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The 2025 F1 Mexican GP comes at a crucial moment in the season as we're looking at potentially a 3-way battle between Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and Max Verstappen for the title. The second half of the season has seen the Dutch driver go on a rampage and slash the championship deficit from 104 to 40 points in just 4 races.
The F1 Mexican GP has been one of the more prolific races where Max Verstappen has done a splendid job. He's won here 5 times and has been winning here even before he started dominating the sport with Red Bull.
With that being said, as we get ready for the last 5 races of the season, what can we expect from the F1 Mexican GP race weekend? Let's take a look.
#5 We could potentially have a multi-stopper race with the tire configuration
The Pirelli tire configuration in Austin, where the supplier introduced a step in the compounds to introduce strategic variability, didn't do much, as a soft-medium one-stop was the go-to strategy.
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There's a possibility that we see a repeat of that in the F1 Mexican GP as well, as the teams have seemingly gotten better at tire management overall.
There's also a possibility that if the teams are forced to run only softs and mediums, then that could bring tire degradation into the picture, and hence a multiple-stop race could potentially be on the cards.
#4 Sauber and Aston Martin lead the midfield challenge
The track for the F1 Mexican GP has a strange characteristic in the sense that the high altitude means that the teams are forced to run high downforce setups that would only yield a resultant downforce that's close to what we have on tracks like Monza.
Speeds close to 360 km/h can be expected at some point during the weekend, but at the same time, it introduces a level of variability in terms of what the expectations are and what the consequent reality is on track.
In terms of expectations, cars that have the ability to ride the bumps well and have a strong high-downforce setup should do well, and that's where Aston Martin and Sauber could potentially have a positive weekend at the F1 Mexican GP.
#3 Mercedes and Ferrari could spring a surprise
Mercedes showed in Singapore that the car does well on tracks where a high downforce setup is required. Ferrari is one of the teams that seems to excel on the current grid in terms of the car's ability to ride the kerbs. This was something that helped Charles Leclerc in Monaco as well, where he almost qualified on pole position and won the race.
With that being said, it's also safe to say that both Mercedes and Ferrari head to the F1 Mexican GP with a level of unpredictability that's become common with both cars. They should be closer to the front this weekend, but we'd have to wait to see what they're capable of on the track.
#2 This is Lewis Hamilton's best opportunity to secure a podium finish
The F1 Mexican GP is arguably one of Charles Leclerc's worst tracks on the grid. The driver doesn't have a brilliant record here, and while a part of it could be ascribed to just the car under him, the driver saw his Ferrari teammate dominate and win here last season while he finished a distant P3.
Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, has had a decent run at Ferrari in the last few races and has been quite close to Charles Leclerc. With the car potentially capable of challenging for the podium, this might be the race where he breaks his podium duck.
#1 Max Verstappen wins the 2025 F1 Mexican GP
When it comes to the ultimate pace, it's going to be very close between both Red Bull and McLaren. The RB21 has been a bit notorious when it comes to tackling the aggressive kerbs and that has been one of its weaknesses. With that being said, with the leaps that the car has made in the second half of the season, you cannot rule anything out.
At the same time, McLaren should be strong around this track. The car worked well here last time around as well, and it should be decently competitive. With that being said, the problem is the vulnerability that comes for the polesitter at the start of the race.
On a track like this, the clutch moment is going to be the start of the race. The driver who nails the start is more or less going to manage the race from that point. Which is precisely why we're backing Max Verstappen to triumph once again at the F1 Mexican GP.
