Mexican Grand Prix: Whiting inspected the track
Surprise guest on the 2014 Grand Prix list, the Mexico circuit was inspected by Charlie Whiting, FIA delegate, and personalities connected to the future event.
The presence of the Mexican Grand Prix in the 2014 pre-calendar communicated to team principals on the sidelines of the Italian Grand Prix had surprised. It was known that the country of billionaire Carlos Slim (who already has a foot in Formula 1 due, in particular, to the presence of Telmex, a telecommunications company that strongly supports Mexican drivers on the grid – Sergio Pérez and Esteban Gutierrez) was considering a return, but the progress of this project surprised observers, even though the race remained subject to confirmation.
A sign that the project is at a relatively advanced stage, Charlie Whiting visited the Autodrome Hermanos Rodriguez this Wednesday – named after the two brothers Pedro and Ricardo, F1 drivers in the 1960s – to conduct an inspection. He was accompanied in this task by several people from different backgrounds: Federico Alaman, director of the Mexican event company OCESA, Tavo Hellmund, a former race driver turned promoter who has already participated in the establishment of the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, José Abed, who is one of the vice-presidents of the FIA and also president of the Mexican Organization for International Motorsport which represents Mexico within the International Automobile Federation, and finally, Johannes Hogrebe, representing Tilke GmbH & Co. KG, Hermann Tilke’s company, the architect of most of the circuits built over the last twenty years, once again tasked with renovating the circuit to meet FIA safety standards.
In terms of modifications to be made, some corners will need to be redesigned and the installations around the track will need to be improved. Once these works are completed, the circuit is expected to receive FIA homologation and can then claim official integration into the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship calendar, during a World Council scheduled for the end of the year. The dates for the race would be from November 7 to 9, 2014.
Mexico hosted F1 between 1963 and 1970 and then between 1986 and 1992. Jim Clark (1963 and 1967), Nigel Mansell (1987 and 1992), and Alain Prost (1988 and 1990) hold the record for victories there, with two wins each.
