Mexico not Mercedes' strongest circuit, buy 'anything is possible'

Toto Wolff says the venue for this week's Mexican GP, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, hasn't been Mercedes' strongest track in the past, but insists any outcome is possible as events have shown this season.

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will resume in Mexico City their fierce title battle with Red Bull and Max Verstappen.

But the track's high-altitude location and less dense air that muffles engine power and forces teams to run high-downforce configurations should, on paper, favour Red Bull.

The two front-running teams have traded wins in Mexico City since the venue's return to the F1 calendar in 2015, with Mercedes beating its Red Bull rival 3 to 2.

But despite that good track record, Wolff is keeping his team's expectations in check.

"We're all excited to be back in Mexico City, it's such a vibrant place, full of character and we always receive a warm welcome," said the Austrian.

"Red Bull have gone well there in the past and it hasn't been our strongest circuit. But this year has shown that anything is possible and circuits where you were previously weak, you are suddenly strong, and vice versa.

"So, it adds a layer of unknown in the build-up, which only increases the excitement.

"We'll keep taking things race by race and preparing the best we can, and we'll land in Mexico ready to hit the ground running on Friday, get a good understanding of the car's performance and build from there."

Valtteri Bottas also acknowledged Mercedes' past relative weakness at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez where conditions equalize engine output.

But the Finn says the German manufacturer has done a lot of engine optimization that should put it "in a better place" next weekend, if it is spared the reliability woes that have impacted its power units recently.

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"For Mexico, we know it's usually been a bit of a weakness for us and it feels like quite a big chunk has been in the recent years from the power unit, with the high altitude," said Bottas.

"But I think we've been able to optimise a lot since, so I would expect us to be in a better place than in the recent years.

"Still, on paper, we think they're really strong places for Red Bull and we've just really tried to do all the learnings we can from previous years and prepare the best that way.

"They're not going to be easy weekends, but it's never easy in this sport."

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