seen the chequered flag on one occasion.

That was in Barcelona, where Verstappen was fourth, and two of his three DNFs have come when he looked set for a podium, too. So it’s not as if Red Bull haven’t been competitive for some time, but the recent upturn in form to secure wins has allowed it to close in and now draw level with McLaren in the Teams’ standings.

The two teams have 355 points to their names, with Red Bull classified ahead by virtue of having more second-placed finishes. The form guide suggests Red Bull could pull clear in that battle, but McLaren showed flashes of really strong pace in Austin and will be looking to unlock more of it to try and respond in Mexico City.

Perez hits 300

Mexico City is always a big weekend for the home hero Sergio Perez, who enjoys enormous support when returning to race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

This weekend will be particularly special as Perez is set to make his 300th start in Formula 1, and will get to celebrate in front of his home crowd. He’s kicking off the festivities with a show run in Mexico City on Wednesday, before taking to the track on Friday and looking to help Cadillac continue their development as the newest team on the grid.

That challenge is one that has reinvigorated Perez after a year on the sidelines, and he’ll be keen to help them move forward as quickly as possible. But it was always going to be a long-term project, and fans will be aware that simply reaching Q2 would be a huge achievement for Cadillac.

However he fares, Perez can expect enormous backing, and will look to give his supporters something to cheer for off-track if not on it, as he has agreed a contract extension to remain with Cadillac until at least 2029 and further extend that number of starts.

Rookie FP1 outings

Ever since it became mandatory for teams to run a rookie during FP1 sessions at some stage of the season, Mexico City has been one of the venues that has seen multiple appearances for drivers gaining experience in F1 machinery.

One of the most notable outings was for Ollie Bearman at Haas in 2023, catching the eye to such an extent that he was soon viewed as a certainty for a future race seat with the team.

The likes of Fred Vesti, Leonardo Fornaroli, Jak Crawford, Luke Browning and Colton Herta will continue their development with appearances for Mercedes, McLaren, Aston Martin, Williams and Cadillac respectively, but there will also be an FP1 debut for Audi young driver Freddie Slater.

The Briton was runner-up to Ugo Ugochukwu in a closely-fought Formula 3 championship battle this season, and will step up to F2 in 2027 alongside his Audi duties. His run in FP1 will be the first time he has driven the current car after Paul Aron took the wheel for two sessions earlier this season, and he’ll also get a chance to follow-up with another drive in Brazil.

A unique test in front of a special crowd

I wrote the sentence “Almost every race weekend can be classified as a big event given the number of sellout crowds seen this season”, and fresh from a record 467,000 weekend attendance at Circuit of the Americas, the same point holds true as we head to Mexico.

The atmosphere at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is always special, whether Sergio Perez is racing or not. Last year was a weekend where Perez was not on track and yet it was still a fiesta, particularly in the Foro Sol section where the track winds its way through an old baseball stadium, and the podium is located in front of an enormous crowd.

But when we talk about atmosphere, it’s not just related to the noise being made by the fans. The atmospheric conditions are also significant, with the Mexico City track the highest on the calendar at 2,200 metres above sea level.

Given Interlagos is next on the list at 800m, it shows the scale of the test for teams to handle the cooling challenges of racing at such altitude, while the aerodynamic devices on the cars themselves also offer far lower levels of downforce given the density of the air.

It’s most easily summed up by describing it as a weekend where you run Monaco levels of downforce but the car reacts as if you’re running a Monza-specific package, and it can lead to some eye-catching performances if certain teams find their cars suit the conditions better than others.