29/10/2024
NEWS STORY
The organiser of the Mexico City Grand Prix is confident that the event will continue even if Sergio Perez is no longer on the grid.
In much the same way that it was the popularity of Max Verstappen that saw F1 return to Zandvoort, Sergio Perez was largely responsible for the re-emergence of the sport in Mexico.
While Perez has a contract with Red Bull for 2025, it is extremely doubtful that he will be retained and it just so happens that the contract with the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez also runs out next year.
However, event president Alejandro Soberon insists that the driver's future will have no bearing on whether the circuit continues to host a round of the world championship.
"We're fairly optimistic that we're going to have a race for many, many years," he said, according to ESPN.
Asked if Perez' absence might impact the event, he replied: "I would say I'm not that sure that he is approaching the end of his career, he's a great driver having a difficult season. Many reasons could be behind that and it's not for me to talk about that.
"What I can tell you is the Mexican crowd, the fandom, is very strong for F1 in general. Obviously Checo is a great enhancement for this.
"Mexico has been very close to the heart of F1," he added. "We have a much better show on track today to what we had five years ago. I think competition and quality of the spectacle at the track is going to be enough to sustain the interest of the crowd, so we, as a promoter of the race, we're very excited trying to figure out a way to extend out contract regardless of Checo."
Indeed, Soberon believes that having a 'local hero' is not key to the success of an event.
"There's very few races who have a local driver," he said. "This year we have enjoyed in general in F1 sold out crowds everywhere and that's a reflection of the competition and the quality of the show.
"Everybody, of course, would love to have a local driver, but the first year we did the race here 50% of the fans were in a red T-shirt, so Ferrari has a wonderful following here.
"I leave you with some small arithmetics. We have no more capacity. We could have drawn 600,000, if we had unlimited capacity we could have another 200,000 here, but we cannot put them.
"That's why it sold out so fast in one year in advance. Probably without Checo maybe a drop of 20%, 25%, naturally, but it still would be a sell-out."