The fact that points towards a one-stop strategy for the Mexico City Grand Prix

The opening day of competitive action at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez indicated that teams will work towards a one-stop strategy due to the lack of graining which used to cause headaches in Mexico in the past.

Pirelli opted for an unusual tyre choice for last weekend's Austin race, having installed a jump in between the medium and hard compounds in the hope of spicing things up in terms of strategy.

The Milan-based tyre manufacturer has elected to carry over this approach to this weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix. While the Medium and Soft are the C4 and C5, respectively, as in 2024, the Hard will now be the C2. For the Mexico City track, this compound is an extremely conservative choice, with a considerable delta in terms of lap time compared to the other two, while also offering less grip.

Last year, the Soft only came into play in qualifying and then in the race, only in an attempt to secure the extra point for setting the fastest race lap, but now the scenario could change considerably.

Reflecting on opening day at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Pirelli's chief engineer Simone Berra added: “The Hard compound got plenty of use in FP1 and was the one most affected by the track conditions, although it still proved effective. The two softer compounds, which had already demonstrated their superiority early in the day, also benefited from the cooler temperatures in FP2 which got down to 35°C.

“That said, even in the second session, several drivers were complaining over the radio about the lack of grip, down mainly to the condition of the asphalt. This is also evident from the lap times so far, which although there’s been an improvement of around a second in the second session, are still a long way off Carlos Sainz’s pole time from last year."

The opening day of competitive action in Mexico showed that this year's Pirelli tyres are less prone to graining. This indicates that teams will base their main strategy approach around a single stop in an attempt to maintain track position, where overtaking is not easy due to the fact that cars easily suffer overheating in turbulent air.

"The greater mechanical resilience of this year’s tyres has been confirmed by the absence of graining, which used to be a regular feature in Mexico City. Tyre degradation is already easy to manage and that should only improve still further by race day.

"As for the Grand Prix, at the moment, a one-stop strategy seems the most plausible with the Medium doing most of the work, paired with one of the remaining two. The choice between Hard or Soft will mainly depend on how long the drivers can extend their opening stint on the yellow-banded tyre, as well as on track temperature and, of course, track evolution," Berra said.