1987 Mexican Grand Prix

Championship standings

Nelson Piquet leads Nigel Mansell by 18 points with three races to go. Senna is out of contention. Only the two Williams drivers can still win the title.

Previous race

At Jerez, Mansell passed Piquet at the end of the opening lap and controlled the race to win. Senna attempted to run the full distance without a tyre stop — as he had at Monaco and Detroit — but his tyres deteriorated in the final third and he fell from third to fifth. Both Ferraris retired with engine failures.

Between-race developments

The atmosphere within the Williams team has deteriorated badly between the two drivers. Team principal Frank Williams has admitted he can do nothing to improve the situation between Piquet and Mansell.

Larrousse expands to two cars, with F3000 driver Yannick Dalmas joining Philippe Alliot for the final three rounds. Osella returns to a single car.

Milestones

This is the 450th Formula One Grand Prix.

Practice

Drivers complained intensely about the condition of the track — the geologically active ground beneath the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez has made the surface more bumpy than last year. Several large accidents occurred during practice, including incidents involving Mansell and Senna.