Formula 1 returns to You love me, the first of the Grands Prix to be held in the USA. Then will come those of the “Circuit of the Americas” in Austin, Texas, and the other from Las Vegas on the well-known “Strip” in the State of Nevada.
Since the early 1980s, with the first Formula 1 boom in the United States of America, Miami has always tried to get onto the calendar. But all his attempts were a failure.
Gli organizzatori dell’epoca proposero per l’evento l’area del Bayfront Park, nei pressi di Miami Beach, con un circuito semipermanente per strappare un accordo per tre anni con Bernie Ecclestone. Ma, per diverse ragioni, il patto non fu mai stipulato rimanendo una suggestione che negli anni non s’è realmente spenta.
Almost 40 years later, in 2018, with the change of ownership of the holders of the commercial rights of the top flight (from Bernie Ecclestone to Liberty Media), discussions began again about a match to be held in Miami.
The city, with its promoters, initially proposed a semi-permanent circuit near the port. Precisely in the Port Miami area, but many technical difficulties immediately arose.
On 18 April 2021, with the moving of the location near the Hard Rock Stadium, to Miami Gardens, a suburb of around 110 thousand inhabitants of the city in the State of Florida about 25km from the centre, a ten-year agreement was announced to finally play a Formula 1 Grand Prix from 2022 to 2032.
The Hard Rock Stadium is an 80,000-seat multi-sports facility, renovated in 2015, which currently hosts the Miami Dolphins American football team and where, this year, some America's Cup football matches will be hosted. Including the final.
In 2026 it will host some matches of the "United 2026" World Football Championship which will take place in the three North American countries, Canada, the United States and Mexico. Since 2019, it has hosted the prestigious ATP tennis tournament, the Miami Open, won this year by our compatriot Jannik Sinner.
Gp Miami: the circuit
The layout of the circuit was chosen from more than 75 proposed designs and is officially presented with the name "Miami International Autodrome".
The track, as mentioned a semi-permanent one, was created in the stadium car park. Precisely from approximately 26,000 stalls, where the various structures such as barriers and fences, on days when there is no Grand Prix, are removed.
The plant was built so as not to cause inconvenience to the nearby population. It is 5.412 km long and consists of 19 curves: 7 on the right and 12 on the left interspersed with 3 long straights and the same number of DRS zones.
To date, two Grands Prix have been held, both won by world champion Max Verstappen's Red Bull.
This year it will host the second Sprint Race of the year and Ferrari, to celebrate 60 years of the “North American Racing Team", abbreviated with the acronym "NART", will have its drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz wear blue and chromatically similar overalls helmets which recall that unrepeatable season. There are currently no details on a possible color change of the two SF-24s.
GP Miami: the criticisms
Compared to the other street circuits currently present in the F1 calendar such as Monte Carlo, Baku, Singapore and Las Vegas which actually have their own very specific identity, the Miami Grand Prix has nothing peculiar. He doesn't seem to be a son of Miami to put it simply.
In the collective imagination, Miami is represented as a hot, muggy, humid, sunny city, characterized by beaches washed by the Atlantic accompanied by Cuban and Caribbean rhythms.
As a fan of the world of audiovisual entertainment, just think of cult films such as “Scarface” by Brian De Palma with Al Pacino or the buddy-movie quadrilogy, “Bad Boys” with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Or, again, going to the small screen, to the legendary series by director Michael Mann of the late 80s, “Miami Vice”. Continuing with the more recent “Dexter” or “Ballers” series.
On a gaming level, for people of my generation, Miami is represented in the well-known Rockstar Games video game, "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City", the fourth chapter of the successful "GTA" saga.
Arriving at the Miami International Autodrome, beyond the Hard Rock Stadium, the only thing worthy of note, there is an immense panorama of gray asphalt, with the various highways and the streets of Miami Gardens reigning supreme. It's called "Miami", but it could easily be a suburb of any city in the world.
The promoters, to overcome this "greyness", have chosen to install yachts, between turns 6 and turn 8, which "float" in an artificial basin. In the true sense of the word since it is fake water. They mimic the boats seen in the port area of Monte Carlo or Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi.
Tra la curva 11 e 13, invece, sono state installate delle piscine con acqua vera: lettini, ombrelloni e una struttura simile ad un’hospitality fanno capolino in quell’area ostentatamente fasulla.
Attorno al circuito, poi, sono state collocate delle funivie per migliorare il trasporto degli spettatori da una parte all’altra dell’impianto. Probabilmente l’unica cosa davvero utile in questa pista che è un inno all’anonimato.
L’area dove sorge il circuito è soggetta a meteo variabile, uragani ed alluvioni. L’anno scorso, appena 3 settimane prima del Gran Premio, la pista è stata vittima di una forte inondazione che avrebbe potuto minare l’evento. Ma gli organizzatori e le autorità lavorarono alacremente – va dato loro merito – per riparare i danni, provocati dall’acqua ed il Gran Premio si tenne regolarmente.
GP Miami: the future
After the successes of the night city Grands Prix in Singapore, Jeddah and Las Vegas, the organizers are thinking of having a moonlight Grand Prix in Miami too. And some spotlights. The race would be held on Saturday, as is the case in Las Vegas, to allow European fans to follow the event on Sunday morning.
In addition to Miami, Melbourne and Madrid, which will host a Grand Prix starting from 2026 around the fairgrounds of the Spanish capital, are also studying the possibility of having a night race in what now seems to be a new fixed point established by Liberty Average.
Perché questa gara non mi va a genio? Non avrei problemi se si chiamasse “Gran Premio di Miami Gardens” o “Gran Premio della Florida”. Purtroppo è stato denominato “Gran Premio di Miami” e della tipicità del luogo non v’è nulla. Sarebbe stato più corretto definirlo il “Gran Premio della pubblicità ingannevole”.
To paraphrase the title of the famous film by Massimo Troisi, “I thought it was Miami, but it was Miami Gardens”.
Crediti foto: Miami GP
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