Motorsport Bookmakers Keep Tabs on New Mexican Grand Prix Award

The weekend will see the Mexican Grand Prix celebrate its 70^th anniversary. And helping to celebrate the big milestone will be motorsport bookmakers and none other than legendary race car driver Sir Jackie Stewart. Stewart will be gifting the fastest driver on Saturday with a helmet of F1 legend Juan Manuel Fangio.

The helmet is a special one as it’s a certified replica of the very same one worn by Fangio when he secured his first world title.

General Manager of the Mexican GP, Federico Gonzalez Compean, announced the special treat as part of the lineup on the event’s official website one the weekend. Compean said Fangio is a “true” ambassador and representative of Formula 1 – not only in Latin America but also around the world. He said he felt sure any driver would adore being able to add such an iconic piece of F1 history to their collection, and fans at new betting sites are watching closely to see who will take the prize.

Also commenting on the big give-away had been Juan Jose Carli, who is the president of the Fangio Foundation. He described Fangio to be one of the top drivers in the history of F1, while adding that the foundation considers it a great honour to award the helmet to the pole champion on Saturday.

F1 Says About Yellow Flags

Formula 1 has in the meantime confirmed that it will continue to use double yellow flag deletions when the action returns to Mexico on the weekend.

The concept first emerged after widespread unhappiness following Fernando Alonso’s sanction-escape in Turkey despite allegations of him having failed to slow down sufficiently under double-yellows.

The FIA then went on to trial the system in Texas. Double yellow flag deletions create automatic deletions of lap-times in practice as well as qualifying rounds for drivers who pass through double yellow zones. The rule hopes to put to rest any possible debates about whether a driver had sufficiently reduced speed under certain circumstances and makes wagering at motorsport bookmakers all the more fun.

Positive Response In Texas

FIA race director Michael Masi in his notes issued ahead of the skirmish at Mexico stress the need for drivers passing underneath a double waved yellow marshalling area to significantly reduce their speed as if they were preparing either for a stop or a change of direction.

The new rule was welcomed by most in Texas and by motorsport bookmakers. Masi welcomed the response, saying it had certainly worked well the first time it happened to be applied to a real race instead of just in theory. As such, Masi said it would be carried over into the proceedings in Mexico and new betting sites will be sure to adjust their odds accordingly.