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The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is a motor-racing circuit in Mexico City, named in honour of the brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez, two of the country's most celebrated racing drivers, both of whom died young in motorsport accidents. Opened in 1959 and laid out within the sporting complex of the Magdalena Mixhuca, the track has a long and storied history, having hosted the Mexican Grand Prix on and off since the early 1960s and again in the modern era, when Formula One returned to a renovated version of the circuit. Set at a high altitude of more than two thousand metres above sea level, the thinner air presents a distinctive challenge to cars and engines, while the circuit's most famous feature is the stadium section, where the track threads through a former baseball stadium, the Foro Sol, allowing huge crowds to watch the cars pass at close range in an electric atmosphere unmatched on the racing calendar. Beyond Formula One, the venue hosts other motorsport, concerts and events, and the surrounding park offers further sporting facilities. The Mexican Grand Prix held here is renowned for its passionate, festive crowds and has repeatedly been voted among the best events of the racing season, making the circuit a major sporting landmark of the capital. The Rodriguez brothers after whom the circuit is named were national heroes of the 1960s, prodigiously talented drivers who competed at the highest levels of the sport; Ricardo died in practice for the Mexican Grand Prix in 1962 at the age of just twenty, and Pedro was killed racing in Germany in 1971, and the renaming of the track honours their memory. The Mexican Grand Prix held here in the 1960s and 1980s was the scene of famous races, and after a long absence Formula One returned in 2015 to a comprehensively rebuilt circuit, since when the event has consistently been among the most popular on the calendar, celebrated for the fervour of its crowds. The high altitude of the site, well over two thousand metres, thins the air and tests the cooling and aerodynamics of the cars in ways found nowhere else, while the stadium section, where the track loops through a former baseball stadium packed with spectators, creates an atmosphere of extraordinary intensity as the cars pass within metres of the stands. Beyond motor racing, the venue stages major concerts and other events, and it sits within a large sports park. As a stage for one of the most atmospheric races in the world, the Autodromo is a notable landmark of the capital.
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