Remember when fans sat on the side of the track at the 1970 Mexican GP?

When he arrives at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City for Sunday’s Grand Prix, Sergio Perez will no doubt send the local fans into an absolute frenzy. The 2020 race was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic but the previous year 345,000 fans turned out over the weekend to see their hero take seventh place from eleventh on the grid. This time however, he returns as the winner of two Grands Prix and in a car that is more than capable of victory. He won’t be on the receiving end of any favours from his team-mate at his home race, but if he gets even the slightest sniff of victory, expect the grandstands in the stadium section of the track to completely erupt.

But whatever happens on Sunday, it’ll be nothing like the staggering events that took place the last time there was the prospect of a home win in Mexico, more than fifty years ago. Having hosted the 1970 Football World Cup only to be knocked out by Italy in the quarter finals, the nation was craving sporting success and in October when the F1 circus arrived in Mexico City for the final race of the year, local hero Pedro Rodriguez was on top form. Like Perez, Rodriguez was a two-time Grand Prix winner and genuine front runner, having won for BRM at Spa just four months earlier, and very nearly winning again last time out at Watkins Glen.

At the time, there had only been two other Mexican F1 drivers, one of whom was Rodriguez’s younger brother Ricardo who raced for Ferrari in 1961 and 1962. As the 1962 Mexican Grand Prix was a non-championship race, Ferrari elected not to take part, leaving Ricardo to drive a privately entered Lotus. Tragically, a suspected suspension failure on the opening day of practice caused an accident that resulted in his death at the age of just 20 years old.

With all that history and circumstance, it was no surprise that the fans were more than a little excitable ahead of the 1970 Mexican Grand Prix. At least 200,000 turned up on race day and during the course of the morning it became clear that the fences around the track weren’t up to the job as spectators started to dismantle them in order to get a better view. Come the intended start time, the circuit was lined with walls of people in front of the barriers and to make matters worse, glass bottles were thrown onto the track and had to be cleared away in order for the race to begin. The organisers feared a riot if the event was cancelled and so amazingly, an hour and a quarter later the flag dropped and the race started.

It doesn’t bear thinking about the consequences had a car spun into the crowd and that became a very real possibility when Jackie Stewart unavoidably hit a stray dog at 160 mph. In his autobiography Winning is not Enough, Sir Jackie recalled "the dog disintegrated and the car veered violently to the left, towards a bank where spectators were sitting cross-legged a few meters from the tarmac. I only just managed to regain control and prevent my car from ploughing into that area and scything through the crowd". There were also reports at the time of spectators crossing the track during the race and at the end the crowd blocked it entirely. Thankfully no one was injured but Formula 1 swerved a massive bullet that day.

The race result saw a Ferrari 1-2 for Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni, with Pedro Rodriguez’s misfiring BRM coming home sixth. Sadly, Rodriguez was killed in a sports car race in Germany the following July and with no local star for fans to cheer on, the Mexican Grand Prix was cancelled for 1971 and didn’t return to the F1 calendar until 1986.

Aside from the Rodriguez brothers and Perez, there have only ever been three other Mexican F1 drivers, none of whom ever looked like winning. Finally, the locals can look forward to the possibility of a Mexican on the podium, and although he will undoubtedly be supporting Max Verstappen’s championship bid on Sunday there is nothing the fans would love more than win number three for ‘Checo’.

Photography: LAT