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Perez and Gutierrez share the spotlight for their home race in Mexico
Mexican motor sport is enjoying a golden era with the return of the Grand Prix becoming an instant hit last year, and two drivers in the 2016 entry list.
Between them, Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez have done much to raise interest in the sport in the country, and they are sure to be the main focus of the crowd this weekend.
Gutierrez was on the sidelines as a Ferrari test driver last year, so for the inaugural race on the rebuilt circuit Perez alone carried the expectations of the crowd. While the Force India driver didn’t give them the podium finish they had hoped to see, he enjoyed huge support, and he’s anticipating more of the same.
“It is probably going to be even more crazy,” he says. “There is such excitement from the people back home, everything is sold out. I think we can expect again a big fiesta! I want to get a better result for them this year. I think last year I did a very strong race, given the conditions. We wanted to do a one-stop and then the safety car hurt us massively. It was a very strong performance from me.
“I expect no less this year, I will give my best, and try to get the best possible result for my fans there. It’s very exciting, it gives you so much energy, so much support and I really want to do very well there. The pressure and motivation is 100 percent.”
Gutierrez spent last year’s Mexican GP as an interested spectator, having confirmed his return to F1 with Haas earlier in the weekend. He says it was an interesting experience.
“Obviously it was very frustrating,” Esteban recalls. “But then after the event I asked myself how I was feeling, and I said you had the opportunity to live the event from a different perspective, and then again change to the racing driver perspective, and live it from that point of view. So it’s also very nice and very interesting, although it was very frustrating during the weekend to just watch around and be a spectator. I don’t like to be a spectator! I like to race and to do my best.”
Gutierrez says he was impressed and surprised by the reaction of his countrymen to the return of F1.
“It was crazy, crazy. It was really incredible the energy and the magnitude of the event the people were very enthusiastic. It was really intense, in many ways. I think it was the same not only for the Mexican drivers, but also for the other drivers, you could see the amount of events that every driver had.
“Felipe Massa came to me and said, ‘man, not even in Brazil I had so many PR events!’ Everybody was very alive. This brings a nice atmosphere. I feel very grateful that it was the best Grand Prix of the year, and hopefully it can be close to that again.
“I’m very proud, and honestly I wasn’t expecting it, that much. I knew that we are capable with our enthusiasm and enjoyment that we as Mexicans have for this kind of event, I knew that it was going to be something special, but I never expected to that level.”
Meanwhile the first thing he will have to do on Friday is learn the track, as he’s yet to sample it in a F1 car: “At the beginning of the year I drove some laps in a Ferrari 488, nothing compared to an F1 car, but at least as reconnaissance laps, it was interesting! I raced back in 2008 in the Formula BMW World Finals, but it was a different track, and they have re-done everything. I’m really looking forward to getting there, it’s going to be the best event for me and the team.”
