Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

Race track in Mexico City

Mexico City, Racing in Thin Air

High above sea level in a Mexico City park, the circuit named for two racing brothers has welcomed Formula 1 in three separate eras.

At 2,238 meters, the air over the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is thin enough to trouble drivers and engines alike. It also offers a trade: with less drag on the straights, teams can carry more downforce than usual without paying for it in speed. The circuit lies in southeast Mexico City, inside a public park that belongs to the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City. It was built in 1959 from a design that a student, Óscar Fernández, had drawn up as his thesis in 1953.

Since 1979 it has honored Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez, brothers who were both killed racing. Ricardo died in practice for the 1962 Mexican Grand Prix, a non championship race held on this circuit, and Pedro nine years after him. The old lap finished with the Peraltada, a very fast and gently banked curve that some compared to Monza, leading onto a front straight of 1.2 km. A baseball stadium went up inside that curve after 1992, and when Hermann Tilke reworked the circuit for 2015 he sent the cars through the stadium in a slow left right before letting them back onto the Peraltada at its midpoint. The present lap measures 4.304 km, and the esses at its center were heavily altered in the rebuild.

Mexico first joined the championship in 1963 and stayed until 1970, when spectators spilling over the circuit made it unsafe to race. A new pit complex and safety improvements brought Formula 1 back in 1986, but safety worries ended that second spell after 1992. The place has a gift for firsts. Richie Ginther gave Honda its first championship win here in 1965, and Gerhard Berger won his first race here in 1986. Nigel Mansell won in 1987 and 1992, and turn 17 carries his name in memory of the move around the outside of Berger he made there in 1990.

Racing resumed in 2015 with a victory for Nico Rosberg, and since 2021 it has been staged as the Mexico City Grand Prix. Across its three eras the circuit has staged 25 championship rounds from 1963 to 2025. Max Verstappen holds the record with five wins, and Lando Norris won the 2025 race. Twice the circuit has left the calendar and twice it has come back, still carrying the name of the two brothers.

Every Grand Prix here

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