Just imagine: Sebastian Vettel drives up and down the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin on a weekday in his Aston Martin Formula 1 racing car.
How many viewers would be watching?
20,000 or 30,000?
Sergio Pérez was sent to the Paseo de la Reforma of Mexico City in a 2011 Red Bull on the Wednesday before the Mexican Grand Prix (Sunday, 8 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker on Formula 1 and on Sky).
130,000 onlookers came. “A lot of people camped the night before to be able to be there,” said Pérez with astonishment. The 18th round of the World Championship at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez has long been sold out. "We could have sold 40,000 more three-day tickets," confirmed promoter Alejandro Soberón: "One factor behind the increased interest is that Checo is sitting in a Red Bull."
Pérez is the winner of this race. With two wins and 14 podium places, the 31-year-old from Guadalajara even surpassed the unforgettable Pedro Rodríguez, who was revered like a folk hero in his country and who, together with his younger brother Ricardo, gave the Autodrom in Mexico City his name. The Rodríguez family's career ended tragically. Ricardo died in 1962 in an accident in a Lotus on the forerunner of today's route. Pedro 1971 at the Norisring.
50 years later, Sergio Pérez won the hearts of fans. If only there wasn't the "curse" of the home race. He always wanted to do particularly well, but never got past seventh place. On Sunday the local hero faces a difficult mission. He would so much like to win in front of his compatriots and would have the right car for the first time, but he is not allowed to, at least not if his team-mate Max Verstappen is driving in the immediate vicinity.
The world title for the Dutchman has absolute priority in the team. If Pérez had to give away the win, it would still be like a win for him: “It would be a nice problem if it got that far. And then what really happens still depends on the circumstances. I just know that the whole team wants me to win in Mexico. Perhaps after qualifying on Saturday we will see more clearly what awaits us on Sunday. "
Red Bull-Honda is on paper the favorite on the highest racetrack in the world. At 2,240 meters above sea level, the air is so thin that the cars have to drive with wings like in Monte Carlo despite an average speed of more than 200 kilometers per hour, but only get the downforce of the high-speed line from Monza. The turbochargers have to get by with less air and therefore turn higher, but this is only possible to a limited extent for reasons of reliability. That is why engines with larger turbochargers have advantages: turbochargers like the one from Honda.
Red Bull could take another step towards the world title with another Verstappen victory.
That is why it is important that the World Cup leaders win in Mexico.
For the score, for the evaluation of chances, for the psyche.
A home win for Pérez would be a better story, but the World Cup fourth is only the servant of his teammate in his most important race of the year.
Pérez has known his role since Verstappen underpinned his supremacy in the team with three wins in a row in the summer.