Mexico City Grand Prix set to be particularly tough test for Ferrari

Since the start of the Formula 1 season, top-end power has been Ferrari's Achilles' heel, largely down to the smaller turbocharger run by the Scuderia.

While this configuration offers an advantage on tighter, twistier layouts, the Maranello-based outfit suffers on circuits dominated by high-speed sections. That deficit is set to be magnified in Mexico this weekend due to the extreme altitude of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Sitting over 2,200 metres above sea level, the Mexican circuit features much thinner air than almost anywhere else on the calendar. By comparison, the second-highest track is Brazil's Interlagos at "just" 800 metres. Austria's Red Bull Ring follows at 700 metres, while the only other venues above the 500-metre mark are the Madring (680 metres) and the Las Vegas street circuit (620 metres).

The thin air in Mexico City forces teams into major setup compromises, most notably with cooling. Traditionally, the Hermanos Rodríguez demands extremely large cooling louvres and ducts for both the power units and the brakes.

Turbos must also work significantly harder to compensate for the lower air density, meaning larger turbochargers suffer far less performance loss. In Ferrari's case, the turbo was upgraded at Monza, but even after the redesign, this remains a key limitation for the Scuderia—one that will be exposed far more acutely at the Hermanos Rodríguez than at any other track so far this season.