The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit in Mexico City returned to the F1 calendar in 2015, and despite it’s significant re-profiling from the previous version, still has a moderate level of popularity with racing fans.

 

In terms of layout, this track has a bit of everything, but in reality in F1 24, you’ll need to use a setup that prioritises straight line speed above all else. Therefore you’ll be using medium-low levels of downforce for a race setup round here.

And again, I’ve found myself just settling on my template setup, just with a few small tweaks to make it better for this track.

Here’s a general dry race setup for Mexico for a pad user:

• Wings – 18/20
• Diff – 10/55/50
• Camber/Toe – -2.50/-2.20/0.00/0.20 (LLL20)
• Suspension – 39-5-15-9-25-58
• Brakes – 100% Pressure/53% Bias
• Tyres – Maximum pressures all tyres

Hotlap Using This Setup (Nothing Special But Stable And Fast On The Straights)

 

Mexico has never been my strongest track, so this setup isn’t my best. But it’s designed to be stable and easy to control over a race, so works in that sense.

More Setup Analysis

Here’s some more considerations for creating a setup for Mexico.

Wings -For a track like Mexico, 18/20 is going ridiculously low on the wings, especially considering they use close to maximum levels of downforce here in real life because of the altitude. But it seems to be the setup “hack” for F1 24 – just go for super low wing levels to nail it on the straights and defend against the AI, and hold on as best you can in the corners. You can go closer to 25 if you want, but it’s going to leave you a sitting duck on the  massive long pit straight against the AI. I’d recommend keeping your rear wing at 22 or lower to be able to hold position.

Tyre Pressures – Along with the last track Texas, Mexico is one of the those tracks where you absolutely have to run maximum tyre pressures since the rears especially overheat very easily. The front right get stressed slightly less, so you can drop the pressure on that one by 0.5-1 PSI if you want, but all the rest need to be at max. And the soft tyre is only good for Quali even using maximum pressures.

Off Throttle Diff – Lap time on this track seems to come from getting on the throttle smoothly out of corners without the back end stepping out, which in turn comes from having the ideal amount of rotation to prevent over-steer. For my setup, I’ve bumped the Off Throttle Diff up to 55 to help with this, as I was having too many traction issues using 50. But try tweaking with this setting to see what works for you. Increasing it provides less rotation but better stability off the throttle, while reducing it provides stronger rotation but can be more difficult to handle, especially with worn tyres.

Intermediation Conditions – With traction being so tricky on this track, I’d always put the rear wing 3 clicks above the front when using a pad in wet conditions, and raise the wing levels 1-3 clicks as well, so something like 19/22 or 20/23 can work. Also soften the suspension and raise the ride height 1-2 click, and definitely use minimum On Throttle Diff if you’re not already for easiest traction. But otherwise, your dry setup should work as a good baseline.

Full Wet Conditions – In heavy rain, it’s very tricky round here and you’ve got to be very careful and patient on the throttle to get round a lap. You can add a bunch more wing to make it easier (5-7 clicks), and definitely space the wings 3 clicks apart.

Here’s a suggested full wet race setup for Mexico for a pad user:

• Wings – 22/25
• Diff – 10/60/50
• Camber – -3.50/-2.20/0.00/0.13
• Suspension –  37-4-13-7-28-61
• Brakes – 100% Pressure/53 Bias
• Tyre pressures – Max pressures all tyres.

You’ll notice I’ve put the Off Throttle Diff up even more again to 60 to try and dampen the rotation and make getting on the traction easier, as it’s really a nightmare in full wet conditions round here. Keep increasing it as high as you need to soften the handling, and be very patient and progressive on the throttle exiting corners.

Bonus Setup Resources

I’ll readily admit that Mexico race setup has been one of my weaker ones for the last few games now, giving away quite a bit of potential pace for stability and easier handling. If you’re wanting something more specific or more aggressive, here are some other setup options to check out:

• If you’re wanting a more aggressive setup that’s potentially faster over 1 lap, but more instable and harder to control over a race distance, then check out the SimRacingSetups channel’s Mexico setup, and just port over the 18/20 wings, and 10/55/50 Diff settings from my setup at the top. More over-steery and tricky on traction for sure, but less easy to be consistent with on worn tyres.
• F1laps.com Texas Mexico page – Another car setup forum with pages for every track, and loads of custom setups posted, both TT and race, all cars, all conditions.
• F1gamesetup.com – An even more specialized resource with custom setups, every car and every track, wet and dry weather.
• Sim Racing Centre (Premium) – Need to buy these setups, but they’re higher end, eSports style setups more designed for fast wheel users. As such may not port over to a pad without some experimentation and tweaking, but can be much faster than my setup if you’re very precise and accurate on the controller.

Tips For Racing Here

Here’s some extra tips and considerations for racing around Mexico.

ERS (Qualifying) – Surprisingly round here, you’ve got LOADS of the fastest Overtake ERS mode to use during Qualifying laps to boost your acceleration and top speed in Quali sessions. You’ve basically got enough to use all along all the DRS zones, plus some of the smaller straights. So be sure to use it as it does give you a lot of extra lap time. Keep an eye on the yellow ERS bar and look to use it up fully as you cross the finish line on flying laps, but it’s actually quite hard to do this at Mexico.

Tyre Strategy – The red soft tyre isn’t really usable for longer races here; it overheats too quickly. It’s a medium-hard or hard-medium strategy. Being very careful and patient on the traction, you can stretch the softs out for 2-3 laps and then go onto the hards in a 25% race, but after that they’re cooked. So in most cases the soft tyre is only good for qualifying laps.

Defending – If you’re in a position where you can’t go any further forward in a race, and are just looking to hold position against and aggressive AI, you need to save and use your ERS strategically. Firstly, make sure your rear wing is set low enough (22 at a push and preferably 20). Then always make sure you’ve got enough ERS to deploy it at least halfway along the pit straight every lap (one half to two thirds full as you enter the start-finish straight). This is where the AI will try to overtake using the ERS/DRS/slipstream combo. Aim to get good smooth exits out of the last corner, and keep deploying aggressively here, and you can defend and hold position if your wings are set low enough (I just did for about 10 laps in my first race here).

Corner Cutting – This is one of those tracks where most players in league races end up racking up lots of time penalties because it’s too easy and tempting to cut the corners in the “esses” section. When racing in online lobbies, focus on being accurate and precise through the “esses” and building rhythm and consistency rather than trying to push track limits and “force” faster lap times, and you’ll jump cars in front that often rack up 3, 6, 9 or even 12 or more seconds in time penalties because they keep cutting the track limits.