Miami Hard Rock Stadium proposal

Miami tweaks proposed car park-based Hard Rock Stadium F1 circuit

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: Promoters of a potential 2021 F1 race in Miami have revised their planned layout for the circuit based in a car park around the Hard Rock Stadium.

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Romain Grosjean was the subject of the first instalment of our new driver performance analysis series yesterday. Will the 2020 F1 season be a crucial one for him?

Grosjean has maybe one more full season, if that, to put in a convincing performance.

I like the guy and agree he has had a lot of bad luck. But 2018 and 2019 were bad, I think this year should be his last chance. He needs to shine this year, or he’s out.
Allstargp

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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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39 comments on “Miami tweaks proposed car park-based Hard Rock Stadium F1 circuit”

  1. Luke Longnecker
    22nd January 2020, 2:17

    I actually think that’s a pretty solid layout.

    Much better than the typical Tilkedrome.

    1. I agree, and just comparing the top down view much better than Zaandvort.

  2. Brenton Vogelsang
    22nd January 2020, 4:57

    I cannot think of a proposed F1 Venue design format that I could like less, than a Car Park GP. Does nobody in F1 Liberty Media management remember the Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas Nevada JOKE of a Event long ago?

  3. Miami layout looking weak. Grosjean? What a likeable young driver…

    1. I actually think it looks pretty decent in this version. What in particular don’t you like about it?

      1. Car park

        1. It’s not Caesar’s Palace in the early ‘80’s. Now that was awful.

      2. @exediron It’s not a bad track design apart from the chicane leading to the back straight. it’s the worst piece of track design on a modern track(if it’ll be built). even worse than Abu Dhabi and that one’s hopeless

        1. Maybe that should resemble the corkscrew as they have to cross an elevated road and also want to keep the speed low given they are heading the waterfront.

      3. @exediron My issue with it is that it’s yet another flat, featureless cookie cutter car park circuit.

        It’s a style of circuit we already have a few too many of which all have near identical characteristics & no character of there own because there all built around the same template.

        I just sort of miss the days where you could see a new circuit design where it actually offered something different & interesting, Where they didn’t all follow the same sort of template, Where you had a bit more overall variety & ended up with circuits that had some actual character which helped them look/feel different. Everything just looks/feels far too similar nowadays.

        1. If this track is so cookie cutter which other current track is similar? Your assertion is nonsense.

          This is a good track with 3 strong overtaking opportunities per lap. This is as good a temporary circuit as CGV.

          The tracks that need improvement the most are Albert park, Barcelona, Monaco, Paul Ricard, Singapore. This track is easily better than all those.

          1. Monaco cannot be modified. By its very nature it is outdated for F1 and has been for decades, yet somehow F1 still races there, I guess because the sponsors like it and it is the most important race on the calendar. Barcelona could do away with that chicane before the last corner (pre-2007 layout), and Ricard could also do away with the chicane on the straight and make the first two corners faster. Albert Park could also be faster, and Singapore… I don’t know. But then there are circuits like Sochi, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain that could be modified but would still be hopeless.

          2. @megatron I think we’re looking at it from 2 different viewpoints.

            You seem to be looking at it just from the view of overtaking while i’m looking at it from a more traditional viewpoint of how interesting a circuit it is in terms of character, been fun to drive & fun to watch cars driving around.

            I say this is cookie cutter because it follows the same sort of layout as a lot of the newer circuits do. Long straight, Slow corner, Slow fiddly stadium type section next to a grandstand & no doubt a lot of off-camber corners. It’s the same basic template as Valencia, Sochi, Vietnam etc… & just as flat/featureless.

            The tracks that need improvement the most are Albert park, Barcelona, Monaco, Paul Ricard, Singapore. This track is easily better than all those.

            I disagree with the exception of Paul Ricard I think the other tracks are all easily better than this because they are all fun to drive, Fun to watch cars driving around, have a unique character & all offer different challenges to other venues.

            True some of them aren’t always good in terms of producing tons of overtakes but that has never been an issue for me because i’ve never been that overly-focused just on overtaking.

      4. @exediron No elevation, no flow, nothing, absolutely nothing different. So it adds nothing except extraneous ‘venue’. Which in turn adds absolutely nothing to the actual race.

        1. It looks fairly fast, so there’s always that. Silverstone is flat and featureless but it makes up for that by being very fast.

          1. Silverstone isn’t great simply because it’s fast. It’s great because the place has history, character, offers a real challenge for car/driver (Which is why pretty much all the drivers love it), Has a great flow to it & has some of the best corners of any circuit on the calendar…. Corners which some of the newer circuits have tried to copy.

      5. I agree, I like it, although I must admit I know next to nothing about race tracks. Maybe they could get rid of that small chicane on the far right hand side, but maybe that’s a good thing too.

  4. These guys in Miami… they just don’t have a clue…

    1. What are you talking about?

    2. So offer some suggestions.

  5. LOL to the Miami-case.

    I share the same sentiments as the COTD.

  6. I’ve never known F1 to bend over backwards for a venue in the way that it is doing for Miami. The sport is bigger than Miami. The world is bigger than Miami. The people there don’t want a race, if this plan fails they should move on.

    1. @geemac – good point, well said. I think part of it is also because Liberty wants the “two GPs in a country” idea to lead on from the US.

  7. Honestly shocked that I made COD – never thought I would receive that honour! Thanks, Keith!

    (I’m being serious. I’ve screenshotted it and plan on printing/framing)

    1. It does feel great. I’ve taken screenshots of mine too, so you’re not alone. Enjoy 🙂

  8. Just for the record, the revised part of the Miami layout is the section starting at turn 4 that leads into the ‘straight’ at the bottom left of the image.

    So after turns 1 and 2 there is a long, long right hander which opens onto a straight I front of the stadium, which now leads into a crazy fast left-right-left sequence which then tightens up much like the penultimate turn at Sepang.

    So that section looks very exciting (for the drivers atleast). As for the rest of the circuit… Well unfortunately it’s a cleay a sibling of Sochi and Valencia. Not in a good way.

  9. Correction: the ‘straight’ at the bottom of the image has also been modified which takes it off 199th Street, as the image shows.

  10. I really don’t get this obsession with Miami.

    1. The minds have been made up and the saliva is dripping.
      Reminds of Ecclestone era decision-making. I hope they will have the presence of mind to pause and evaluate once more when they get presented with another subtle “eff off” message from Miami in-powers

    2. Miami is effectively the capital of Latin America, meaning it will draw fans from a wide area. Also, with great air links to Europe, fans from Europe could easily fly to this race. A lot of Spanish-speaking media is based in Miami as well. Plus, a lot of people from the NE and Central USA could fly or drive there. Heck, half of NY and NJ retire to the area! It makes a lot of sense if one wanted to expand the footprint of F1 in the USA. That said, I would rather see fewer, better races than a bloated calendar with additional street circuits. As an American, I would rather see COTA as one smashing success than have F1 event diluted by adding another one. Drop Russia, Abu Dhabi, Vietnam, and Azerbaijan first.

    3. @dermechaniker The only thing that could turn Miami into an interesting addition are the predicted sea level rises, leading to F1’s first semi-aquatic venue.

      1. —____—

  11. That Miami GP looks pretty good other than that chicane that leads into the back straight and that Montreal-like first section. That could cause problems. Now all they have to do is schedule this race with Austin, Mexico and Brazil.

  12. Why do most people here think that every circuit on the F1 calendar has to be Spa or the Nordschleife or Bathurst? These hilly, elevated, often mid-speed (not Spa) technically challenging circuits? Not every circuit should be a drivers’ circuit- a circuit’s character is what matters most, IMO. Whether it’s a circuit like the old Hockenheim, which wasn’t the most challenging circuit to drive but with its long super fast straights and hard braking zones provided plenty of on track action. Or a slow street circuit like Adelaide- which provided a whole different set of challenges from Hockenheim? Or Silverstone, Watkins Glen or the old Osterreichring, with their long, sweeping fast corners? Or Daytona, with its high bankings? Or Macau, with its variation in a tight, enclosed space? Again- if all circuits were like Spa then although spectacular it would get a bit repetitive, IMO.

  13. I rather have the NY/NJ Track. At least that have some levation.

    1. It does. That track would have been even better than most people realized.

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