Why the Mexican GP believes it has a bright future, with or without Perez

Organizers of the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix are confident their sold-out event will continue to be successful regardless of Sergio Perez’s Formula 1 future and are working on a new contract.

Perez signed a two-year contract extension earlier this year, but his ongoing difficulties in delivering consistently high levels of performance have led Red Bull to keep a constant eye on the situation for 2025 and beyond, and reserve driver Liam Lawson as a potential future RB -Satellite team to pick up replacement.

Helped by Perez’s presence, the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix made a successful return to the calendar, with the event selling out for the ninth consecutive year to date. Negotiations are currently underway with Formula 1 to extend the current contract, which expires after the race next year.

And while organizer CIE is of course Perez’s biggest supporter as he attracts local fans and ensures a vibrant atmosphere at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Grand Prix director Alejandro Soberon said the event is well-equipped to be successful, regardless of whether there is a local driver or not.

“What I can tell you is that the Formula 1 fan base in Mexico is generally very strong and Checo is obviously a great asset to that. But Mexicans care very, very much about Formula 1,” Soberon said when asked by Motorsport.com about the future of the event whenever the 34-year-old ends his F1 career.

“We have a much better show on the track today than we did five years ago, so I think the competition and quality of the spectacle will be enough to keep the audience interested. As organizers of the race, we are very excited and am trying to find a way to extend our contract, independent of Checo.

“Of course everyone would like to have a local driver because it is always better to have one. But there are very few races that have a local driver and this year Formula 1 in general has been sold out everywhere and that is a reflection of the competition and the quality of the show we saw on track .”

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The race’s general director, Federico Gonzalez, added that the makeup of the race’s 400,000 viewers has changed over the years, creating a new generation of racing fans who generally enjoy the series, driven in part by the Netflix series Drive to survive.

“I think the audience has changed a lot, it’s not the same audience as it was in 2015,” Gonzalez noted. “A lot has happened, such as more competition on the track, Drive to Survive… and the work we have done over these many years has also changed the audience. We have trained a new generation of racing fans. Of course.” “We cheer for Checo, but also for the spectacle, the race itself.”

The Mexican promoters are pursuing a conscious marketing strategy that targets local, national and international fans, striving for an even three-way distribution between them. This will ensure the race connects with the Mexican capital and its citizens while aligning with the government’s broader tourism goals.

Last year, the Ministry of Tourism reported that around 232,000 people from the rest of Mexico and abroad traveled to Mexico City for the event, bringing an estimated economic benefit of $175 million.

“Part of the strategy is to achieve a split of 33 percent international, 33 percent local Mexico City and 33 percent domestic Mexico ticket sales,” Gonzalez said. “This makes for a healthier Grand Prix in terms of attendance and hopefully gives us the confidence that we can continue to sell out without Checo.”

fans

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Soberon added: “We still have a year left and we have already started discussions with Formula 1, the city and government officials to form the right coalition to make this happen and get an extension. We’re pretty optimistic that we’ll be around to running a race for many, many years to come.”

He pointed out that the 2024 edition of the race sold out in just two hours, despite ticket sales opening shortly after Perez’s catastrophic accident on Lap 1 during the 2023 edition, showing how strong local support is for the vibrant event itself is.

“It was a big blow for everyone, it felt like a funeral,” he said. “The fans couldn’t even watch him for one round. We decided to put this race on sale 15 days later and a lot of people asked if we needed to give people more time to forget what had happened.” And this year’s race sold out in two hours.

“We have seen better times for Checo, he made the Mexican fans very, very happy for many years. But I’m an optimistic guy, I think he could give us more.”