F1, Ferrari: how Maranello team plans to compensate for 30% less air due to altitude. Ferrari's Edoardo Brosco reflects on the main challenges of the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico.

Edoardo Brosco, Head of Reliability and Chassis Development for Ferrari, reveals the challenges of the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit: the race takes place at an altitude of over 2,200 meters, where the lower air density requires adjustments to all cooling systems and the installation of higher downforce wings.

Fred Vasseur explained that Ferrari did an excellent job preparing for the Mexican GP. To understand the challenges of racing at altitude, we spoke with Edoardo Brosco, Head of the Reliability and Chassis Development group for Ferrari. Edoardo Brosco, a 37-year-old engineer from Rome, is part of the Maranello team that prepared the SF-24 with a precise simulation program…

What are the characteristics of the Mexico City track?
“The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit is not particularly long but is very technical and demanding. In qualifying, the first challenge is to heat the front tires while preserving the rear ones as much as possible during the warm-up lap. The alternation between long straights and tight slow corners means that tire management is crucial: if you don’t carefully control tire slip during acceleration, you risk overheating them irreparably, losing traction, and therefore significant time not only on the current lap but also in the following ones.”

The Hermanos Rodríguez circuit is particularly demanding for the cars. Why, and what are the most critical aspects for race 20 of the Formula 1 season?
“The Mexican Grand Prix is synonymous with altitude. We’re over 2,200 meters above sea level, where the air density is about 30% lower than at sea level. This has two effects on the cars: the first is that, with the same geometry, the airflow entering the car through the side pods, brake ducts, and snorkel is reduced. This necessitates specific strategies to ensure the cooling of the car’s components, as well as increased stress on the turbo, which has to operate at the upper limit of its specifications to provide the necessary air to the engine.”

“The second consequence of the low air density is that both vertical aerodynamic downforce and drag are reduced by 30%. To give you an idea of what this means, the difference in downforce between a Monaco (Max) and a Monza (Min) aerodynamic setup is about 20%, or if the Mexican GP were held at sea level, the cars’ top speed at the end of the straight would be about 25 km/h lower!”