The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is named after Mexico's late Pedro and Riccardo Rodriguez, two of the country's greatest racing drivers. The Mexico City circuit has hosted Formula 1 races on and off since the 1960s and made a welcome return to the calendar in 2015.
Rain is very rare in Mexico, but it's surprisingly commonplace in F1 2021. You'll have to adapt your dry weather setup to wet conditions for when the rain starts to fall. Here's the best setup we found in F1 2021!
Aerodynamics
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez has two long straights, so you'd think low downforce would be the way to go. However, the esses in the middle sector mean that you need to crank the wing angles up. This is in the hunt of downforce, and we found that 8-10 is best to give you plenty of grip.
Transmission
In the wet, you need to adjust your transmission to be more open than in the dry. This may reduce the overall grip of the car, but it will make it easier to control, particularly on power applications.
65% for the on-throttle differential allows you to get the loud pedal down without fear of spinning up the rear tyres. 50% off-throttle diff keeps the car steady when lifting off the throttle through the esses.
Suspension Geometry
The wet tyres are very durable in Mexico, as they are for every circuit on the calendar. Therefore, you can opt for small camber and toe angles without the fear of having to do multiple stops in the race. You can go all the way to the bottom for the toe angles, 0.05 on the front and 0.20 on the rear.
You can't be as liberal with the camber values, but you can go all the way to the right with -2.50 for the front. The rear camber is best at -1.70, but if your rear tyres are overheating, turn this value up.
Suspension
The suspension has to be slightly soft to quick in Mexico. The high-speed direction changes of the esses though, mean that you need the anti-roll bar to still be on the stiff side at 7-7. The springs though, should be at around 3-4, to allow you to use the kerbs without fear.
The ride height has to be on the higher side, despite the Mexican circuit being relatively flat. 4-7 will allow you to ride over the kerbs and power out of corners like the final turn with confidence.
Brakes
There are two huge stops around Hermanos Rodriguez, so you'll have to use high brake pressure. We opted for 95% brake pressure, as locking up isn't usually an issue in Mexico, even in the wet. We found that 56% brake bias towards the front is also best as it avoids rear axle locking.
Tyres
Like with the suspension geometry, you can configure the tyres to be faster but wear out faster. High pressures are best in Mexico, not only for the added grip, but to also help maintain the temperature in your Pirellis down the long straights.
23.0 psi on the front and 23.5 psi on the rear is about perfect for this. However, if your tyres are running out too fast for your liking, lowering these pressures is a good way to extend their lives.