Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez, Force India, Circuit of the Americas, 2017

Miami to hold first of F1’s new pre-race driver introduction ceremonies

2023 Miami Grand Prix

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A new pre-race driver introduction ceremony will take place for the first time ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.

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Formula 1 previously experimented with a presentation of this kind at the United States Grand Prix in 2017. However RaceFans understands a different ceremony is planned for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.

Last week the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved changes to the F1 sporting regulations to allow more time for drivers to assemble on the grid prior to the start of the race. The pre-race grid procedure now begins 50 minutes before the start of the formation lap instead of 40 minutes ahead.

“At certain races, this additional time will be used for the presentation of the drivers to the fans,” the FIA noted.

Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix is due to begin at 3:30pm local time. The driver introduction and national anthem observance will take place at 3:08pm.

Miami’s grid was one of the season’s busiest last year
F1 never repeated the driver introduction ceremony it introduced at the Circuit of the Americas in 2017, the first year after Liberty Media took over the series.

Famed boxing announcer Michael Buffer was enlisted to announce each of the 20 drivers in turn as they walked to the grid, while performers in race suits appeared on the pit building behind them. Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, who led the points standings going into the race and qualified on the front row of the grid, stood opposite each other in front of the drivers’ championship trophy.

This weekend’s race will be the second to take place at the Miami International Autodrome and is the first of three American rounds on the 2023 F1 calendar. Further details of the new-look driver introduction ceremony will be confirmed in the run-up to Sunday’s race.

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2023 Miami Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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25 comments on “Miami to hold first of F1’s new pre-race driver introduction ceremonies”

  1. Dex
    3rd May 2023, 12:30

    All the same to me, I don’t watch the ceremonies, not even post race anymore. Way too scripted and no one who’s doing them enjoys it, so how could I…

    1. Laz
      3rd May 2023, 12:52

      I agree I used to watch all this stuff from watching the cars arrive at the grid and post race ceremonies, but they’ve lost a lot of their appeal to me.

  2. Proesterchen_nli
    3rd May 2023, 12:31

    Finally! I can’t wait to see all my future personal heros without their helmets for the first time! 👍

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    Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
    3rd May 2023, 12:47

    I’m surprised they haven’t got Mel Brooks to script it in order to appeal to a wider USA audience.

    Who cares about a boring old race when we could watch Lewis and Max eating beans with all the ensuing hilarity that that would lead too!

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      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      3rd May 2023, 13:39

      @nullapax If that means we get the 2,000-year-old man’s national anthem over the usual ones, I’m in.

  4. Lyndamarks
    3rd May 2023, 12:57

    Even more reason to just tune in at the 5 minute intro and turn off as soon as the flag drops.

    It’s all too cringe and controlled now just as a lot of American sports entertainment tends to be.

    Saw something recently talking about how indycar bans drivers getting out the car and celebrating in victory lane until nbc comes back from an ad break which just makes all the celebrations seem contrived knowing they are not as immediate and in the moment as they used to be. Wonder how long it is until f1 has canned post race celebrations?

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      ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
      3rd May 2023, 15:55

      I agree with American sports presentation being cringey. It has definitely been seeping into F1 since the takeover but it could be a lot worse. Have you watched indycar? They actually cut the race to show adverts!! And the milk drinking is so repulsive.

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    DB-C90 (@dbradock)
    3rd May 2023, 12:57

    Probably with cheerleaders and Pom poms it’ll be soooooo exciting.

    And of course surveys will show it was a resounding success with the majority of fans saying it was a massively positive improvement to the weekend.

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      Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
      3rd May 2023, 19:17

      LOL. Do I detect just a touch of cynicism? :-)

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        DB-C90 (@dbradock)
        4th May 2023, 1:30

        Only a touch?

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    Tim (@tsgoodchild)
    3rd May 2023, 13:33

    Lets get ready to rumble.

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    ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
    3rd May 2023, 13:54

    Maybe add some fighter jets and twerking to, you know, spice up the show.

    1. melanos
      3rd May 2023, 19:08

      Fighter jets twerking? sounds like fun to watch

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        ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
        3rd May 2023, 23:49

        Whatever floats your boat…

  8. tielemst
    3rd May 2023, 14:11

    If it works for the american audience, why not. I guess it’s part of the driver’s jobs to do all kinds of stuff for promotion, so this will fit right in and gets the bills paid. It’s not for me, but I saw a few people dressed up as Spiderman descending down ropes to present the football in Real Madrid’s match yesterday. I stopped to ask myself why these things are there, they just are and I can mostly ignore them.

  9. Stu
    3rd May 2023, 14:35

    All the more reason to just tune in for lights out, this is all just becoming a bit too cringey for my taste, the actual race is just becoming a side show to the celebs and the buildup

  10. Gary
    3rd May 2023, 16:25

    Yeah, because how are you supposed to know who are the 20 F1 drivers w/o driver introductions?

  11. Alan Dove
    3rd May 2023, 16:38

    If Max came out being carried on a throne ala Tyson Fury, I could buy into this. Of his own volition of course.

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    raddie (@raddie)
    3rd May 2023, 17:02

    It’s gonna be a useless comedy again!

  13. SteveM
    3rd May 2023, 17:43

    Can you imagine going to an F1 race (at today’s ticket prices) and not actually knowing every single driver on the grid?

    When my son was 3, maybe 4 years old (10 years ago), I could show him a picture of each of the cars on the grid and he would give the surname of both drivers in that team!

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    Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
    3rd May 2023, 18:51

    and in Qatar, they’ll introduce the crowd to the drivers.

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    Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
    3rd May 2023, 19:21

    This kind of indicates to me that this weekend’s event might not be aimed at the traditional F1 fan (who may just possibly know all of the drivers!). Just anyone crazy enough to part with very large sums of money to say they were there.

    So Liberty, so American sports hype. Yuk!

  16. Rick
    3rd May 2023, 23:22

    Wait a minute.. they already did this last year with the WWE like presentation.

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    ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
    3rd May 2023, 23:52

    Has anyone heard what odds they are offering on this being a complete embarrassment?

  18. David B
    4th May 2023, 3:47

    Everything off-track at last years race was cringeworthy & everything on track was dull. I guess they’re doubling down on that.

Comments are closed.