Feature

Chris Medland's 2016 Mexican Grand Prix preview

What time does the Mexican Grand Prix start? What channel is the Mexican Grand Prix on? The answers to all of that and more in F1i’s race preview

The ‘F1 Fiesta’ returns this weekend as Mexico City hosts a grand prix for only the second time since returning to the calendar last year. A vibrant, passionate crowd is expected once again at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and it could be to see the drivers’ championship decided. Nico Rosberg can become F1 world champion for the first time in his career this weekend, with the championship leader needing victory and team-mate Lewis Hamilton not to finish to secure his first title. After his win in Austin, Hamilton will be doing his utmost to keep the championship alive, and could do with Red Bull or Ferrari joining the fight again to take points off Rosberg. It’s set to be an enthralling weekend and home fans will have two drivers to cheer for in the form of Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez, with the latter making his Mexican Grand Prix debut.

FORM GUIDE

Hamilton delivered when he needed to in Austin but Rosberg produced a solid drive to second place to limit the damage to his championship lead. Rosberg only needs to finish second in the remaining races - and even third in one - to win the title, and Hamilton will be wary of the stress Mexico City puts on the power units due to the altitude. Red Bull is likely to struggle a little more than recent races on a more power-sensitive track, which may open the door for Ferrari and could see the likes of Force India and Williams move closer to the front three too. Naturally, the flip side of the challenging environment for power units is the likes of McLaren and Toro Rosso are likely to suffer.

2015 RESULT

Pole position: Nico Rosberg, (Mercedes), 1:19.480

Top three: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Valtteri Bottas (Williams)

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 1:20.521

SESSION TIMES (All times local)

FP1: 10:00 - 11:30

FP2: 14:00 - 15:30

FP3: 10:00 - 11:00

Qualifying: 13:00 - 14:00

Race: 13:00

TYRE CHOICES

©Pirelli Motorsport

WEATHER FORECAST

After a settled and warm weekend in Austin, Mexico looks set to be a lot more challenging for the teams in terms of the weather conditions. Much cooler temperatures will be seen than last week, with a high of just 18C on Friday and 21C on Saturday and Sunday. A chance of rain lingers across all three days, but the current forecast is for a likelihood of showers on Sunday afternoon…

UK TELEVISION TIMINGS (All times UK)

Sky Sports F1 - Live coverage

FP1 - 1545

FP2 - 1945

FP3 - 1545

Qualifying - 1800

Race - 1730

Channel 4 - Live coverage

FP1 - 1555 (More 4)

FP2 - 1955 (More 4)

FP3 - 1555

Qualifying - 1800

Race - 1800

PODIUM PREDICTION

1st - Nico Rosberg

2nd - Lewis Hamilton

3rd - Max Verstappen

2015 BEST SHOT

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.