404,958 fans attended the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, with Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez posting its highest attendance figure to date.
For the ninth time in a row, the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix was a sell-out event. Almost 405,000 fans attended the race weekend in a record-breaking figure for Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Attendance numbers at the Mexican race have grown in every season that it has been held since 2018. 2023 marked the first time that the weekend attendance in Mexico surpassed 400,000. The 2024 figure has increased by around 5,000 compared to last season.
Of races which have announced their attendance figures, the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix slots in as the third-best attended race weekend of the year to date – though it is highly likely that last weekend’s United States Grand Prix had a figure higher than that of Mexico’s. The Mexican race regularly ranked in the top three best-attended races of the season in the years immediately prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
Perez’s Future In Doubt as Mexico Seeks New Contract
It was a weekend to forget for home favourite Sergio Perez. On Saturday, Perez was eliminated in Q1 and set the 18th fastest qualifying time of the 20 competing drivers. Perez’s future on the grid may be in considerable doubt – but race organisers say it is not a concern for the continued popularity of their event.
Perez’s presence in Formula 1 has been a contributing factor in the Mexican race posting consistently high weekend attendance figures since it returned to the calendar in 2015. The event has sold out in all 9 seasons that it has been held since 2015.
At present, the Mexico City Grand Prix’s contract with Formula 1 covers only next year, with talks needing to be held to secure the race’s future on the calendar beyond 2025. The circuit’s contract was last extended in 2022, with event organisers picking up a three-race deal.
The 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix is set to take place on October 24-26.
O’Ward Makes Home Race Appearance
While Sergio Perez struggled in his home race, the partisan crowd had plenty to cheer for on Friday, when home-grown IndyCar star Pato O’Ward made a guest appearance with McLaren in Free Practice 1.
In part thanks to O’Ward’s presence on the American racing series’ grid, race promoters in Mexico are set to hold talks with IndyCar in January in an attempt to bring the series to the country in 2026.
Next year, NASCAR will visit Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the first time, in the sport’s first event outside of the United States.
Four Races Remain in 2024
There are now just four races remaining in the 2024 Formula 1 season. The Sao Paulo Grand Prix ends the latest F1 triple header next weekend, with the penultimate Sprint weekend of the year at Interlagos.
The racing resumes with the second running of the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 23, which kicks off the final triple header of the year. The final Sprint weekend of the season takes place in Qatar, before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix closes out the season on December 8.
Meanwhile, tickets are already on sale for over half of the 24 races on the 2025 Formula 1 calendar, which is set to begin with the Australian Grand Prix weekend on March 13-16.
