Mexico: the Grand Prix schedule and the UTC reference
· BehindLines newsroom
The Formula 1 weekend in Mexico is scheduled for October 30 to November 1. The International Automobile Federation's calendar confirms these dates, while the official Formula 1 page details the sessions. For anyone following the event remotely, the first point to check is the time zone used: all times in the schedule are local.
The sessions in Mexico
The guide from event organiser MexicoGP confirms the start times of the five sporting sessions. On Friday, October 30, first practice is scheduled from 12:30 to 13:30, followed by second practice from 16:00 to 17:00. On Saturday, October 31, third practice is due to start at 11:30 and qualifying at 15:00.
The race is scheduled for Sunday, November 1 at 14:00 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The schedule specifies 71 laps, or a limit of 120 minutes. These details describe the planned event; they are neither a result nor an already known race duration.
The title is still to be decided
According to the scenarios detailed by Formula 1, Kimi Antonelli heads into Mexico with 365 points, compared with 242 for George Russell and 241 for Lewis Hamilton. Ninth place would be enough for him to secure the title on Sunday, regardless of Russell's and Hamilton's results. This adds to the stakes of the weekend schedule; it does not prejudge Sunday's finishing order or whether the title will actually be clinched.
Convert the time without changing the session
Formula 1 states that Mexico City is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, known as UTC. Six hours must therefore be added to local times: Friday's first practice corresponds to 18:30 UTC and Sunday's scheduled start to 20:00 UTC.
Readers can then convert this reference time to their own time zone. The time displayed where they are may fall on a different date from that of the session in Mexico. Keeping the day, time and time zone together prevents an isolated time from being mistaken for a local time at home.
The federation's calendar then places the Brazilian event on November 6 to 8. It confirms the sequence of events, but does not replace the detailed schedule for the Mexican sessions.
That schedule remains subject to change, as its publisher notes. Checking the official page before the session you plan to follow remains useful. No practice, qualifying or race results are inferred from this calendar.