The June 24 Grand Prix at Mexico City's Autodromo Hermano Rodriguez, with its bumpy surface and high altitude, was amongst the most demanding events on the 1990 F1 calendar.
Introduced six weeks earlier at the Grand Prix of San Marino, Ferrari had yet to realize the expected results with their evolutionary 641/2. Alain Prost struggled through qualifying: he was blocked, engine power was erratic and Ferrari struggled to make good use of the Goodyear qualifying tires. By the end of Saturday testing, Prost was an embarrassing 13th on the grid.
Come Sunday, however, everything came right. His qualifying tactics suddenly became apparent: knowing that pole-position was meaningless in Mexico, Prost had spent the weekend setting up the Ferrari chassis for race day. By lap 13 Prost had moved to 6th place, and by lap 31 Mansell and Prost were running in 3rd and 4th positions. Nicknamed "The Professor", the calculating Frenchman continued to drive an inspired race, passing his teammate on lap 55! Prost and Mansell were rapidly catching the leader, Ayrton Senna, who's McLaren-Honda was suffering from a deflating right rear tire which exploded with only 5 laps to go.
The 1-2 finish in Mexico would be the first of three consecutive victories for Prost and Ferrari in a season that would end in controversy in Japan, compliments of Ayrton Senna.
