Former Mexican driver Adrián Fernández was appointed today as ‘ambassador’ of the Mexican Formula One Grand Prix together with Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi to promote the scoring event to be held on October 30.
«It is the greatest recognition of my career. I achieved much more than I could have dreamed of “, declared Fernández when reviewing his career during the ceremony at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Fernández, 53, and Fittipaldi, the 1972 and 1974 Formula One world champion, will participate in the social events leading up to the event, the organizers explained today.
Fernández revealed that although he never achieved his goal of reaching Formula One, he had serious negotiations with the Tyrrel team, but preferred to bet on a stable career in the American Cart and IndyCar series.
“I could have gotten on a Tyrrel, but I knew that if I made the team, my career (in Formula 1) would be from start to start, and the future in the Cart Series was more promising,” he explained.
The Mexican was runner-up in the Cart Series in 2000, the best of his seasons, and in his career he accumulated eleven victories and 25 podiums in American single-seaters between 1933 and 2004.
Fernández founded his own team, Fernandez Racing, in the United States, which promoted his compatriots Sergio Pérez, from Force India, and Esteban Gutiérrez, from Haas, to Formula One.
“Hopefully my career can be an example for many more generations and not only for motor racing but for other sports and for people in general,” Fernández said today.
“My closest point to get to F1 was Tyrrel, but a few years ago a friend in Switzerland invited me to the Mugello circuit, Italy, for a few laps in a 2003 Ferrari, driven by German Michael Schumacher, and then I can say that if I drove a Formula One, “he concluded. EFE