More foreigners will come to see the Mexico Grand Prix this year

Twenty drivers from 10 teams will be aiming for the checkered flag at this weekend’s Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City.

Three practice sessions will be held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez race track starting Friday before qualifying Saturday afternoon and the main event Sunday.

High numbers of foreign motorsport fans, especially from the United States, will be on hand to watch the event, the third-last of the 21-race season.

Data from StubHub, an online ticketing company, shows that the U.S. fans will make up 22% of all spectators at the grand prix, up from 14.9% last year.

In contrast, the percentage of Mexican fans at the event will decrease to 71% of the total number of attendees from 79% last year.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is leading the 2018 Drivers Championship coming into this weekend’s event and if he finishes anywhere in the top seven, the Brit will wrap up the title in the Mexican capital on Sunday.

The two Ferrari drivers, German Sebastian Vettel and Finn Kimi Räikkönen, are in second and third place respectively.

Sergio Pérez, a 28-year-old Guadalajara native who drives for the Force India team, is currently in eighth place. His best result at the Mexican grand prix was in last year’s race when he finished seventh.

The 2018 Mexican Gran Prix will be the 20th edition of the race. Formula 1 was first held in Mexico in 1962 as a non-championship event before becoming an official race between 1963 and 1970 and 1986 and 1992.

The Mexican Grand Prix returned in 2015 and this year’s race will be the penultimate of a five-year deal.

Dutch driver Max Verstappen won last year’s event for the Red Bull team.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to see Formula 4, Porsche Cup and Carrera Panamericana races as a prelude to Sunday’s F1 race, which is scheduled to start at 1:10pm.

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)