By Wednesday lunchtime in Mexico City I had, contrary to the forebodings of friends and family, survived almost an entire day in this capital city. If the dirty water didn’t get me, I was assured the pollution would, or the muggers, or the street taxis, which rip you off at best and kidnap you at worst.
But walking around the Zona Rosa district, I didn’t feel particularly threatened. No worse than São Paulo, certainly, and a good deal better than Johannesburg or downtown Kingston. The essentials remain the same – dress down (something which seems to come naturally), keep to the main streets and walk with a sense of purpose. And avoid going out very late on your own.
Before the grand prix this weekend, a lot of Formula One team members are muttering about safety, with murder rates in the city up by 21% in the first eight months of the year, although these are often gang-related. But there is also the excitement of being in a new country.
For those who don’t live in the global village of F1 it must appear a very glamorous place, but for those of us who inhabit the place, albeit as a hanger-on, there is the danger of RSI: the same circuits, the same journeys, the same logistical problems to be overcome. So a new venue feels invigorating.
Well, it’s not exactly new. The first grand prix was held here in 1963. That run ended in 1970 but there was another one between 1986 and 92, so this is F1’s third go with the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, although it’s a very different circuit these days.
John Surtees won the world title with Ferrari here in 1964. He was only second but there have been British winners here: Jim Clark in 1963 and 1967, Graham Hill in 1968 and Nigel Mansell in 1987 and 1992.
The big star this weekend, of course, will be the newly crowned world champion, Lewis Hamilton. But all eyes here – and there is a crowd of 100,000 expected – will be on the local hero Sergio Pérez.
Pérez has come here on something of a high, having scored points in five of the last six races. He has outscored his Force India team-mate Nico Hülkenberg by 64 points to 38 and provided his team’s best result with that third place in Russia. He was fifth in Austin and is now aiming to become the first Mexican to score in his home Grand Prix since Pedro Rodríguez was sixth in 1970.
“Having the opportunity of driving in my home grand prix is something I never thought would happen,” said Pérez in the build-up to Sunday’s race. “It will be one of the highlights of my career and I have no doubt that this race will become a modern classic of Formula One.” Let’s hope he has a head for heights. The circuit here has an altitude of more than 2,000 metres.
Renault’s director of operations, Rémi Taffin, told motorsport.com’s Jonathan Noble: “The issue is going to be cooling, for sure, because you have the same amount of energy getting out of the engine and much less air to cope with that.
“But the other thing is the turbo – because to try to maintain the power output you will need to rev the turbo much higher than we normally do. We are going to be going somewhere we don’t really know.“
I love Formula One folk, don’t you? Just when you start to worry your little head about trivialities, such as life and death, they put everything in perspective.
