Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 21/06/2026 00:03:00

Set more than two kilometres above sea level, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City is the highest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar, and its thin air strains engines and aerodynamics in ways no other track does. It hosts the Mexico City Grand Prix within the Magdalena Mixhuca sports complex in the east of the city. The circuit was completed at the end of the 1950s and held its first Grand Prix in the early 1960s. It was later named after the racing brothers Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez, Mexican drivers who both died young in motorsport and became national heroes. Mexico hosted top-level racing here through the 1960s and again from the mid-1980s, before the Grand Prix lapsed for more than two decades. Formula 1 returned in 2015 after a major rebuild brought the track up to modern safety standards. The most distinctive feature of the modern layout is the final section, which runs through a stadium. The track was routed around the seating bowl of the former Foro Sol, a large concert and former baseball arena built within the complex, so that drivers pass between packed grandstands. That stadium section, where the podium also sits, gives the race an atmosphere unlike any other, with tens of thousands of fans close to the cars at the slowest part of the lap and the celebrations taking place in front of them. The thin air at altitude reduces downforce and cooling, so teams run their highest-downforce wing settings and still reach very high speeds down the long main straight, making the circuit a particular technical challenge. The Grand Prix has grown into one of the most popular events on the calendar, known for huge, enthusiastic crowds and a festival atmosphere across the race weekend, usually held in late October or early November. Outside the Grand Prix the complex remains a busy sports and entertainment hub, with the nearby Palacio de los Deportes arena and other venues sharing the site in the Ciudad Deportiva.