Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix Confirmed to Stay in Mexico City Until 2022
The iconic Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which has hosted F1 races since the ’60s, has been voted “best race on the F1 calendar” four years in a row.
Officials representing Formula 1, the Mexican government, and the race's promoter Corporacion Interamericana de Entretenimiento (CIE), confirmed Thursday morning that the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix will remain in Mexico City until 2022.
An official release issued by Formula 1 specifically says that the race will be hosted at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez until "at least the end of 2022," leading us to believe that there is a possibility that the venue's contract could be extended into the future. The iconic AHR race track held its first grand prix in 1963, and is named after Ferrari F1 and endurance drivers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez of Mexico, otherwise known as the Hermanos Rodriguez (Rodriguez brothers).
“We are pleased to have renewed our partnership with Mexico City, which will now host the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix until at least 2022," said F1 CEO Chase Carey. "Ever since it returned to the championship calendar in 2015, this event has always proved to be amazingly popular with the public and fans, not just in Mexico, but also around the world. Proof of this is the fact that the race promoter has won the FIA award for the best event no fewer than four years in a row and, in those four years, over 1.3 million spectators have attended the Grand Prix."
It's worth noting that in 2020 the race will change its official title to Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix instead of Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix. The decision for the name change was based on the local city government's, rather than federal, financial and logistical support of the event.
“The presence of Formula 1 in the city for further three more years, was achieved for the first time through a new financing model in which public resources are not used," said Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. "Previously the Federal Government collaborated with the payment for the event. The Mexico City government will be an intermediary, creating a trust that will raise the private investment required to deliver this international event. The price of the tickets will remain the same as in previous years.”
Previously it had been rumored that Mexico City had been axed from the calendar due to the addition of the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, but that rumor can be officially put to rest.
