Special trophy for pole position at the Mexican Grand Prix

F1 News

12 October 2022 at 12:03
Last update 12 October 2022 at 13:39
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  • GPblog.com

With his four wins, Sergio Perez is now the most successful Formula 1 driver from Mexico. The Red Bull Racing driver is in the history books of Mexican motorsport. But he is certainly not the only one. The country is still very proud of Pedro and Ricardo Rodríguez de la Vega, after whom the circuit in Mexico City is named after.

Ricardo holds the record as the youngest Ferrari driver to take part in a Grand Prix. After finishing second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Mexican was invited by Enzo Ferrari himself to take part in the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, where he qualified on the front row at just 19 years, six months and 27 days. He did not win then, as he was forced Ricardo to retire. A year later, he became a full-time driver for Ferrari. That season, Ferrari decided not to enter the Mexican Grand Prix, allowing Ricardo to compete in a Lotus. Unfortunately, he crashed on the first day and sadly died.

Two victories

Brother Pedro also made it to Formula 1, in which he took two wins. He was also the strongest in the 24 hours of Le Mans and the 24 hours of Daytona. He was killed in 1971 during a sports car race in Germany. Pedro was 31 years old.

To honour the brothers, a one-off trophy has been created this year. The driver who captures the pole in Mexico will receive Pedro and Ricardo's replica helmets. These are donated by the Fangio Foundation, who already had a replica of Juan Manuel Fangio's helmet for the 2021 polesitter.Valtteri Bottas won that prize back then.