Image credit: Cadillac Formula 1 Team Media Centre
A modern staple on the Formula 1 calendar since 2015, the Mexican Grand Prix is an annual event that has deeper ties with the sport than may at first meet the eye as well as a larger significance than the causal observer may realise with one man in this modern day renaissance at the heart of it - Sergio Pérez.
The Mexican Grand Prix was first held in 1962 at what was then called the Magdalena Mixhuca Circuit. It was not part of the World Championship for the Formula 1 season that year but from 1963 onwards, that changed and Mexico became an official part of the Formula 1 calendar. In its first official race, Jim Clark was victorious, ahead of Jack Brabham in second and Richie Ginther in third. Since then, twenty-four further Grand Prix have been held with last weekend’s race becoming the twenty-fifth. Between then and now, the likes of Graham Hill, Jacky Ickx, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have all won the Mexican Grand Prix with the latter being the most successful driver in Mexico, having won six Grand Prix there since 2017.
However, in its entire history, not once has a Mexican driver ever won the Mexican Grand Prix with the closest that Pérez has even gotten himself being third place in both 2021 and 2022.
There have been six Mexican drivers in Formula 1 starting with Ricardo Rodríguez in 1961. He became at the time Formula 1’s youngest starter when he made his Grand Prix debut for Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix after having impressed Enzo Ferrari with his performance at Le Mans the previous year. He qualified in second place, eight tenths of a second ahead of Phil Hill. Tragically, Ricardo died at the non-Championship event held in Mexico in 1962, crashing in practice at the Peraltada Corner - the final corner on the circuit. His brother Pedro was set to make his F1 debut that weekend but withdrew following the death of his sibling. Following Pedro’s death in a sports car race in 1971, the circuit was renamed as tribute to them - thus the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez moniker that it carries to this day.
Moisés Solana and Héctor Rebaque also followed in their footsteps as Formula 1 drivers hailing from Mexico in the remainder of the twentieth century with the latter making his last Grand Prix appearance at the 1981 Las Vegas Grand Prix. It then wasn’t until Sergio Pérez in 2011 that another driver from Mexico made it to Formula 1. He was soon joined by Esteban Gutiérrez who only lasted for a single season in 2013 before returning for a second and final season in 2016. Since then, it’s just been Pérez representing Mexico in the pinnacle of motorsport.
Image credit: Mercedes Media Centre and Red Bull Content Pool
In his lengthy Formula 1 career so far, Sergio Pérez has raced for Sauber, McLaren, Force India, Racing Point, Red Bull and now, this year, Cadillac. He’s been in every single season of Formula 1 since 2011, bar 2025 after he and Red Bull parted ways, and he returned to the grid in 2026 with the brand new team that is Cadillac.
In that time in the sport, Pérez has won six Grand Prix, accrued thirty nine podiums and taken three pole positions. Last weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix marked his 300th Grand Prix start - almost double the number of race starts than all of his Mexican predecessors combined. Only
six drivers sit ahead of him now in all of history in terms of race starts - Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. For these reasons alone, it’s clear why Cadillac wanted him as one of their drivers for their debut year in the sport. For Pérez too, his comeback to the sport with Cadillac has so far been something of a fresh start, especially following his rocky exit from the sport at the end of 2024 when Red Bull decided not to retain his services for the following season.
While Pérez’s 2026 season may not have been the most captivating one of his career - his best result so far this season has been multiple fourteenth place finishes - his season has been about more than that. Of the nineteen rounds we’ve had so far this season though, five of those have ended in Pérez retiring from a Grand Prix. A spontaneous suspension failure, overheating brakes and a water pressure issue have all been the culprits behind these with only the last Sprint Race of the season in Singapore ending early for Pérez because of contact with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll. Every other Sprint saw Pérez finish, even if he did get lapped on occasion, and there is significance to this.
“I think (2026 is) one of my best years. Without a doubt, in terms of confidence, driving level, decision-making, leadership, without a doubt one of my best years.”
In a similar way to Nico Hulkenberg’s season so far with Audi, the majority of retirements that Pérez has had have been because of internal issues which are a natural result of a brand new team producing their first ever Formula 1 car, rather than external factors, such as collisions with other drivers on track. Clean racing, even if it’s towards the rear of the mid-field and the back of the pack, is on full display for Pérez and that has allowed the Mexican to dial back into his racecraft and continue falling back in love with the sport after a year on the sidelines.
Image credit: Red Bull Content Pool
For Mexico as a nation fully behind their countryman, Pérez’s return has served as somewhat of a palate cleanser for them too. While last year’s Grand Prix was a success for a multitude of on track reasons, such as the McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull podium, Bearman’s fantastic fourth place finish as he fended off Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s multi lap tussle, there was a risk at the start of the year that the 2025 running would be its last. Pérez’s presence on the grid and the attention that he garnered not just from Mexico but from the remainder of Central and Southern America were a large part of what helped the country become part of the Formula 1 calendar once again and stay there.
Despite Pérez not being on the grid in 2025, his return for 2026 with Cadillac was one of the worst kept secrets that year and so, ensured the future of the Mexican Grand Prix. This made it easier for it to continue because Formula 1 knew that with Pérez back on the grid, there would be a significant pull for attracting fans to the Grand Prix, thus making the race weekend successful for them too. But without Pérez, questions would have been raised about how long it would remain. You only have to look as far as Zandvoort to see that even with a fanbase as dedicated as Verstappen’s - himself a Four-Time World Champion - it isn’t enough to guarantee a home race remains part of the schedule. The Mexican Grand Prix had been on a hiatus of twenty-three years before its return in 2015 - so how long might it be until it returned again were it to depart from the calendar due in part to the absence of the sole Mexican driver on the grid?
Fortunately for Mexico, ahead of last weekend’s Grand Prix, Cadillac announced that Pérez would be remaining with them until at least 2029. Currently set to remain on the Formula 1 calendar until the end of 2028, it looks like Mexico should get at least one further year on the Formula 1 calendar as a result of this.
Image credit: Cadillac Formula 1 Team Media Centre
Until another Mexican driver comes onto the grid, Pérez and the Mexican Grand Prix are tied to one another. If Pérez retires at the end of 2029, it’s very possible that the Grand Prix won’t return. To further emphasize this point, you just need to look as far as the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix where Pérez retired without even making it into the first turn on the opening lap of the race. After contact with Leclerc in a brief four car wide moment heading down to that first turn, Pérez became temporarily airborne before crashing out of the race. Following this incident, a significant portion of the fans made their exits from the Grand Prix venue. For them, without Pérez in the race, there was no Grand Prix.
Who could step into Pérez’s shoes in a bid to keep Mexico on the calendar?
Noel León currently competes in Formula 2. He sits sixth overall so far this season with three wins and a further two podiums to his name. Another season in the Feeder Series looks set for the Mexican in 2027 and he’ll need an almighty year on track if he hopes that any of the eleven Formula 1 teams will consider him for a seat on the grid in 2028. After Pérez, León appears to be Mexico’s next big hope for the Grand Prix to remain in Mexico City.
Behind León is Ricardo Escotto who ran for eight races in Formula 3 this season. Despite this, he failed to score any points during that time in the series. It almost goes without saying that he will need to have a significant improvement in a full season of Formula 3 before anything else further up the motorsport ladder can even be considered.
There is an alternative though.
Image credit: Amber Pietz, Penske Entertainment
Mexico may rely solely on Sergio Pérez for Formula 1 to remain in their country but he isn’t the only driver that they can rely on for a top tier level of motorsport to visit their beloved circuit.
IndyCar has long been flirting with the idea of holding a race in Mexico - spurred on continuously by Arrow McLaren driver and fan favourite Pato O’Ward. With the recent news that IndyCar are returning to Europe for the first time in two decades and leaving North America for the first time since 2013, might this be an expression of interest to consider other locations elsewhere in the world too?
IndyCar even raced in Mexico City as recently as 2007 with fourteen appearances in the country since 1980. It wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility that should Formula 1 decide to not renew its contract with Mexico that IndyCar could swoop in and offer the country an alternative, much as it did with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain after it was dropped from the Formula 1 calendar after three decades in the sport.
Image credit: Cadillac Formula 1 Team Media Centre
For now though, Pérez and the Mexican Grand Prix look set to stay in Formula 1 until at least the end of the decade. At times during the race last weekend, Pérez was running as high as fourteenth place which gave the home crowd plenty to cheer for - given the nature of Cadillac’s character building foundational year in the sport. It also demonstrates how much love and support there is for Pérez that even racing that far down the order (he’d proceed to finish in sixteenth in Mexico), his mere presence in the race at the top of the motorsport ladder is enough for the fans. It is often said by a multitude of people in Formula 1, such as Martin Brundle, that Formula 1 would be nothing without the fans. This is about as black and white an example of that theory in action as you can get. With Cadillac having long-term ambitions for the sport too - part of which was confirming their commitment to Pérez for the foreseeable future, there’s hope again too for Mexico that this new pairing of team and driver can deliver them some truly special results in the years to come - including maybe, just maybe, the first time in history that a Mexican driver wins the Mexican Grand Prix. Now wouldn’t that be something?