With Rumours of Carlos Slim buying out Sauber, a US Grand Prix very soon, it is surely only a matter of time before Formula 1 returns to Mexico. All 15 official Mexican Grands Prix were held at the elegantly named Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez held a non-championship race the year it opened, 1962. The race went well, with Jim Clark and Trevor Taylor sharing a car to victory after Clark was black-flagged for getting a push-start. This was the last time that a car was shared between drivers in Formula 1. Despite the death of Ricardo Rodríguez in practice, Mexico was granted an official Grand Prix in 1963.
The 1963 race went very well, the tough track made for an interesting race, the high altitude and bumpy surface challenged both driver and car, but Jim Clark rose above everyone to win by over 100 seconds. A bit of trivia, Moisés Solana is the only driver to have ever raced with car number 13. His engine failed on lap 57. The 1964 race was even more exciting, three driver could win the title, and it looked as if Clark was going to clinch his second consecutive title, when on the last lap his tired Climax engine gave up the ghost, costing him and Lotus both titles. Until 1970 the race always held the season finale meaning that an exciting race was always available, and often delivered, however in 1970 overcrowding seriously worried the organisers, and the race was stopped seemingly forever.
In 1986 an updated track bounded back onto the scene, with a modern pit complex, and re-profiled corners it was a winner as Gerhard Berger won his maiden race, the first of ten in a fruitful career. Philippe Alliot and Ayrton Senna had big crashes at the scary Peradelta bend, the banked final curve, and especially high retirement rates, even for that period, could have been factors for the circuit’s demise, but it never fully recaptured the drama of its first stint in Formula 1.
It would be unwise to write off the circuit as several times in the last eight years a return to Mexico has been considered but not confirmed. Hopefully we will come back to the home of the Mexican Grand Prix, but until then...
The 1963 race went very well, the tough track made for an interesting race, the high altitude and bumpy surface challenged both driver and car, but Jim Clark rose above everyone to win by over 100 seconds. A bit of trivia, Moisés Solana is the only driver to have ever raced with car number 13. His engine failed on lap 57. The 1964 race was even more exciting, three driver could win the title, and it looked as if Clark was going to clinch his second consecutive title, when on the last lap his tired Climax engine gave up the ghost, costing him and Lotus both titles. Until 1970 the race always held the season finale meaning that an exciting race was always available, and often delivered, however in 1970 overcrowding seriously worried the organisers, and the race was stopped seemingly forever.
In 1986 an updated track bounded back onto the scene, with a modern pit complex, and re-profiled corners it was a winner as Gerhard Berger won his maiden race, the first of ten in a fruitful career. Philippe Alliot and Ayrton Senna had big crashes at the scary Peradelta bend, the banked final curve, and especially high retirement rates, even for that period, could have been factors for the circuit’s demise, but it never fully recaptured the drama of its first stint in Formula 1.
It would be unwise to write off the circuit as several times in the last eight years a return to Mexico has been considered but not confirmed. Hopefully we will come back to the home of the Mexican Grand Prix, but until then...
