Mexican have had to wait a generation for Formula One to return to the city where Michael Schumacher stood on his first podium and Nigel Mansell took the last victory here in 1992.
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Rosberg was a frustrated figure when he was beaten to the Formula One world championship by Hamilton in Austin last weekend, when he felt the British driver had been too aggressive on the first corner.
But he will start behind Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in second position on today’s grid, after the German came out on top in qualifying yesterday. “But I have three races left to make a big push, end this tough season on a high and make up for the disappointment of the past few races”.
“I don’t really have a precise explanation”, Rosberg replied, when asked what was “key” to his pole position.
Hamilton made his F1 debut in 2007, given his chance at Mclaren when Kimi Raikkonen replaced seven times world champion Schumacher at Ferrari and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya also departed.
Rosberg, chasing Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel for second with three races remaining, was sixth before lunch when his car’s rear brakes overheated.
Mercedes have also secured the constructors’ title for the second year running but Sunday’s race, with more than 100,000 spectators expected, is still important further down the standings as teams chase precious championship points.
“It’s actually the best spot to start, second or third, because there’s a long way down to turn one like Russian Federation – I think it’s longer than Russian Federation”, he explained.
The drivers had a much easier time in qualifying than Friday’s practice sessions when everyone struggled to get used to the slick new surface at the Autodromos Hermanos Rodriguez. (There are) three more races to go, business as usual…
Red Bull, which ran strong through each session, qualified fourth and fifth with Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo.
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“We want to see them race, and not pre-agree before the race has even started as to who goes first through the corner and who goes second”. HOME HERO While it’s hard to bet against Hamilton as the favourite heading into Sunday’s race, the spotlight will firmly be trained on Force India’s Sergio Perez.
