Questions Ahead Of Mexican GP

Will Mexico turn into a Texas or Korea, can Hamilton and Rosberg keep it civil, who will come out on top in the Red Bull and Williams battles and more.

Will Mexico City Turn Into A Texas Or Korea?
Bienvenido de vuelta Mexico! Yes, Formula 1 returns to the North American country this weekend after an absence of 23 years. The likes of Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Jean Alesi and Michael Schumacher were still on the grid when the sport last visited the country. Fast forward and the current crop includes: Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, etc.

The first flyaway race to the West duly delivered as Sunday's United States Grand Prix was frenetic and, to be fair, Texas has been a brilliant addition since it joined the calendar in 2012.

But for every Austin there is also a Valencia or a Korean GP. Hopefully there will be plenty of excitement this weekend and the race will remain on the calendar in the long term.

Will The Weather Hold Up?
Hurricane Patricia has been causing havoc in the region and Formula 1 felt her force at last weekend's United States GP. However, if forecasts are to be believed, then the worst is over.

Early predictions suggest there could be some rain in the afternoon on Saturday while showers are also expected on race day. Nothing on the Texas scale though.

Can Hamilton And Rosberg Keep It Civil?
The 2015 Drivers' title may be in the bag for Lewis Hamilton, but we could be in for a spicy Mexican Grand Prix after Nico Rosberg accused his team-mate over being too aggressive during their battle for the lead at the United States GP.

Rosberg looked really miffed after Sunday's race and his facial expressions were similar to Hamilton's at Monaco earlier this year.

Of course we have been here before as things also a bit out of hand at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix when they made contact. The Mercedes bosses might not like it, but more of the same please as it can only lead to more excitement on the track

Vettel Or Rosberg For Second?
Only four points seperate Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg in the race for second in the Drivers' Championship after the latter finished P2 in Austin with the Ferrari man claiming the final podium position.

With only three races left it promises to go right down to the wire and while many would say Rosberg is still favourite due to his Mercedes machinery, let's not forget that Vettel came from P13 at the US GP to finish third. Ferrari also used more engine tokens and we should see the full effects of it in Mexico.

Will Hulkenberg Get A Break?
Since winning the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nico Hulkenberg's record reads: 6-7-Ret-DNS-7-Ret-6-Ret-Ret. His record after being confirmed for the 2016 season by Force India reads: 7-Ret-6-Ret-Ret.

It hasn't been a happy couple of months for the German on the track. He has been involved in quite a few incidents, some of it was his fault, some of it was due to a faulty car and in other cases he was blameless.

However, it all adds up and he is now 28 points behind team-mate Sergio Perez as the season draws to a close. Hulkenberg needs to end the season with a couple of clean races if he wants to have any chance of beating Perez. Also, what better way to close the gap than by getting the better of the Mexican at the Mexican GP. Hopefully Force India and Perez's Mexican sponsors won't mind.

Who Will Win The Red Bull And Williams Battles?
Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas were expected to comfortably beat their team-mates this year, yet the latter leads Felipe Massa by only two points while Daniiel Kvyat is ahead in the Red Bull battle.

Kvyat, especially, has been impressive since shaking off the early-season nerves and he has showed in recent racas that he is not scared to go wheel-to-wheel with the best on the grid. He is apparently not assured of his Red Bull seat for next season and the likes of Max Verstappen are pressing hard for a move up the ranks, but the Russian is doing a fine job to convince the powers that be to keep him.

Meanwhile, veteran Massa is not getting blown out of the water by a team-mate who is so highly rated that many believe it is only a matter of time before he moves to Ferrari. Sure Bottas missed the Australian GP, but he cannot shake off Massa in the Drivers' Championship.

With Mexico an unknown quantity for all the drivers, expect it to be another close battle between the Williams drivers as well as the Red Bull pair.

Is Pirelli A Bit Too Conservative?
Pirelli, drivers and teams step into the unknown this weekend as no one is quite sure what to expect from the surface at the revamped Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The tyre manufacturer has gone for the soft-medium combination and they are once again hoping it will be a two-stop race.

Pirelli also used the same tyres at last year's inaugural Russian Grand Prix and it proved to be too conservative as Nico Rosberg managed to complete almost the entire 2014 race on one set of tyres. They changed to supersoft-soft for the 2015 Russian edition.

Let's hope it's not the same outcome at the returning Mexican race.

Will Haas F1 Surprise Us?
Who are we kidding? The answer is no.

The Haas F1 Team will announce their second driver in Mexico City on Friday and they have all but confirmed that Esteban Gutierrez will be Romain Grosjean's team-mate next year.