Postcards from the Paddock - Mexico City
My 2024 racing season is off and running! Last weekend's Mexico City E-Prix served as the kick-off event to my year and to the tenth season of Formula E. Although I worked on the CBS Sports Network Formula E coverage in 2022, those broadcasts were all done either from my house or from whatever event I was covering stateside on a given weekend. This past weekend was, therefore, a chance to meet for the first time my broadcast colleagues and the teams and drivers I am covering.
It also was a chance to visit a new race track, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and to experience the oft-lauded passion of Mexican motorsports fans in person for the first time. Neither disappointed. The track itself was what you would expect from a modern Formula 1 venue with first-class amenities and infrastructure but unlike many modern circuits it mercifully lacked the sterility of many of the newly-built F1 tracks.
A statue of the eponymous Rodriguez brothers, Pedro and Ricardo, situated above the pit lane is an instant reminder that this track has heritage, while the twisting section of the track that snakes through the old Foro Sol baseball stadium makes for a festive environment more akin to a soccer match then a typical race day crowd. I took a stroll around the paddock in the hour leading up to the race and the fervor of the massive crowd in the Foro Sol made a distinct impression on me. They were loud, they were enthusiastic, and they were clearly very excited to be there. It was a race day environment unlike anything I have experienced anywhere else.
After my pre-race tour of the paddock it was time to get to work. I settled into the broadcast booth, which was located in the pit lane in one of the spare garages, alongside former driver and team manager James Rossiter. James has a sharp eye, and though he was new to television, he was immensely helpful in conveying the story of the race to the audience. Formula E is full of strategy quirks (Attack Mode, energy conservation, etc.) not seen in other forms of racing, and James' experience as both driver and strategist was invaluable. Although the two of us had not met until the day before the race, I found our conversations to be easy and fluid both on and off air, and hopefully that came through on the broadcast to the viewers at home.
The race itself was a tame affair by Formula E standards. Pascal Wehrlein and Porsche scored pole on Saturday morning and went on to win handily, only briefly headed in the Attack Mode shuffles early in the race. Porsche has had no shortage of success in Formula E at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez; it was the third-straight win at the track for a Porsche-powered driver. Wehrlein now has a pair of wins and an additional podium to go along with three pole positions at the venue.
What was surprising about the result was that Wehrlein alone from the Porsche contingent was in contention for a podium result. His teammate Antonio Felix da Costa and the Porsche-powered Andretti teammates Jake Dennis and Norman Nato never featured at the front of the field. Dennis and Nato propped up the Top 10 in ninth and tenth, while da Costa suffered through a miserable weekend that saw him solidly outclassed by his teammate in much the same way he was last season. Many more weekends like that and the pressure on da Costa, who was barred from racing sports cars this year by Porsche in order to maximize his performance in Formula E, will surely start to rise.
Outside of the Porsche camp, the strength of the Jaguar-powered teams and the struggles of the returning former champion Nyck de Vries struck me as the most notable. But for a slow start to the season a year ago, Jaguar's Mitch Evans and Jaguar-customer Envision Racing's Nick Cassidy could well have headed Jake Dennis for the Season 9 drivers title. Those two drivers now are teammates at the factory squad and while neither they nor their Envision racing brethren won the E-Prix, they scored significant points in stark contrast to the start of the season last year. My dangerously early prediction for the season ahead: the path to the title goes through Jaguar.
As for de Vries, his star-crossed foray with Formula 1 will surely have left him eager to get back to regularly winning races and standing on podiums in Formula E like he did in Season 7 en route to a championship. The trouble is, the Mahindra Racing team he has joined does not seem to have a package anywhere near what is required to make that a reality. Barring a major leap in form, it looks as though de Vries' best chance at regaining his championship-winning form will be in the FIA WEC where he has signed on with Toyota.
Formula E heads off to Saudi Arabia in under two weeks for a doubleheader event but the next CBS broadcast — of which I will be a part — will be from Tokyo at the end of March. Between now and then I'll have an extended trip to Florida for Porsche Sprint Challenge at Sebring and IndyCar's curtain raiser at St. Petersburg at the beginning of March, at which point the season will be in full-swing. It can't get here soon enough!
Something to Chew On
My dinner Saturday night in Mexico City falls squarely in the Top 10 meals I've ever eaten. If you are vegan or vegetarian this recommendation is probably not for you, but if you share my carnivorous bent then I wholeheartedly recommend Sonora Prime in the Condessa district. The portions are impressive. When the menu says an item “serves two”, you and your table mate had best have brought your appetite! Our table of six ended up sharing a massive, 38 oz. bone-in tomahawk steak, two orders of the brisket tacos, and a selection of sides and appetizers. The steak was served sizzling on a heated stone plate which kept the meat hot for the entire meal. As delicious as the steak was, though, it was the brisket that stole the show. The meat had been slow-cooked for 24 hours and was everything a brisket should be. It was served in a large stoneware bowl with a delicious xoconostle sauce, guacamole, and tortillas to make into tacos. Along with our sides of asparagus, truffle fries, and chips and dips, it made for a marvelous meal to wrap up the weekend.
Sonora Prime has multiple locations in Mexico, the location I visited being the one located at Durango #205, Col. Roma Norte, CDMX. CP 06700.