Mexico City: 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 favorite 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.
"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.
A mariachi band serenaded the crowd with classics such as "Cielito Lindo" before the fans and Perez sang the national anthem while a giant green-white-red flag of Mexico covered a section of the grandstand.
Beer flowed around the track as fans munched on tacos under a scorching heat in the city perched almost 2,250 meters (7,380 feet) above sea level.
"I have never seen a crowd like this. It's like a football game," said British driver Lewis Hamilton, the 2015 champion, who finished second behind Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
AFP
