The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit in Mexico City has been back on the F1 calendar for a decade now, having returned in 2015. It’s been significantly reprofiled from the original layout used several decades ago, and it’s reception among fans seems to be mixed. It’s definitely not one of my favourites.

 

Having said that, it’s an excellent test of a car and a setup’s all round efficiency as it’s got a bit of everything – massive long straight, twisty high speed “esses” section and slow speed corners. Therefore any setup round here will be something of a compromise, where one sector or section of track is favoured at the expense of another.

Given my recent discovery at the previous race in CoTA that higher wings have massive benefits over using lower wing levels, I’ll be carrying on my new approach to Mexico and going for a higher downforce setup, as the benefits of this seem to outweigh the drawbacks.

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

• Wings – 28/31 or 38/41
• Diff – 10/55
• Camber/Toe – -3.50/-2.00/0.03/0.13 (LL/0.03/0.13)
• Suspension – 41-3-14-10-22-49
• Brakes – 100% Pressure/55% Bias
• Tyres – Maximum pressures all tyres

I’ve tried all different levels of wing levels here as it’s a tricky track handling wise once the tyres go off, and am settling for now on a higher downforce approach, with the possibility that medium wing levels can also work.

Along with the downforce level, the wing spacing, toe and roll bar settings have also all been used in combination to provide a more stable handling across stints (not just on fresh tyres), although some care is also needed from the driver on throttle and steering inputs. Traction here gets super tricky on ALL tyre types once they’re worn past a certain point.

More Setup Analysis

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

Low vs High Wing Levels (IMPORTANT)

For past games, I’d be going to down to around 20 wing levels front and rear or even less. And you can also do that on F1 25. But the problem is this makes the car very difficult to control once the tyres go off, so you need to flip it around this year and go with higher wing levels. Yes, it will cost you on the two main straights, but the extra downforce makes the car much easier to control once the tyres start to wear and therefore your average lap time over a stint will be better versus using lower wings.

Therefore, using wings closer to 30 or even in the 40s is recommended, with a focus on using the extra downforce to nail the final stadium section and getting a good exit to the point where you’re far enough ahead that you’re safe against the AI on the pit straight. The extra downforce also makes it much easier to follow cars without being affected by dirty air, so it also makes overtaking easier (not harder) than if using lower wings.

At the moment, I’d suggest 28/31 wings as your lower downforce option to give a balance between straight line speed and cornering. But you can also go higher and try something like 38/41, which I have also tried and now prefer. I’ve also found I need that 3 click spacing to keep the traction stable on worn tyres. I’m actually preferring the latter higher wing setup right now; it’s got really good stability and pulls you through the “esses” and the final sector really well (including good drive off the final corner which helps you onto the pit straight).

(update – using the higher wings of 40/43 delivered decent performance in the race, but didn’t work as well as at CoTA. I qualified 5th and finished 8th in a midfield Alpine, so it wasn’t bad. But did get overtaken a few times on the main straight, so it does leave you vulnerable there. Having said that, the traction remained manageable on the medium and hard tyres. However, I used 38/41 wings online and it worked really well for following and delivered better stability and overall average lap times than the 28/31 setup. So despite it’s weakness on the straights, I’m opting for the higher wing approach for now at Mexico).

Yes, it seems paradoxical given the low wing approach of the previous few games. But the “dirty air” and worn tyres simulation has changed things up this year, so a different approach is required.

IMP Video – You need higher downforce for races when the tyres go off

 

 

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. And even running max pressures, the rears are still marginal and will overheat if you’re too aggressive on traction. And the soft tyre is only good for Quali even using maximum pressures.

Off Throttle Diff and Wing Spacing

Keeping the tyre temps under control at this track (and therefore getting better average lap times over a stint) 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 firstly set the wing spacing 3 clicks apart, with the rear above the front, for better stability in this regard. I’ve also bumped the Off Throttle Diff up to 55 to help with this, as I was having too many traction issues using 50 Off Diff and 2 click spacing in the wings. Even a small change in these settings can make a big difference, for me making it easier to keep the rear tyre temps under control. With 40/42 wings and 50 Diff, the car was rotating too much and the rear tyres were overheating.

Intermediation Conditions

As per usual in the wet on F1 25, it’s all about traction, and making it easier coming out of slower corner. For light rain conditions, keep the same wing levels as the dry or maybe add a little bit, but add more spacing to the wings, setting them 4 clicks apart.  Also raise your Off Throttle Diff to 60 or 65 to again reduce rotation and make traction easier out of slow corners.

Qualifying Tweaks

This setup is designed for better stability over a race. But if you want more single lap pace, trying bringing the front wing up closer to the rear and lowering your Off Throttle Diff to 45 or 40 (you can reverse both of these settings for the race as well as they’re not restricted by “parc perme” rules).

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. Max out the wings but with 5 clicks of spacing so using 45/50 wings, and 60 or 65 Off Throttle Diff to further dampen rotation. Also raise the ride height 3-5 clicks.

Then it’s a case of being super careful and nuanced on throttle and steering inputs, and turning down ERS to None in traction zones if you prefer. Getting round a lap here in full wet requires creeping round much of the track on partial throttle and super careful steering; you’re only really on full throttle on the 2 main straights and barely anywhere else.

Tips For Racing Here

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

ERS (Qualifying)

Got loads of Overtake ERS mode to use on flying laps to boost speed – it’s hard to get the Deployment Used sign to come up, so just use it on on the two main straights plus anywhere else you can. Keep an eye on the yellow ERS meter  and look to drain it to around 10% just as you finish the flying lap (and try to get it down to about 20% as you enter the final short DRS zone just after the “esses”).

Tyre Wear and Strategy

Here are the wear rates I found from testing:

• Soft – 7.5 – 8% per lap (not a good race tyre, overheats after 2-3 laps)
• Medium – 4 – 4.5% per lap (OK race tyre, but can still overheat after 6-8 laps)
• Hard – 3% per lap (best race tyre, remains stable for a long time if you drive carefully)
• Rear left wears and overheats the most, followed by the rear right.

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 even for 25% races. For 50% races, I’d recommend a 2 stop MHH, trying to last 5-8 laps on the medums before two even stints on the hards.

And even using the medium and hard, they can also overheat if you’re too aggressive on the throttle and have a setup where the car is over-rotating and causing those wheelspin moments. Be patient and progressive on corner exits (more and more so as the tyres start to wear). Try to keep the medium or hard from getting into that 106 to 107 degree Celsius range, as that’s when you’re in trouble and traction really starts getting tricky.

Defending

Was actually hard round here using 40/43 wings and I was getting blown past on the straights, but eventually I did settle into a position that just was where I was at in terms of race pace, and managed to hold position from there.

I was hoping that having the higher wing levels would allow me to nail the final few corners and get sufficient drive onto the pit straight that I could be far enough ahead to defend on the massive long DRS zone. But at this track, it didn’t really work out like that; the straight is too long and you will lose position against obviously faster cars.

But if you keep the tyres in good shape and are consistent, you shouldn’t keep dropping back and back. Stronger cars will overtake and then you’ll probably settle into a position where you maintain a certain gap to chasing cars of a similar pace, where they can’t get in your DRS.

If you really want to be able to defend more on the straights, lower the wings to something like 34/37 or 28/31. But it will make the traction harder as the stints go on.

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.