The Miami International Autodrome had to undergo minor repairs ahead of today’s first Formula 1 practice session.
However Miami Grand Prix CEO Richard Cregan is confident the fixes will cause no disruption to the event.“We’re okay with that,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans. “We had a look at that after the sessions yesterday and we’re fine.”
The surface was worked on overnight at turns seven and 17. “We did some localised repairs and it’s all okay,” said Cregan. “The clerk of the course, race director, everybody is happy with it so we’re in a good place.”
The 5.4-kilometre circuit has been laid out in the grounds of the Hard Rock Stadium. Cregan is happy with its configuration, including the unusually tight and narrow turns 14, 15 and 16.
“That combination is going to be amazing,” he said. “So I’m pretty sure we’re not going to touch that one.”
Cregan said future changes to the event could be made to increase attendance, which is limited to 82,500 per day this year.
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“We kept the attendance at a manageable level for this year because we want to get it right,” he said. “We have to be sure that we’re going to get all the elements correct and then we’ll see next year how we can improve.
However he is also keen to ensure the event offers new attractions to returning visitors in the future.
“That’s always something for fans that they want,” he said. “They want to come and see great racing but they want to be entertained and we need to look at different ways of doing that.
“We have an amazing facility and I think we can utilise that facility even more for next year. We’re already looking at how we can utilise the actual field itself in a better way.
“We do the 10-day open tennis so we want to make sure that when the tennis is over, which is an amazing event, we utilise the stadium. So one area we will look at for next year is that stadium and the field, how we can utilise it better.”
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2022 Miami Grand Prix
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Jere (@jerejj)
6th May 2022, 16:15
What sessions yesterday? I beg to disagree with him on the slow-paced northeast section being amazing.
PeterG
6th May 2022, 16:36
@jerejj I agree.
It feels like a lot of the attention aimed at the actual racetrack over the past couple days from the circuit promoters, designers & media types has been on that slow section from turns 12 to 16 & I just don’t really see the appeal of that bit of track. Especially given how that sort of slow/tight section is something that the larger/heavier/ground effects cars of this year just look really cumbersome going through.
Seems a weird thing to put so much focus on. If it was a super fast corner with some banking or elevation change then i’d get it a bit more but it’s just a very slow, very tight sequence of corners that is probably the worst & most frustrating part of the track.
Stephen H
6th May 2022, 16:26
Don’t say the track surface is breaking up already ??
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
6th May 2022, 19:56
Always happens when they rush job the tarmac. Let’s hope no rain, but I anticipate overnight repairs daily
PeterG
6th May 2022, 16:30
Maybe i’m forgetting something but I don’t think I remember a track starting to break-up before the actual race cars had gone out & done some proper running on it.
That should surely be concerning.
I know others enjoy the extra events & such at a racetrack but I always saw that stuff as more of a distraction which I did my best to avoid. I’m was there for the track action & tended to leave the track as soon as it was over for the day.
I remember back to the final few years of Champcar when they moved away from many of the road circuits & ovals to focus on street circuits & have there ‘Street Festivals Of Speed’. They would put on a lot of other events & things around the racing to try and attract a more casual audience or just try & get a bit of interest from local celebrities for the driver introductions & ‘Start your engines’ call.
The trend with all of them tended to be that the first year did super well in terms of attendance but that most of the more casual attendees were more interested in the surrounding activities than the track action & subsequently didn’t return the following year. As such attendance & local interest in these events dwindled which is why there are so many new street venues from the 2002-2007 era that were never seen again.
Was the same with F1 back in the 70s/80s with the various street circuits they tried to crack America with. The did well initially but interest quickly declined & the circuits disappeared. Went from 3 races in the US (All on street circuits with 1 in a Las Vegas car park that lasted 2 years) to none in a decade.
S
7th May 2022, 10:55
You blame the tracks and attraction, PeterG, but neglect the fact that F1 often just sucks and people don’t want to sell their arms and legs to be able to watch it.
And no matter how good it is, some people only feel the need to see it once to be satisfied.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
6th May 2022, 18:30
I don’t want to have a go at someone who’s just trying to entertain people, but I’m not excited for the amount of James Cordon we are going to see this weekend. It’s probably going to be at least ten minutes of James doing this, James doing that. If there’s a spin on Carpool Karaoke I’m off to walk the dog, and I might not be back for a while.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
6th May 2022, 19:58
Another person who can’t stand James Cordon here. 👋 I don’t think I’ll be watching anything that isn’t a live session!