2015 Mexican Grand Prix

Previous race

Hamilton won the United States Grand Prix and clinched his third Drivers’ Championship.

Between-race developments

One week before the race, Hurricane Patricia — described as the largest tropical storm cell on record in the Northern Hemisphere — crossed the Mexican coastline near Cuixmala in Jalisco state. Patricia had also disrupted the United States Grand Prix weekend.

Track changes

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez has been substantially reconfigured for Formula One’s return. The first corner complex is tightened on entry. The middle section of the circuit is fully re-profiled, retaining much of the original layout while reducing dependence on aerodynamic grip. The most significant changes come in the final sector: the Peraltada corner is cut in half and the circuit is redirected through the Foro Sol stadium complex, following a layout similar to that used by Champ Car between 2002 and 2007. Two DRS zones are provided, one on the main straight and one between turns three and four. The long main straight delivers the highest straight-line speeds seen in the 2015 season, which McLaren acknowledge will make their underpowered Honda difficult to manage.

Tyres

Pirelli supplies the medium compound as the prime tyre and the soft compound as the option.

Practice

The first session runs on a damp track, described by Vettel as “ridiculously slippery.” The first half-hour is completed on intermediate tyres. Many drivers are caught out at turns eight and ten in particular. Rosberg’s Mercedes suffers overheating rear brakes, forcing him back to the pits while holding the fastest time at that point. Verstappen sets the final fastest time for the session at 1:25.990, though he goes off in the second sector. Hamilton finishes only eleventh. Palmer replaces Grosjean at Lotus for the rest of the season.

The afternoon session sees Rosberg fastest at 1:21.531. Verstappen crashes at the exit of the stadium section after just five minutes, bringing out red flags. Bottas loses the rear of his Williams due to a DRS flap fault and crashes at turn one. Pérez, Sainz, and Maldonado also go off at the first corner. Grosjean ends his session early with a clutch failure. Button finishes ninth despite spending half the session in the pits while his team fit a new power unit.

Rosberg is again fastest in the third session at 1:21.083, Hamilton 0.014 seconds behind. Rain falls overnight, leaving the track slippery for the first thirty minutes before grip builds. Ricciardo finishes third. Verstappen reports vibrations from his engine. Button spends much of the session in the garage and ends the practice more than eight seconds off the pace.