Hometown hero Sergio Perez falls short, but doesn’t affect the Mexican fiesta
Mexican doesn’t make the podium in first Mexican GP for 23 years
Mexicans celebrated the return of Formula One after a 23-year wait on Sunday, with a fiesta atmosphere of mariachi music, sombreros and wild cheers for favourite son Sergio Perez.
While Perez fell short of accomplishing his dream of climbing the podium in front of his home crowd, the nearly 135,000 fans roared when the Mexican driver’s Force India car passed the finish line in eighth place.
I have never seen a crowd like this. It’s like a football game
“It’s very exciting. We’ve been waiting for this moment for many years, especially now that there’s a Mexican driver,” said Monica Martinez, a 52-year-old owner of a clothing repair shop standing in front of the starting grid with a black sombrero on her head.
Many were just happy to be there for Formula One’s grand return to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track, which hosted its last race in 1992, when Mexican officials dropped it over concerns it was adding to the mega-capital’s contamination problems.
“It doesn’t matter whether Perez wins or not. He won by just being here for the historic return of Formula One to Mexico,” said Martinez’s Spanish friend Conchita Pedrajas, 48, a technology firm executive bedecked in the same wide-brimmed Mexican hat.
