Antonio Perez talks again about the Grand Prix of Cancùn for 2025
Antonio Pérez Garibay, the father of Sergio Perez, is the initiator of an ambitious project: organize a second Grand Prix in Mexico, in Cancún. It could be held within 2 years, however he is not the first to have had this idea.
The father of « Checo » is taking advantage of the annual excitement around the National Grand Prix this weekend to reaffirm his project for 2025. It is clear that a Grand Prix in the paradisiacal setting of the Cancún seaside resort can appeal to Liberty Media. Especially since there is an incredible fervor of Mexicans for F1. Record to date: 345,000 spectators present in 2019!
A project that asserts itself
This potential Grand Prix in Cancún would not threaten the current GP in Mexico at all. On the contrary according to Reforma, a Mexican media, it would have declared that « The Mexican economy has an urgent need for these international major projects. »
He had already announced earlier in the season the desire to have a second Mexican appointment on the F1 calendar. It was then conditional: « This is a new project that would start from scratch ». Before adding: « We will start with commitment letters, but this project has been very well received ». Since then things have evolved in the right direction for the businessman. Indeed, a first milestone was held at the Hungarian GP in mid-July, where he would have met the main players in F1.
This Friday, he told Publimetro, another Mexican media, on the sidelines of the drivers’ press conference, that he had the agreement of F1 and the FIA: « We need an agreement with the president of the country. We have the land, the money, the investment and the agreement of the FIA and F1 ». He would have discussed this with Claudia Sheinbaum, former head of the government of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023 and candidate for the 2024 presidential election.The idea would be to organize this GP for 5 years, between 2025 and 2030. A project that would therefore be increasingly serious, even if with the Mexican businessman it is better to be cautious.
The project in the 2000s
Especially since in the past the idea of the Grand Prix in Cancun had already been aborted. A project appeared in the 2000s. It was about hosting a Grand Prix from 2006 to 2010. However, this idea stalled: a conflict over the land on which the circuit was to be built was not resolved. It was a matter of a legal procedure between the former landowners, who had been expelled to make room for the circuit; and the local authorities. The Cancun GP had ultimately been abandoned. Let’s hope that Antonio Perez Garibay has prepared the ground well this time!
