Mexico City Grand Prix 2026: Start Time, TV, Checo Pérez and Antonelli's Title Shot

From Friday October 30 to Sunday November 1, 2026, at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. The grand prix is on Sunday November 1 at 14:00 local time. It is round 19 of 23, one week after the United States Grand Prix in Austin (round 18, October 23-25) and one week before São Paulo (round 20, November 6-8). Sources: Formula1.com, PlanetF1.

14:00 local time on Sunday November 1, which is 3 p.m. ET, 12 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. in the UK and 9 p.m. in central Europe. Watch the clocks: Mexico City stays on UTC-6 all year, Europe went back an hour on October 25 and the US goes back in the early hours of November 1 itself. So qualifying on Saturday is at 5 p.m. EDT, but the race on Sunday is at 3 p.m. EST. Source: Formula1.com ("Mexico City is 6 hours behind UTC").

Local time, with ET and UK times: Friday October 30: FP1 12:30-13:30 (2:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. GMT), FP2 16:00-17:00 (6 p.m. ET, 10 p.m. GMT). Saturday October 31: FP3 11:30-12:30 (1:30 p.m. ET, 5:30 p.m. GMT), qualifying 15:00-16:00 (5 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. GMT). Sunday November 1: race at 14:00 (3 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. GMT), over 71 laps or 120 minutes. The timetable is subject to change. Source: Formula1.com.

No. Mexico City is a standard weekend: three practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday and the grand prix on Sunday. Singapore (October 9-11) hosted the last sprint of the 2026 season, so none of the remaining rounds has one. Sources: Formula1.com, F1-Fansite.

Yes, if he has not already done it in Austin. He leads George Russell by 102 points before the US Grand Prix. In Austin he is champion only if he wins with Russell ninth or lower and Lewis Hamilton fifth or lower. If not, Mexico is the next chance: after Mexico City, four races and 100 points remain, so Antonelli is champion there if he leaves Mexico more than 100 points clear of every rival. There are no fastest-lap points (scrapped in 2025), and a tie goes to the driver with more wins. These scenarios assume the current 23-round calendar; if Qatar and Abu Dhabi were dropped, the thresholds would fall. Sources: PlanetF1, Motor Sport Magazine, Formula1.com.

After 17 of 23 rounds: 1. Kimi Antonelli 340, 2. George Russell 238 (-102), 3. Lewis Hamilton 229 (-111), 4. Max Verstappen 221 (-119), 5. Charles Leclerc 215 (-125), 6. Lando Norris 201 (-139). Constructors: Mercedes 578, Ferrari 444, McLaren 339, Red Bull 332. The United States Grand Prix (October 25) will change these numbers before Mexico. Sources: Formula1.com, PlanetF1.

Yes. Sergio Pérez is back on the grid in 2026 with Cadillac, the new eleventh team, alongside Valtteri Bottas, and he returns to his home race after missing the 2025 edition, in Cadillac's first visit to Mexico City. On Wednesday October 28 (10:00-12:30) he drives a free show run on Paseo de la Reforma, which GM Authority ties to his 300th grand prix. Expectations are modest: he has no points in 2026, his closest call being a 10th place in Monaco lost to a post-race penalty. His best home result remains third in 2021. Sources: GM Authority, Esquire Latinoamérica, Formula1.com, RacingNews365.

In the United States, F1 is exclusive to Apple TV in 2026 (subscription, F1 TV Premium included). In the UK, every session is live on Sky Sports F1, with the race at 8 p.m. In Mexico, TelevisaUnivision holds the rights: all sessions on Sky Sports (Sky and izzi), with a few races per season on free-to-air TV. Elsewhere, check your local rights holder or F1 TV. Sources: Sports Media Watch, Crónica, Infobae.

Lando Norris (McLaren), from pole (1:15.586), ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. It was McLaren's first win in Mexico since 1989 and it put Norris into the championship lead at the time, one point ahead of Oscar Piastri. Oliver Bearman finished fourth for Haas. Source: Wikipedia.

Max Verstappen, with five wins (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023). Lewis Hamilton has two (2016, 2019). The other winners since the race returned in 2015: Nico Rosberg (2015), Carlos Sainz (2024) and Lando Norris (2025). There was no race in 2020. Sources: Wikipedia, F1-Fansite.

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is 4.304 km long and the race runs over 71 laps (305.354 km). The race lap record is 1:17.774, set by Valtteri Bottas in 2021. The circuit sits more than 2,200 m above sea level, the highest on the calendar: the thin air cuts downforce and cooling, so teams run maximum-wing setups and still see very high top speeds on the long main straight. Sources: Formula1.com, F1-Fansite, Wikipedia.

It is the stretch of the lap (around turns 13-16) that runs through the Foro Sol baseball stadium, with grandstands on three sides. It is where the podium ceremony takes place and is the loudest part of the weekend. The event drew 401,326 spectators over three days in 2025. Sources: F1-Fansite, Wikipedia.