With a “optimized” F1 engine, Mercedes should be more competitive in Mexico

Mercedes should be stronger than in prior years in Formula One’s Mexican Grand Prix this weekend, according to Valtteri Bottas, who believes the company has “optimized” its power unit.

Because the air is 25% less dense than typical, the demands of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which sits over 2000m above sea level, have usually equalized engine performance.

In previous years, this has profited Mercedes’ competitors, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen winning in 2017 and 2018 with Renault engines, and qualifying on pole position in 2019 with Honda engines before a grid penalty and a collision with Bottas knocked him out of contention for victory the last time the event was held.

Bottas admits that the Mexican track has been a “weakness” for Mercedes in the past, but believes that the team’s engine progress – despite ongoing reliability issues that have forced him to take three engine penalties in the last four races – would help the team be more competitive this year.

The Finn, on the other hand, believes Red Bull-Honda will be difficult to beat.

“For Mexico, we know it’s usually been a bit of a weakness for us and it feels like quite a big chunk has been in the recent years from the power unit, with the high altitude,” said Bottas.

“But I think we’ve been able to optimise a lot since, so I would expect us to be in a better place than in the recent years.

“Still, on paper, we think they’re really strong places for Red Bull and we’ve just really tried to do all the learnings we can from previous years and prepare the best that way.

“They’re not going to be easy weekends, but it’s never easy in this sport.”

Given how the 2021 season has played out, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes Red Bull’s past success at the Mexican circuit is no guarantee that it will be the favorite for this year’s race.

Mercedes and Red Bull have established themselves as the teams to beat on tracks that are theoretically more suited for their opponents, and Wolff expects the same to be true in the next race.

“Mexico was traditionally a track that was difficult for us but this season everything can change because we’ve seen that where traditionally our strong ones and they haven’t, and vice versa so I think it’s really race by race,” said Wolff.

Lewis Hamilton will start the season’s last triple-header in Mexico 12 points behind Verstappen, while Mercedes maintains a 23-point lead over Red Bull in the constructors’ rankings.

Several masks inspired by Formula One racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price: