Mexico City, October 25th
For the final race of what has been a fascinating year of Grand Prix racing the action moved southwards down the North American continent to Mexico City. Although the local racing scene is not as active as it is in the more wealthy North American countries, or in places like the Argentine or Brazil, there was certainly no lack of enthusiasm. This culminated in some incredible scenes before the race when the vast 200,000 crowd became totally out of control. But more of that later.
Although there were no fewer than 27 Formula One cars assembled at Watkins Glen, the Mexican organisers had said earlier in the season that their budget was limited and they could only afford 18 cars. This was fair enough; the only problem was that the organisers were somewhat reluctant to inform the teams who were to be the unlucky ones.