City councillors have passed the resolution that should clear the way for Miami Gardens to become the latest host city of a Formula 1 grand prix in 2022.
The mayor and city council met yesterday to decide on the latest proposals for a street race, and agree on a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ that lays out what Liberty Media and Stephen Ross, owner of the Hard Rock Stadium where the proposed circuit will be located, must do for their event to go ahead.The list of provisions that F1 will now be bound to in their planning and running of the event include infrastructure and financial commitments.
The first of these is that the circuit should not use Northwest 199th Street or N.W. 27th Avenue, the two nearest major roads to the stadium which run immediately south and west of it.
The resolution also states “no race shall start: (a) prior to 2:30pm (ET) on any weekday on which public schools are in session prior to 2:30pm (ET); or (b) after sunset in city on any day will be permitted”, which may have a bearing on Friday practice session times for an eventual grand prix weekend. The event promoter must also ensure “noise mitigation barriers of industry quality shall be erected on the north side of any section of the track adjacent to the Snake Creek Canal” to protect nearby residents.
Promoters will also provide discounted tickets to the grand prix for locals, allowing nearby restaurants to provide catering services to fans “without a buyout fee” at the event, invest in the F1 in Schools programme and provide at least five paid event internships.
These measures have not proven popular locally, particularly the $5 million figure. But the support of mayor Rodney Harris means the race has taken a significant step closer to becoming reality. An official announcement is expected in the near future.
F1 intends to hold a record 23 grands prix this year, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. If next year’s calendar is just as busy, Miami will face considerable competition for a slot.
The championship previously had an agreement in principle to hold a Miami race in May 2021. If a similar slot is chosen next year, the event could run back-to-back with another North American round at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada.
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Jim
15th April 2021, 11:29
Pls no. No one wants another parking lot “race.”
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
15th April 2021, 11:33
Meh.
Having a season of 20+ races on circuits which all look & feel very similar with very similar characteristics that have no character of there own isn’t a positive.
You go back say 20+ years & you had a 16/17 race season with a diverse range of circuits which all had there own look, Characteristics & challenges. Now everything just looks/feels very samey & even some of the classic tracks have been ‘updated’ to fall in line with modern circuit design & I feel like a lot of them have lost some of the character they once had.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
15th April 2021, 11:51
Surely the show would be so much better if they held one on the streets of San Francisco.
Just imagine the excitement of cars flying though the air over all those big humps and all the sparks they ghouls generate from their special titanium blocks.
The Hollywood types and drive to survive would go just ballistic with excitement.
And before someone writes about practicalities and hills, it’s a joke people… (or is it )
ColdFly (@)
15th April 2021, 12:22
As long as they include Lombard Street, I’m all for it joke or not, @dbradock.
Carbonized
15th April 2021, 13:00
Why a third South American GP? They should move it to Havana for authenticity’s sake! ;)
Khurt Louis Williams
15th April 2021, 13:44
If F1 can tie into the classic car culture of Cuba, a race in Havana would be exciting.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
15th April 2021, 12:54
@dbradock Rather that then a pubs car park.
Jere (@jerejj)
15th April 2021, 12:55
Where would Miami realistically fit in on the schedule? Either being at Canadian GP time or the US-Mexico one would require moving one or more events to create enough gap.
Limiting the weekday window between 14:30 and sunset means Friday might have to feature a single practice session.
Joshua Miles (@milesy-jam)
15th April 2021, 14:02
I thought exactly about the Friday timetable as well. Practice 1 would probably go from 2:30pm to 3:30pm (6:30pm GMT) with the normal 2.5 hour gap before P2 at 6-7pm (10pm GMT). Sunset in Miami at that May/June time of year that is likely wouldn’t be an issue at about 8:30pm. As they wouldn’t want to have Qualifying and the race at 10pm or later in the UK and Europe, its probably likely that we could see a very different Saturday/Sunday schedule compared to Friday.
Jere (@jerejj)
15th April 2021, 17:39
@milesy-jam The sunset times in May and June are earlier than 20:30, but FP1 at 14:30-15:30 and FP2 at 18:00-19:00 wouldn’t be a problem. More than an hour if the race took place seven days before Canada. October would be a different matter, though.
Mark in Florida
15th April 2021, 13:28
Liberty has to go the free handout route to get the race in? Miami is so screwed up politically it’s the old give us money or else. I hope that it falls through in the end myself. The layout of the track isn’t very interesting anyway. What a waste of time trying to deal with Miami.
David Knowling
15th April 2021, 16:37
Congrats Miami!
Kenny Schachat (@partofthepuzzle)
16th April 2021, 18:12
Everyone wants a race in Miami… except F1 fans and Miami residents! This boondoggle has some kind of shady back room money deal written all over it. Every time it looks like the F1 ownership are finally getting their heads on straight they come out with something like this. The thing that bothers me the most is that all of this time and effort and money being wasted for Miami when there are so many other great possibilities for a much needed 2nd U.S. GP.