Red Bull has become the first F1 team to run a car on the remodelled Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez which will hold the Mexican Grand Prix in November.
Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz Jnr drove a road car and a Red Bull show car around the track, the surface of which is still being laid.
“I really like the stadium section,” said Ricciardo after the run, “never really raced in anything like that, so that’s unique.”
“There’s some similarities throughout the place in terms of other circuits,” he added. “There’s some parts going through the park that’s a bit like Monza, especially the long straight. And then a little bit like [former F1 venue] Korea I feel a little bit of the circuit towards the back there.”
Ricciardo added the fast sequence of corners leading towards the stadium section “looks really cool – looking forward to that part in the F1 car”.
“It’s nice to go back on a track that many of my heroes dove on back in the eighties and nineties,” he added. “It’s going to be a little bit different but already going through the last corner, the old part of the track and a few areas like this, it’s pretty special, but I guess a lot’s changed as well.”
Mexico is making its return to the world championship calendar this year following a 23-year absence. According to the race organisers work on the new pit building is 80% complete and they expect to have the circuit ready by the beginning of September in time for homologation by the FIA.
Pictures: Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz Jnr at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
2015 Mexican Grand Prix
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- Verstappen and Rosberg take second Driver of the Weekend wins
- Watching the Mexican GP at the Foro Sol
- 2015 Mexican Grand Prix team radio transcript
sato113 (@sato113)
2nd July 2015, 15:08
Question: from exiting the stadium section to turn 1, is it a longer ‘on throttle’ blast than spa turn 1 to end of kemmel straight?
KaIIe (@kaiie)
2nd July 2015, 15:58
After doing some measuring from maps, the answer is no. As the track is relatively short (just 4.4 km) the main straight (or the flat out section) is about 1.3 km, while the one at Spa is almost 2.0 km.
SteveR
2nd July 2015, 15:12
Wow, they sure castrated the circuit with the stadium section.
Luis
2nd July 2015, 16:22
It was impossible to run the old configuration with current F1 track rules. They had no other option but doing this.
Limeade
2nd July 2015, 15:48
Ricciardo is a true ambassador. That stadium section is pathetically ugly. Whoever designed that should be embarrassed. And yes, it destroys that exciting high speed 180 going into the straight
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
2nd July 2015, 16:05
Looks like they’ve made further changes to one part of the track – turn ten appears tighter than in the original plans by Tilke:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/groups/f1/forum/topic/turn-ten-revised-at-mexico-city/
FullSpe3d (@dryyoshi)
2nd July 2015, 18:04
oh boy, more track tightening, just what everyone wanted…
Jack
2nd July 2015, 22:56
Great…
Todfod (@todfod)
2nd July 2015, 17:57
Looks like it was neck and neck between a Mercedes road car engine and the Renault PU in that Red Bull :P
Mclaren wouldn’t even make it round the circuit
Luis
2nd July 2015, 18:11
You mean between the infinity Q50 engine an the Renault PU on the F1?
Strontium (@strontium)
2nd July 2015, 20:01
Why are Red Bull always the first to do this??
Also, they’ve completely ruined the track! It is another Tilkedrome.