Mexican fans have a double face. The most famous is the one they show with excessive euphoria for their own people and also for foreigners, a facet that invented the wave in the stadiums and adds color to all sporting events. There is no sport without a Mexican flag or a mariachi hat. The other facet, the most sordid, is the one that made famous the pejorative cry of puto, the sexist insults and the fights in the stands. That trait has crept into Formula 1.
Mexican fans completely devoted themselves to Formula 1 when Red Bull signed Sergio Pérez in December 2020. The audience, the sale of the Mexican’s merchandise and the media exposure soared through the skies. The phenomenon, not seen since the time of boxer Julio César Chávez, has caused Checo Pérez fans to defend him in bad times and turbulent times. The signs began last year when, at the Grand Prix in Mexico City, Lewis Hamilton won second place on the podium from the Mexican. When the Briton spoke in front of the fans, many of them began to boo him. Pérez came out to calm them down. It was the first warning.
The bomb exploded at the São Paulo GP. Max Verstappen refused to give up the driver’s place on the track, something that could help him capture the runner-up position in the world championship. The Dutchman was already champion and did not need an extra point, his colleague did. The refusal of the current three-time world champion provoked the annoyance of Pérez himself. “If he has two championships it is thanks to me,” he said furiously. This was pure dynamite for the most radical fans who began to shower Verstappen, his partner, his parents and Red Bull with insults on social media. “The death threats, hate messages and others towards family members are deplorable,” condemned the Austrian company. The team had to condemn the acts. There, for some, Verstappen mutated into a villain.
What happens on the track, stays on the track
It has been in the races with the most Mexican presence, Miami and Austin, where the pro-Czech fans booed Verstappen when he was introduced on the circuits and even during the ceremony on the podium. The Dutch anthem was dotted with songs in favor of the Mexican. From the office of the organizers of the Mexican Grand Prix they saw it as an alarm. At the beginning of October of this year they launched their campaign called racepecta play on words between race and respect. “It arose from the need to raise awareness about the problems of intolerance in motorsports,” they explained on the day of the launch.
Since that day, the billboards on the main avenues of the Mexican capital were filled with messages of “racepect“What happens on the court, stays on the court.” The message is read throughout the Hermanos Rodríguez racetrack in the hope that, this Friday, fans will refrain from booing Checo Pérez’s enemies. “We invite attendees to be an example for fans around the world. A stand that passionately encourages his favorite driver, but also behaves respectfully with the rest of the competitors,” said Federico González Compeán, general director of the Grand Prix.
“I want to thank you for your unconditional support. Let’s show that we are the best fans in the world, the most educated. Let everyone get the idea that they are a fan committed to sports. “I would like Formula 1 to leave Mexico with a good taste in their mouth,” the Mexican driver launched this Wednesday. Another ingredient that makes the organizers sweat is Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s advisor. The former driver made several racist comments against Pérez during the season, calling him lazy or irregular for being “South American.” Given that, there is some anxiety in Red Bull about the reception at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. “We are in contact with many Mexicans. Most of them are very kind and fair, but there are always some, let’s say enthusiasts, who do not maintain the fair sporting standard. But we don’t have any worries,” Marko told SkySports last weekend.
Among the workshops of the fastest cars in the world, the staff, the press, and the special guests wonder if Formula 1 has become soccer in Mexico with its defects. The Hermanos Rodríguez tribunes want to deny it.
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