Ladies and Gentlemen,

And then there were 3 left…

After 23 years the F1 is coming back to Mexico for the 17th round of the season this weekend.

It used to be one of truly great circuits of the world, now that’s been pasteurized by Arq.Tilke to comply with modern standards we’ve no idea how the new layout will turn out to be. We’re crossing our fingers it will generate good racing, at least there’s one very fast and challenging section remaining close to its original form, the ‘eses’ in sector 2. The old and very fast (flat out!) and dangerous peraltada (banked) corner is gone replaced by the inevitable super slow chicanes. There are 2 straights left that will allow for DRS and late-braking overtaking -one of them at 1.3k, one of the largest in the calendar-. But the main challenge aside from finding the right set-up without previous data will be for the engine suppliers to cope with the 2,200m  above sea level of Mexico City, about 3 times the altitude of the highest track the F1 goes to (Brasil). The key issues are cooling because the same amount of energy is required coming out of the engine but with much less oxygen coming in to cope with, and the turbo has to compensate for the lack of air entering the ICE -internal combustion engine- that will put extra emphasis on reliability for all the teams.

Because of this concern Renault has decided not to bring their new engines for this race, and that’s another reason why Ferrari decided to take the grid penalty in Texas to be better prepared for Mexico with new units.

Since the Championship has been decided (both drivers’ and manufacturers’) some of the regular pressure has gone off -”Now I’m going to have fun” says Lewis- we might see a different approach to the proceedings. We’ll have to read how that will affect the relationship of favorite Mercedes drivers after the very tense situation at the end of last Sunday’s race. And then let’s keep an eye on Ferrari as they are really closing on the Silver machines, and as chief Arrivabene promised at the start of the season: “we will win 4 races this year”. They have 3 so far…

So, we have 3 chances left to write our name in the CFA book of records, and of course the title race is still pretty much open.

Our race winners in 2015 so far are: 3 wins- Rodrigo; 2-wins Santiago, Fernando, Tim & Hector; 1 win- Curro, Danny, Manbos, Sebastian, Lorenzo & Lou. It’s incredible that Fredrik has 2 perfect 18-point scores without a victory to count for!

Until tomorrow - can’t wait to see the F1s in this circuit!!

Cheers, and lot’s of envy to our lucky colleagues in attendance in the Rodriguez Brothers Autodrome!

Cato