Round 20 of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship took place at the historic Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez last weekend, right in the heart of Mexico City.

It marked a welcome return to the venue where the Benetton name claimed its first Formula One victory back in 1986.

Famous for its altitude, the best way to acclimatise to a city that sits 2,200 metres above sea level is with a workout. Members of BWT Alpine Formula One Team - including Pierre - took part in a football match at the iconic, 72,000-seater Estadio Olímpico Universitario on Thursday night. A friendly fixture against our rivals at Haas ended in a 3-3 draw and provided the perfect warm-up for another busy weekend ahead.

The evening before, Franco’s first engagement in the capital was an appearance with Renault Mexico to unveil the new Arkana Esprit Alpine. He also joined a Mercado Libre press conference, with the brand’s signature yellow colours once again featuring on the engine cover and rear wing of the A525s in Mexico. Pierre too was equally busy, meeting guests from The Venetian and Binance.

Sporting limited-edition pink jerseys this weekend - in collaboration with Title Partner BWT - the drivers enjoyed a full day of media duties and partner appearances before the on-track action began in earnest on Friday morning. Secure your jersey here.

A morning for the rookies

With regulations requiring teams to field drivers who have “not participated in more than two championship races in their career” at least four times per season, Mexico City presented the ideal opportunity for nine of the ten teams to run rookies in FP1. The notoriously dusty surface means the session is rarely representative of true race conditions, as track grip improves over the weekend, making it a valuable chance for newcomers to sample F1 machinery.

Stepping in for Pierre was our Test and Reserve Driver Paul Aron, with the Estonian driving the 4.3km Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the first time. He completed 29 laps and ended the session with the 15th fastest time. We decided to split the cars for a long run at the end with Paul on the C5 Soft and Franco on the C2 Hard compound tyre.

Watching on from the back of the Alpine garage, Pierre followed the data and radio chatter closely, alongside Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore.

“I’ve never driven here before so I knew it would be difficult,” said Paul after FP1. “The high altitude means you have much less grip, but we had a very clean session and completed the run plan. The cars were on different setups, so we wanted to compare directions for FP2. From my side, I’m just happy to be back in the car and I was pleased with my lap times.”

In the afternoon, Pierre returned to the cockpit for FP2 but admitted it was “one of the toughest” sessions of the season, with extremely low grip levels. He was slightly delayed on getting out on track with a minor steering issue, then found braking to be inconsistent with both front and rear locking. The Frenchman rounded out the session 20th after completing 30 laps, while Franco logged a total of 59 laps across the day and finished FP2 in P18.

The Argentine enjoyed strong support from the fans who had access to the pit lane walkabout, as well as from the sea of enthusiastic spectators he and Pierre greeted on Saturday morning at the Fan Forum before FP3 alongside the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

Gridlock in Mexico City

After overnight work in the simulator back in Enstone, a few tweaks were made on both cars for FP3 to ease out some of Fridays’ difficulties. The final hour before qualifying was a chance to fine tune the car with both drivers heading into Qualifying with a similar feel and set-up.

Securing a grid position for Sunday depended heavily on the evolving track conditions, with an emphasis on timing the perfect lap late in the session, but unfortunately we know this track layout doesn’t play to the strengths of our package. Franco had been experimenting with the amount of kerb he could take in Turn 3 and on his final lap in Q1 he ended up bottoming the car on the large kerb which forced him straight on at the exit. He ended qualifying in P20, while Pierre finished in P18.

Turning up the heat

With beautiful clear skies, the mercury was rising in the hours before lights out, with the track reaching a scorching 53 degrees Celsius. After a chaotic first couple of corners, Pierre made a strong start, gaining three positions from his grid spot. He started on the Medium compound tyre and ran until lap 33 before pitting for Softs.

“In terms of strategy, we adapted mid-race and took a gamble with Pierre to switch to the Soft compound, a lot earlier than optimal, having seen other cars make the tyre work for a longer duration than anticipated,” explained Managing Director Steve Nielsen. Unfortunately, Pierre suffered from a lot of degradation which he skilfully managed to the flag, and took advantage of a couple of retirements to finish the race in 15th.

Meanwhile, Franco - buoyed by support from friend and compatriot Bizarrap, the Latin America music star - started on the Hard tyre aiming to capitalise on any opportunities that may have arisen with potential Safety Car interventions, but as the race stayed green, he ran until lap 48 before switching to the Soft. On low fuel and with tyres that were 15 laps fresher than Pierre’s, he closed the gap to his team-mate in the closing stages.

In the final laps, the two cars ran in close formation but had to yield to blue flags and held station when a Virtual Safety Car was triggered on the penultimate lap. Franco finished the Mexico City Grand Prix in 16th, just 0.296 seconds behind Pierre.

“We knew it would be a tough afternoon and a difficult weekend for the team,” added Steve. “Well done to everyone trackside and at the factories for their continued efforts, and we will regroup next week ahead of São Paulo.”