Mexico City GP signs extension to stay on F1 calendar to 2028 and mayor hints at longer deal

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexico City Grand Prix will remain on the F1 calendar through at least the 2028 season after a three-year contract extension was announced on Wednesday, and the city's mayor said negotiations are ongoing for an even longer deal.

With the contract for the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit set to expire at the end of this season, the organizers and local authorities needed to get a deal done.

“This (contract) does not mean that it is the end of it, we needed to secure those dates, but early next year we will have good news regarding the continuity of this wonderful event for years to come in Mexico City,” mayor Clara Brugada said at a press conference.

Mexico first hosted an F1 championship race in 1963 and has been on the calendar every year since 2015, excluding 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Formula 1 has a deep tradition in this country, it is part of the history of several generations that saw these cars run and have seen the sport evolve to become one of the most important competitions in the world," Brugada said.

The extension comes as F1 experiments with rotating some established off-schedule slots in alternate years to meet demand for new hosts outside of Europe.

Mexico also fits in with F1’s plans to reduce travel by scheduling back-to-back races in the same regions of the world. This year, it’s part of a four-race series in the Americas, in October and November. The others are in Sao Paulo, Las Vegas, and Austin, Texas.

“It is an important day for Formula 1, Mexico is an incredible country and that is the reason for staying together for the next years,” Formula 1 president and chief executive Stefano Domenicali said.

This June, NASCAR will hold its first modern-era international points-based race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez track, and IndyCar is in talks to hold an event there.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

FILE - Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz of Spain celebrates after winning the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

FILE - Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz of Spain celebrates after winning the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

FILE - Fans take photos and videos of the podium ceremony for the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

FILE - Carlos Sainz, of Spain, steers his Ferrari followed by Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France during the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

FILE - Dancers perform during a drivers parade before the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix auto race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers on Tuesday gave final passage to a bill that aims to void a city of Savannah ordinance that imposes fines and possible jail time for leaving guns in unlocked cars.

The state Senate gave final approval to the measure, which says cities and counties can't regulate how guns are stored. It also lets gun owners sue local governments who impose any such rules in violation of state law, collecting at least $25,000 in damages if they win.

Senate Bill 204 now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp's desk for his signature or veto.

Mayor Van Johnson and Savannah’s city council voted unanimously in 2024 to outlaw keeping firearms in unlocked vehicles, with maximum penalties of a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail. They said the law would make it harder for criminals to steal guns in a state where lawmakers have widely abolished restrictions on owning and carrying firearms.

But the rules have left gun rights advocates fuming, saying that the city is in effect punishing gun owners who had their guns stolen.

“Ultimately what Savannah was doing was regulating citizens' right to have a gun in their car,” former state Sen. Colton Moore, a Republican from Trenton, told The Associated Press. “Their car was getting broken into, and they were going from a victim of a crime now to being a criminal. And that’s what we don’t want to happen going forward.”

Moore resigned from the Senate Tuesday after the bill passed because he filed to run for the congressional seat left vacant by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation.

Johnson said Tuesday that if Kemp signs the bill into law, the city will stop issuing citations.

“Obviously we’re going to comply with the law,” Johnson said in a phone interview with the AP. “So should the governor sign it, we won’t enforce that ordinance anymore. But there might be other ordinances that come forth.”

He declined to say what other type of gun safety measure city officials might consider.

Johnson, a Democrat and former police officer, has touted the gun ordinance as a way to make gun owners act responsibly without infringing on their rights to own or carry firearms. He said Tuesday that the number of gun thefts from unlocked vehicles reported to Savannah police had dropped 30% since the ordinance took effect.

“It’s a sad thing that the General Assembly says over 200 guns stolen from unlocked vehicles is OK,” the mayor said.

Georgia law already prohibits city and county governments from regulating firearm “possession, ownership, transport, carrying, transfer, sale, purchase (or) licensing.”

Savannah city officials have insisted since the gun ordinance took effect that they were regulating storage of firearms, something the state law didn’t explicitly forbid. State lawmakers changed that by adding the word “storage” to the existing law.

Gun control advocates said lawmakers were wrong to preempt Savannah's ordinance.

“Time and time again, young people in this state are told that our safety isn’t a priority. But this bill takes it a step further by actually punishing the cities that are stepping up to protect us when our state lawmakers won’t,” Nolan Tanner said in a statement. He is a volunteer with the chapter of Students Demand Action at Jenkins High School in Savannah.

In November, a Chatham County Recorder’s Court judge threw out the case of a man cited for violating the Savannah gun ordinance, ruling that it violates state law and the U.S. Constitution.

However, that ruling only applied to the case of the defendant who challenged the gun ordinance as part of his criminal defense. Johnson said at the time the city would keep enforcing it.

Johnson also said he is not worried about the additional legal liability and potential fines spelled out in the bill.

"I don’t believe it could be retroactive,” he said.

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.

Republican Colton Moore, who resigned from the state Senate to run for Congress, poses for a photo outside the Georgia Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

FILE - Mayor Van Johnson speaks at a news conference, March 11, 2020, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum, File)