Mexican GP set to extend F1 contract despite Perez departure

The Mexican Grand Prix is about for a renewal to its Method 1 race contract with a deal understood to be introduced within the coming days, in response to Mexico Metropolis’s head of presidency Clara Brugada.

Brugada, who was elected to the submit final yr, introduced in a press convention on 24 April that “subsequent week, we can be signing the settlement with F1” when questioned about the way forward for the race.

Indications are that the brand new settlement will preserve the race on the calendar till the top of 2028 with a three-year extension, just like the earlier two extensions agreed with F1. The race will proceed to be privately funded, after shedding federal authorities help in 2018.

That yr, then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador withdrew the funding that the federal government had been offering for the race. This led businesspeople to type a personal belief, and the federal government of Mexico Metropolis ensured that it may keep a relationship with F1 to maintain the spherical on the calendar. After an preliminary five-year contract, the race was renewed in 2019 on a three-year foundation.

The settlement lasted till 2022, though in actuality solely two races have been held as a result of in 2020 F1 didn’t depart Europe and the Center East as a result of COVID-19 well being disaster. One other new three-year contract allowed the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and F1 to increase the deal till 2025.

CIE, the occasion’s promoter firm, has not disclosed the association, however solutions are that the important thing particulars had been ready for the renewal since final yr, even in mild of the departure of Mexican driver Sergio Perez from the grid.

It had been steered that the race’s future had hinged on Perez’s involvement within the championship, given his recognition had been one of many catalysts for the race’s reinstatement after 21 years away from the calendar, however evidently the need for the race stays with out him.

Per the corporate’s executives, the technique of diversifying ticket gross sales in Mexico and overseas had allowed them to create a stable fan base that didn’t rely solely on the presence of a neighborhood driver.

Perez was launched from his Purple Bull contract on the finish of 2024 after two seasons largely outlined by poor outcomes and an incapacity to match Max Verstappen, after an initially promising begin to 2023.

The Guadalajara-born driver has been linked with a possible return to the championship with Cadillac, however is at present taking trip from racing to be able to take into account his future.