Valtteri Bottas from Williams told media in Mexico City on Wednesday (28 October) that he is looking forward to trying out Mexicos new F1 track just days ahead of the capitals comeback to the race circuit. Measuring 2.67 miles, the Mexico City race track recently underwent a $50m (£32.8m) reconstruction and complies with the regulations of the FIA.
The track was completely rebuilt for the F1 race scheduled for November. In addition to the track, a hospital and new stadium stands were built for the thousands of fans expected to attend the three-day event. Bottas told media he expects a lot from the circuit.
Well, I expect a lot from the circuit obviously. Ive seen some pictures and Ive seen some videos of the track and everything looks good. It seems to have a nice mixture of different kinds of corners, slow speed, high speed, good overtaking possibilities and it seems like plenty of space for the spectators and I hope the tickets are sold out so thats a good thing. I think the new tarmac of the track is always challenging because its very smooth, so it is not so easy to get the tyres to grip well, but we will see, he said.
Bottas has had a challenging year on the circuit. At the Belgian Grand Prix he expressed concerns a tyre error had cost him a top spot at the race. Earlier this month, Bottass Williams F1 team reported it is finding a solution to gearbox damper failures that forced the driver to retire from the US Grand Prix last time out.
But at his Mexico City news conference, Bottas talked engines. The Mexican capitals high altitude at 7,210ft is set to put extra pressure on the engines. Bottas told media the louder the engine, the better.
I think the plans for the rule changes with engines and these new engines I think its good. For sure everyone is needing more sound because that is what is part of Formula One as well, so it will be nice to have more louder engines but Im sure with the plans that everyone has for the future it is going to be good. Theres going to be more engine power in the future which everyone likes, especially me, he said.
According to the official Formula One website, Mexicos Grand Prix race course will be comprised of 71 laps. Taking into account an average of 75 seconds per lap, the Mexican race track should be the second fastest in the world – second only to Italys Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
