Mexico City is moving ever closer to a place on the F1 calendar with Bernie Ecclestone confirming talks are underway.
The North American country, which last hosted a grand prix in 1992, has been hinting at a return to Formula One since before 2005, but nothing came after the early discussions, however bookmakers like Paddy Power are now suggesting the return is likely.
Officials initially wanted to host the race at the beach resort of Cancun, but Ecclestone says they failed to get permission.
"We were going to do a race in Cancun. We had a contract but they couldn't get the permission they wanted," he told Autoweek.
It appears Mexico City's Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez will be the venue should the country make a return, much to Ecclestone's relief.
"Mexico City is a better place to hold the race than Cancun," the Formula One supremo said.
"In more or less any city around the world you could ask people 'where is Mexico City?' and they would say Mexico. If you said to somebody where is Cancun they would say 'I don't know.'"
Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, who is one of the richest man in the world and a reported fan of F1 betting, has on several occasions been linked with F1's return to the country, but Ecclestone insists the telecom mogul won't be pumping cash into the project.
"Everybody thinks that Carlos Slim is going to pay the bills for the race but I know he's not," he said.
