Mexico and Formula One: A Love Story
Although this time it took until the last week for tickets to sell out, the romance between Mexico and Formula One remains. After the reunion, the second year was expected to be a consolidation and the people responded in the same way, with a celebration at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on race day.
Since early morning, fans arrived, mostly by Metro, but also by other means of transportation.
It was a parade of colors around the circuit, with red dominating for Ferrari, but not too far behind were the orange of Force India, the blue of Red Bull, or the gray of Mercedes.
There were fans wearing Scuderia shirts and Sergio Perez caps, once again the most acclaimed, with wrestler masks, but also with Benetton or BMW caps, now far from the top category.
Inside the Autodromo, in the merchandise area, one of the busiest places was the one dedicated to Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, who died 22 years ago. However, if Ferrari dominated outside, inside Mercedes was competing and the most requested items were the caps popularized by British driver Lewis Hamilton, ranging in price from 1,500 to 3,000 pesos.
The mariachi band could not be missing in the paddock area, and there were even traditional national dances with men dressed as charros.
The chaos of the food area in 2015 disappeared for this edition. There were still long lines, but the logistics were simpler: in large tents, people paid, received their ticket, and then went to their preferred location to redeem it. The most popular choices were personal pizzas or a taco order for 100 pesos.
There were electric car tracks and a Formula One video game, but the crowd was waiting for the drivers. The Foro Sol filled up early, the wave started, and then came the chants of "Mexico, Mexico" and "Checo, Checo" (referring to Sergio Perez).
In the driver parade, Nico Rosberg got out of his car, spoke in Spanish, and gave out caps in the stadium area, provoking chants of "Nico, Nico". However, the most special moment was once again in the Foro Sol, where Checo and Esteban Gutierrez walked on the track and the crowd responded with cheers and chants, a vibrant scene that other F1 drivers wanted to capture on their phones.
The chant of "Checo, Checo" returned, but there was space for everyone, to applaud Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton.
Formula One is experiencing its second year back in Mexico, and once again the people turned the Grand Prix into a celebration.