Ferrari faces an unusual technical challenge at the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix, with the extreme altitude of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez forcing the team to adopt special cooling solutions and maximum-downforce aerodynamic configurations for the SF-26. Juan Sebastian Navarro, Ferrari’s Head of Composite Design, has explained why the conditions demand such significant compromises, revealing how the Scuderia’s engineers prepare the car for one of the most distinctive circuits on the Formula 1 calendar.
Located approximately 2,240 metres above sea level, the Mexican circuit exposes Formula 1 cars to much thinner air than they encounter at other venues. This affects the generation of aerodynamic downforce, reduces cooling efficiency and influences power unit performance. For Ferrari, competing in the 19th round of the championship at a weekend that could see Andrea Kimi Antonelli make history, success will also depend on the work of the engineers responsible for designing the individual components of its car.
Ferrari SF-26 faces extreme cooling demands at the Mexico GP
Mexico City’s altitude creates engineering difficulties that are not directly comparable with those at any other Grand Prix. The reduced density of the air limits the effectiveness of cooling systems, making it harder to control the temperatures of essential components throughout the weekend.
According to Juan Sebastian Navarro, Ferrari must employ particularly extreme measures to keep temperatures under control. The engineer explained: “From the point of view of cooling the car, we have to resort to some fairly extreme solutions to keep temperatures under control, including specific bodywork configurations with additional openings and outlets.”
These adjustments are an essential part of the team’s preparation. Additional openings and specially configured bodywork help release heat, but the resulting design must still satisfy the broader performance requirements of the SF-26.
In Formula 1, an effective cooling solution cannot be considered separately from the rest of the car. Every modification must work alongside the aerodynamic package and preserve the handling characteristics required across the circuit’s different sections.
The issue is particularly relevant after Fred Vasseur warned about Ferrari’s cooling and grip challenges at the 2026 Mexico Grand Prix. The Scuderia must find a configuration that protects the car’s operating temperatures without unnecessarily compromising aerodynamic performance.
Why Ferrari uses Monaco-style downforce on Mexico’s long straights
One of the most surprising aspects of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is the aerodynamic configuration required to achieve competitive performance. The circuit features an exceptionally long straight and several sections where cars run at high speed, characteristics that would normally suggest a low-downforce package similar to the one used at Monza.
However, Mexico’s exceptional altitude changes that calculation. With fewer air molecules passing over the aerodynamic surfaces, the wings and other components generate less downforce than they would at a lower-altitude circuit.
As a result, teams generally turn to maximum-downforce configurations to recover the aerodynamic support needed for cornering grip and stability.
Juan Sebastian Navarro explained: “Despite the very long straight and several high-speed sections, where you would normally expect a low-downforce aerodynamic configuration like at Monza, in Mexico we tend to use maximum-downforce packages, close to those used at Monaco.”
The apparently contradictory approach reflects the relationship between air density, downforce and aerodynamic drag. Although teams need more aggressive wing settings to compensate for the reduction in aerodynamic load, the thin air also helps limit the drag penalty associated with those configurations.
This produces an unusual combination: a circuit where maximum speed remains an important performance factor, but where long straights do not necessarily dictate the low-downforce approach typically used at other high-speed venues.
For Ferrari, selecting the correct aerodynamic package means balancing the need for grip with sufficient straight-line efficiency, while simultaneously accommodating the additional cooling requirements imposed by the altitude.
The challenge also differs substantially from the demands faced at the previous race. Although Ferrari’s Austin upgrades delivered encouraging results, Mexico presents a different examination for the SF-26, particularly in terms of aerodynamic efficiency and thermal management.
Juan Sebastian Navarro’s personal connection to the Mexican Grand Prix
For Juan Sebastian Navarro, the Mexico City Grand Prix carries significance far beyond his professional responsibilities at Ferrari. His connection with the event stretches back through his family history, while his passion for motorsport began long before he became an engineer in Formula 1.
The Ferrari specialist recalled: “My grandfather played an important role on the original organising committee of the first Mexican Grand Prix in the 1960s, and he was also an amateur racing driver.”
That family connection helped make the Mexican circuit an important part of his life from an early age. Long before joining Ferrari, Navarro had already developed a close relationship with the venue and the motorsport traditions surrounding it.
He has driven on the Mexico City circuit since his teenage years. Returning to the same venue as a senior member of Ferrari’s engineering organisation therefore represents a particularly meaningful moment, bringing together his childhood interests and the professional career he has built over many years.
His involvement in the Grand Prix now extends well beyond watching the cars compete. As Head of Composite Design, he contributes to the development of the machinery that takes to a circuit with which he has been familiar for much of his life.
From Mexico to Formula 1: How Navarro became a Ferrari engineer
Juan Sebastian Navarro’s journey towards Formula 1 began with a major decision after completing secondary school in Mexico. At the age of 19, he moved to the United Kingdom to study Automotive Engineering at Oxford Brookes University.
His objective was clear: to develop a deeper understanding of what makes a racing car genuinely fast. The move allowed him to pursue that ambition through specialist engineering education and practical experience.
During his university studies, he participated in the Formula Student programme, gaining hands-on experience in the design and development of racing cars. The project provided an opportunity to apply engineering principles in a competitive environment, helping him build the foundations for a professional career in motorsport.
Just one week before graduating, an opportunity emerged that would prove decisive. Navarro joined Renault F1 for an initial two-week unpaid placement, marking his first step into the professional Formula 1 environment.
What began as a short placement subsequently developed into an internship and then a full-time position designing composite components.
Five years later, in 2014, he joined Ferrari as a senior composite designer, beginning the next stage of his career in Maranello.
The composite engineering work behind Ferrari’s Formula 1 car
Since joining Ferrari, Juan Sebastian Navarro has progressively taken on greater responsibilities, eventually becoming Head of Composite Design. He now coordinates a group of engineers responsible for designing the vast majority of the composite-material components used on the Scuderia’s Formula 1 car.
The role demands specialist technical knowledge, but it also requires the ability to manage different engineering disciplines and support the people involved in a continuous development programme.
The performance of a modern Formula 1 car does not depend on a single component or an isolated engineering idea. It comes from the integration of numerous areas, including structural design, aerodynamic development, material selection, reliability and the ability to adapt the car to the requirements of individual circuits.
For Ferrari, this process becomes particularly important at venues such as Mexico City, where the environment introduces additional constraints that must be considered when determining the car’s configuration.
Every component must contribute to an overall package that can operate effectively under the circuit’s unusual conditions. The challenge is not simply to produce an individual part with desirable characteristics, but to ensure that the complete car delivers the intended performance.
These engineering decisions form part of the broader technical development of Ferrari’s Formula 1 cars, where aerodynamic performance, cooling, reliability and the interaction between components must be considered together.
For Navarro, the combination of technical innovation and team leadership is particularly rewarding. He explained: “This combination of the continuous pursuit of technical development and the challenge of putting people in a position to perform at their best is what makes me love my job so much.”
Ferrari’s Mexico GP challenge goes beyond straight-line speed
The technical demands of the Mexican Grand Prix demonstrate why preparing a Formula 1 car for a particular circuit involves much more than selecting the appropriate wing settings.
At the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Ferrari must respond to a series of interconnected challenges. Thin air makes it harder to generate downforce, reduces the effectiveness of cooling and alters the performance conditions experienced by the power unit.
To compensate, the team must employ aerodynamic configurations that might initially seem unsuitable for a circuit featuring such a long straight, alongside specific bodywork solutions designed to improve heat dissipation.
The work performed behind the scenes is therefore central to the SF-26’s preparation. Engineers must translate the environmental conditions into practical design requirements, identify effective compromises and ensure the individual components operate together as intended.
For Juan Sebastian Navarro, the home Grand Prix provides a particularly personal illustration of that responsibility. The circuit that helped inspire his passion for motorsport now represents one of the season’s most demanding engineering assignments, with Ferrari relying on the expertise of its technical departments to unlock the potential of the SF-26 at altitude.
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