Red Bull first to run on Mexico’s F1 track

2015 Mexican Grand Prix

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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

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    11 comments on “Red Bull first to run on Mexico’s F1 track”

    1. 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?

      1. 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.

    2. Wow, they sure castrated the circuit with the stadium section.

      1. It was impossible to run the old configuration with current F1 track rules. They had no other option but doing this.

    3. 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

    4. Looks like they’ve made further changes to one part of the track – turn ten appears tighter than in the original plans by Tilke:

      https://www.racefans.net/groups/f1/forum/topic/turn-ten-revised-at-mexico-city/

      1. oh boy, more track tightening, just what everyone wanted…

    5. 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

      1. You mean between the infinity Q50 engine an the Renault PU on the F1?

    6. Why are Red Bull always the first to do this??

      Also, they’ve completely ruined the track! It is another Tilkedrome.

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