Mexico City gov’t and F1 ink deal for Mexican GP to stay until 2022

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum signed a contract extension on Thursday with Formula One Group executives that will keep the Mexican Grand Prix in the capital until 2022.

“We welcome the drivers, Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen, but our hearts are with Checo Perez,” the mayor said, referring to the Mexican F1 driver.

Formula One Group CEO and executive chairman Chase Carey said it was an honor to have Mexico City host one of the stops on the circuit until 2022 and praised the race organizers in the capital.

The Mexican Grand Prix, which was staged for the first time as a non-championship event in 1962, was a championship event in 1963 to 1970 and 1986 to 1992.

The Mexican GP once again became one of the races that count toward the F1 championship in 2015 and has been recognized by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) as the best stop on the circuit for four straight years.

The Formula 1 race is held at Mexico City’s Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, a 4,304-meter track on which drivers must navigate 71 laps.

This year’s Mexican GP will take place Oct. 25-27 and will be the 18th race in the 21-race season.

Federico Gonzalez Compean, director of the Mexican Grand Prix, said he was happy that a deal had been reached after months of negotiations and noted that less investment would be needed going forward because the track was already in place.

“Thank you to Formula One for its patience. It took months of negotiations, this is an investment with new rules for the city’s benefit without expending public resources,” Sheinbaum said.

In 2018, Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the Mexican Grand Prix. Verstappen also won the Mexican GP in 2017.

Verstappen has become F1’s dark horse challenger this year, snatching two wins from Mercedes and bringing more excitement to the season.

His first win was at his team’s Red Bull Ring circuit in Austria in June and he pulled off a surprising victory at the German Grand Prix on July 28.

British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is currently the overall F1 standings leader, with 250 points, and he has won eight out of 12 races so far this year. EFE