F1's irresistible Mexican wave

Bernie, if you're reading this, may we be so bold as to proffer a piece of advice? Get a Mexican Grand Prix back on the calendar as soon as possible.

After 20 years GP-free, the country is hungry for motor racing, and Formula 1 in particular. Mad for it, even.

During a recent two-day visit to Mexico City, we were surrounded by people celebrating speed: the rental-car guys at Mexico City International Airport waxed lyrical about their braking techniques in an Opel Corsa; the concierge in our hotel flicked continuously through racing magazines; and we were told that more than one million people lined the route of last year's La Carrera Panamericana road race, the Mexican equivalent of the Mille Miglia.

From these green shoots, F1 can blossom again in Mexico, Bernie, but if you need more evidence look at the nationalities of those attending last year's US GP.

Tens of thousands of Mexicans made the trek across the border to Austin, Texas, and even more are expected to attend the race this year, now that Sergio 'Checo' Perez is driving for McLaren.

There's no doubt that Mexico's renewed enthusiasm for F1 centres around one man, but we should remember that the country has a deep-rooted love of the sport.

Mexican F1 racers the Rodriguez brothers had a cult following in the '60s and the country's interest in F1 continued to grow after their deaths, despite a dearth of Mexican F1 drivers for the next 40 years (with the brief exception of Hector Rebaque).

Mexican fans flocked to their grand prix in the 1990s © LAT

The sport's popularity peaked in the early '90s in the fevered atmosphere of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but the race was then removed from the F1 calendar because the circuit's facilities weren't up to scratch.

Twenty years on and there's still no Mexican Grand Prix, but the race looks increasingly likely to return now that Mexican pesos are flowing into the sport on the coat tails of Checo Perez.

And from a dearth of Mexican racers, we now have a comparative glut. When Perez moved from Sauber at the end of last year, he was replaced by countryman Esteban Gutierrez, who, like Checo, is sponsored by Mexican telecom giant Telmex.

After 30 years without a single home-grown racer, Mexico now has two.

Perez is recognised as the country's second most famous sportsman, after Manchester United footballer Javier Hernandez, and with a continued push from his Mexican sponsors, Checo's fame will only increase.

A race win in F1 would send his popularity into the stratosphere.

But even without a race-winning car, Perez is laying the foundations for Mexico's long-term F1 future. On a recent two-day visit to Mexico City, he carried out a total of 12 PR functions - all geared towards raising both his and F1's awareness in Spanish-speaking Central America.

Few drivers would have put up with such an intense workload, but Checo understood the bigger picture.

"I haven't been home since before the start of the season," he says, "so this was always going to be a busy trip.

Perez is helping to grow the sport's popularity in his home nation © LAT

"There's a lot of interest in me in Mexico, which is good. It's important to give the sponsors what they need, because the economy in Mexico is doing well and there's a lot of enthusiasm for F1.

"I hope to see an F1 race here soon because the people would love it and it would be a great opportunity for the country."

It is a surprisingly statesmanlike speech for a 23-year-old, but then Perez is well advised.

The former president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, was his guest at the Canadian Grand Prix, and Telmex CEO Carlos Slim, the world's richest man (worth a cool $73 billion), is a family friend, who funded Checo's career from karting through to F1.

Both of these men have huge political clout and will have a say in whether or not F1 returns to Mexico in the near future.

Slim has funded a lot of building projects throughout Mexico and speculation has been mounting that he wants to redevelop the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez into a sports ubercomplex.

The focal point would be a state-of-the-art F1 circuit, but there would also be football stadia and hotels on the same site.

According to sources, we should expect an announcement - one way or the other - before the end of the year.

But Perez doesn't have influence only by association - he's every bit a megastar in his own right.

Since joining McLaren, he's become front- and back-page news: the tabloids want to know about his love life; the sports writers want to know about his driving; and he's proved the adage 'race on Sunday, sell on Monday' to be true, since McLaren Automotive has enjoyed a spike in sales of its MP4-12C in Mexico.

Perez has been back-page news since joining McLaren © XPB

Everyone wants their two penn'orth, which is why Checo's employed a PR guy - an old school friend - to deal with their demands.

"There has been a lot more interest since I joined McLaren," he says. "They're one of the biggest teams in F1 and people expect me to win.

"Of course it's frustrating that the car isn't fast enough to win at the moment, but I think the press understand. They are being patient; I think it's only in England that we get a hard time."

A vox pop near the Castillo Chapultepec in downtown Mexico City is emphatic in its conclusions about Checo's popularity.

Girls blow kisses at a photograph of him and men shout "Go Checo!" When a waitress learns why we're in town, she asks us to get Perez's autograph for her.

Even the media uses its contacts to get up close and personal. Take the filming of an advert for Claro Video, the Mexican equivalent of YouTube, on day one of Checo's whirlwind tour of Mexico City. It's not a long ad and could easily be shot by a crew of 10, but more than 100 people turn up to 'work' on the set.

Most are there only for Checo's autograph, yet he deals with the extra attention effortlessly. He signs autographs, poses for photos and talks to the right people in the right way. He shakes hands with some, giving others a more informal hug.

The McLaren marketing team comments on how good he is with their sponsors; the sponsors comment on how he delivers what they want time after time - although that isn't always hard.

Perez was swamped by fans, even those 'working' on PR projects © LAT

In the Claro Video advert he has to eat three pieces of popcorn and deliver a single line of dialogue in the direction of a television. "This is a good one," he says, "because I like popcorn!"

Checo travels to each of the events in a bulletproof car and has a couple of bodyguards accompanying him. At no point is he threatened during the trip, but McLaren cannot take any chances.

The team had a bad experience in 2010, when a car carrying Jenson Button was held up at gunpoint at Interlagos. The threat of being kidnapped is very real in Mexico, and Checo's would be a high-profile scalp.

We hitch a ride with Checo on a couple of occasions and he's great fun to be around. He cracks jokes at the expense of fellow drivers (Jenson in particular) and includes everyone in his entourage in the conversations, always asking for their opinion. He drinks a lot of water.

A crowd of well-wishers greets him at every venue and the flash of camera bulbs is constant. Fame through F1 is an unexpected bonus for Checo because he didn't dream of being a racing driver as a boy.

Football was his bag back then; he dreamed of playing for his hometown of Guadalajara more than he did driving for McLaren, and getting him into a kart required his father Antonio to pay him 500 pesos per race.

"It's true I loved football," says Checo. "My father loves racing, so he suggested I try it. To begin with, I didn't care if I won; it was only when I'd been doing it for a few years and found I was quick that I started to take it seriously.

"Now I think about nothing other than winning in F1!"

His popularity at home is illustrated at the opening of a new Hugo Boss store in the city's exclusive Antara Fashion Hall.

Local celeb Chacho Medina, Mexico's television chat-show king, hosts the function and there are about 150 people milling about prior to Checo's arrival, snapping photographs of Chacho and of the McLaren show car on display.

Perez is mobbed by fans ahead of this year's Spanish GP © LAT

When Checo arrives via a side door, dressed in a dapper, made-to-measure suit, everyone surges towards him - and it's in that instant that the scale of his fame becomes apparent.

"Mexicans love Mexicans who perform on the international stage," says Chacho. "That's why Hernandez is popular and it's the same with Checo.

"There's something impossibly glamorous about what he does and how he represents Mexico around the world."

In a country starved of its own grand prix, Mexicans make do with what they've got: Gutierrez at Sauber and Perez in the spotlight of a top team.

That's why Perez's fame outweighs his on-track achievements and that's why he could do for F1 in Mexico what Alonso has done for the sport in Spain.

What he needs now is a Mexican GP to prove it. Over to you, Bernie.

AUTODROMO HERMANOS RODRIGUEZ

The last time Formula 1 visited Mexico City, in 1992, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was located out of town, near the airport.

The circuit now lies deep in the heart of the city, which has sprawled uncontrollably over the past 20 years to accommodate its 20 million inhabitants.

A sign welcomes you when you arrive, but as you turn off the highway it's not immediately obvious that you've arrived at a racetrack.

F1 cars at Mexico City, which has hosted 15 GPs, in 1968 © LAT

Groups of teenagers practice dance routines in the car park and there are stalls selling drinks and hotdogs. The circuit is used for general recreation on weekdays.

On track there are scores of runners and cyclists, most of whom frown at our car as we venture onto the hallowed asphalt to complete a lap.

On the infield, a football match is taking place; the players have dismantled a barrier to use the tyres as goalposts.

It's sad to see such a lack of respect for a place with so much history, but the layout quickly puts a smile back on your face.

The long pit straight, the fast changes of direction in the middle of the lap and the long final right-hander leave you dreaming about years past.

Peraltada is much tighter than it looks on television, so how Nigel Mansell overtook Gerhard Berger around the outside in 1990 is even more of a mystery.

There's a lot of work to be done before F1 can make a return to this circuit. The kerbs are too high, the run-offs inadequate - and what's left of the tyre walls definitely needs replacing.

It'll be a big job, but not impossible. Although you wouldn't want to be the person telling the locals that they can no longer use the track in their lunch breaks.