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Here's how the season has gone so far for Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. 

Both will be hoping to avoid having a blue or red dot on their line for this race.

Ten minutes until lights out...

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Nico Hulkenberg seems to have been liberated by his decision to sign for Renault next year. In the two races since the announcement was made, he has out-qualified Force India team-mate Sergio Perez by 0.5secs and 0.7secs. Before that, since the summer break, it had been four-one to the Mexican.

“Perhaps deep down there is something that goes on," said Hulkenberg, who decided to junk his 2017 contract with Force India. “My future was in quite secure hands anyway, but as I experienced last year with (winning) Le Mans, generally positive stuff boosts you a little, makes you happier and you drive a bit better.

“It's a combination of a few things - I'm getting more and more comfortable with the car, understanding the set-up better, knowing where to put it. The car [also] switched on a bit more during qualifying with track improvement, more and more rubber coming down really helped the balance and grip. During that lap in Q3 the progression was good, the tyre was in the sweet spot. I couldn't have done any corner better, so the lap that put me P5 was the best lap of my whole season.”

The big thing for him now is to avoid a first-lap crash - he has had one in two of the last four races. “Hopefully we’ll have a clean first lap and then build my race up from there. Ferraris are always quick over a race distance and it is always difficult to compete with them but we will give it our best.”

National anthem time. A huge Mexican flag is passed over the heads of the spectators in the stadium section while several planes fly overhead with red, white and green smoke billowing out of the back of them.

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First Grand Prix: 1963  

Circuit length: 4.304km

Race distance: 305.354km

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

For Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton made clear, this is a one-stop race. 

“The medium tyre goes for ever,” Hamilton said. “You could do the whole race on it.” In other words, for Hamilton and Rosberg, a first stint on the soft and a second on the medium. 

Job done. 

It’ll be the same for the Ferraris, also starting on the soft tyre in sixth and seventh, and one presumes the McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in 11th and 13th. Where it gets interesting is for the people starting on the super-soft, and especially therefore Red Bull. They are almost certainly planning a two-stop race on super-soft-medium. This is a calculated to be a few seconds slower but the extra pace on fresher tyres could potentially play for Red Bull, especially if they can use their pit stops to keep ahead of the Mercedes.  

On the other hand, they have to be careful of stopping too early and coming out in traffic, thus hampering their optimum pace. But given the medium “goes for ever”, might Red Bull split strategies and put one driver on a one-stop and the other on a two and try to get Mercedes that way? 

Not long now to find out.

Image source, Getty Images

Thirty years ago, Nigel Mansell arrived at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez knowing he could win the championship but a disastrous race for the Briton, in which he finished fifth, meant the title battle went down to the season finale.

Instead it was Gerhard Berger who claimed his and Benetton's maiden triumph in F1, winning the race on a zero-stop strategy.  

Seeing the run from start of the grid down to the first corner is daunting enough on television, so goodness knows what it must be like for the driver.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are going to need nerves of steel.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen: "I chose to go on the super soft because I got a bit cold out in Austin and you get into traffic and it doesn't work. 

"I'm here to win races, so I don't care who is going to win the championship. I just want to do the best I can."

The results from our vote are in and 53% of you think Nico Rosberg should play it safe and close out the title.

A right bunch of fearless racers you lot are...!

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Red Bull will start the race on the second row but on an intriguingly different tyre strategy from Mercedes. It is conventional to start the race on the outright fastest tyre over a single lap, and it is most usual to do so because most teams need to use it get through second qualifying - and drivers have to start the race on the tyre they use to set their fastest lap in that session. But sometimes it is not the optimal tyre for the race and this is one of those weekends - in theory, the super-soft goes off too quickly to be a good race tyre. That’s why Mercedes, as they have done on a number of occasions this year, opted to make it through Q2 on the soft. As did Ferrari. But while Red Bull were quick enough to do so, they chose not to. So Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo will start on the super-soft. The advantage is better grip off the line - and therefore the possibility to make places before the first corner. The disadvantage is that it will run out of life much faster. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner insists it is their best chance of beating Mercedes. More on this in a little while.

Image source, Rex Features

Only three drivers have won the Mexican Grand Prix more than once while it has been on the Formula 1 calendar. 

If Nico Rosberg wins the race he will join Jim Clark (pictured), Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell on two victories.