2023 Mexico City Grand Prix

Coming into the weekend, Max Verstappen leads the Drivers' Championship with 466 points. He leads his teammate Sergio Pérez by 226 points and Lewis Hamilton by a further 39 points. Hamilton is ahead of Fernando Alonso in fourth by 18 points, with Carlos Sainz Jr. in fifth, 8 points behind Alonso. Red Bull Racing leads the Constructors' Championship with 706 points, 362 points ahead of Mercedes and a further 22 points ahead of Ferrari. McLaren, in fourth, is behind Ferrari by 80 points and ahead of Aston Martin, in fifth, by 6 points.[2]

(Clockwise, from top left) Théo Pourchaire, Oliver Bearman, Frederik Vesti, Isack Hadjar, and Jack Doohan are set to drive during the first free practice session.

The drivers and teams will be the same as the season entry list with the exception of Daniel Ricciardo, who replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri starting at the Hungarian Grand Prix.[3] During the first practice session, five teams are set to field alternate drivers who have not raced in more than two Grands Prix, as required by the Formula One regulations: Théo Pourchaire for Alfa Romeo in place of Valtteri Bottas; Oliver Bearman for Haas in place of Kevin Magnussen; Frederik Vesti for Mercedes in place of George Russell; Isack Hadjar for AlphaTauri in place of Yuki Tsunoda; and Jack Doohan for Alpine in place of Pierre Gasly. Bearman, Vesti and Hadjar will be making their Formula One practice debut.[4]

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4 and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively), which are three softest compounds in their dry tyre range, for teams to use at the event.[5] The previous iteration of the race had used compounds that were one step harder.[5] Pirelli also provided two sets per driver of an experimental C4 compound to be trialed during the first two free practice sessions.[5][6]