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Organizers of the Mexican F1 Grand Prix expect an even bigger crowd for this year’s race after increasing the venue's capacity to keep the party going. The return of Mexico City on the F1 calendar last year was hailed a success as more than 330,000 attended the three-day event. The ’16 edition, which is scheduled to take place Oct. 28-30, could see up to 360,000 spectators in the stands after organizers increased the capacity of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. “We will have 10% more capacity because we grew the size of some bleachers,” said Grand Prix Marketing Dir Rodrigo Sanchez. Last year’s grand prix sold out within minutes, and Sanchez told SBD Global that he hopes the same will happen this time around. Ticket sales for this year’s race will kick off with a four-day presale period starting on Thursday. Customers of financial institutions Santander and Banamex will be able to purchase tickets during the presale phase and pay no interest on their purchases for six months. Tickets then will hit the general public on Monday. “We are guaranteeing that there is going to be available inventory in every single grandstand in both phases,” Sanchez said. Organizers did not raise ticket prices from last year but made some adjustments to the layout, for example consolidating general admission. Prices will range from 1,500-18,750 pesos ($82-$1,015). Based on a fan survey, which was conducted following November’s event, promoter CIE created four experience profiles to give spectators a better understanding of what to expect in the various price ranges. The four profiles are: VIP Party Racers, True Racers, Euphoric Fans and Speed Lovers. Fans will also be able to take in some of the race weekend's surrounding program, including free concerts, sponsorship activations, beer gardens and cantinas. The changes are expected to have a positive effect on fan experience, Sanchez said. “We are still trying to learn from last year and also from other promoters,” he said. “It’s not like there’s a full recipe that would show you that if you put 10 grams of this and two spoons of that you will make the perfect F1 race.”
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Rodrigo Sanchez
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MORE PARTNERS: The series' successful return to Mexico City will likely also boost sponsorship sales. Last year's six local event sponsors -- Banamex, Santander, Telcel, Coca-Cola, Johnny Walker/Diageo and Grupo Modelo’s Corona brand -- will continue their partnership, Sanchez said, with more expected to join. “We are finalizing negotiations and we should have some information soon,” he added. “We will have a couple more additional to those six this year.” The ’16 season will see two Mexican drivers compete in F1. Force India’s Sergio Perez will be joined by Esteban Gutiérrez, who is back in the cockpit as a full-time driver with the new U.S.-based Haas F1 Team. “For us it was instrumental to have Esteban back as a primary driver,” Sanchez said. “People were singing Sergio’s [Perez] name throughout the entire facility. Hopefully it multiplies times two. It definitely helps to put the event out there, to put Mexico out there.”
BORDER RELATIONS: The U.S. and Mexican F1 races will once again take place on back-to-back weekends. However, cross-promotional initiatives as suggested by former Circuit of the Americas CEO Jason Dial have been put on the back burner due to the funding issues surrounding the Austin, Texas-based track, Sanchez said. “They [COTA] are going through a lot right now, and there’s a lot of stuff that they need to prioritize before even thinking about things like how to cross-promote events,” he said. “Hopefully they can get their things together and host another successful grand prix in the States.” The priority of Sanchez’s team is to keep the F1 party going. It is a mantra that Mexican organizers incorporated in their communications strategy, with this year’s event poster reading, “Mexico Vuelve A Estar De F1esta” (“Mexico Returns To F1 Party”).
