It was a short hop from the Circuit of the Americas in Austin to the Autodromo Hermano Rodriguez in Mexico City, just a short two and a half hour flight but it could not be more different in terms of culture, geography and attitude.
Leaving the slick well run COTA operation behind with their superb highways to and from the circuit to perils of a minimum one hour taxi journey through what is globally acknowledged as the worst city traffic anywhere, and that includes Shanghai and Sao Paolo!
The dichotomy that we F1 hacks are faced with is never more apprarent than when the paddock moves south to Mexico City each year in late October. The critics will say that it’s just a case of the Mexican “haves” flaunting their wealth at the expense of the common man but I say to them, ‘have you really thought about the impact F1 has on a City like this?’
One would think their national hero Checo (Sergio Perez to the rest of us) was leading the the World Championship. His face is everywhere, advertising just about anything under the sun and a bit bit more. Let’s face it pre Silverstone, I don’t really recall any rampant Lewis Hamilton publicity other than what is seen at the track….
No, I think that although the average Mexico City resident could never dream of being able to afford a ticket to the race (the event was sold out more than a month before the race), it still allows people to dream and be part of the whole event. Liberty commercial boss Sean Bratches is not wrong with his idea to involve the whole city in a Super Bowl type atmosphere.
Getting back to the fiesta, there is a party atmosphere currently in the paddock for all the people who don’t get praised often enough, the tyre fitters, the team support personal, in fact just about anyone who helps put this travelling show together every week or two week short between late March and the end of November, including all the hack shows too!
Pity the European circuits can’t quite seem to appreciate the efforts of these people and throw some money at an occasional party or two in their rather regimented paddocks…
