Formula 1 drivers warned the slippery track and short DRS zones would make for a processional Miami Grand Prix. So did it produce a race which justified the hype which accompanied it?
The view from the track
There are plenty of reasons to be cynical or negative about the Miami GP that have nothing to do with any of the pomp and pageantry of the pre-race build-up. Or the race itself, separated from all of that.As a race? It was perfectly and acceptably fine. Hardly the instant classic that last year’s United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas was, but hardly the dull, dragging dreck that was thw previous week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, a circuit which either produces weapons-grade chaos or the F1 equivalent of melatonin.
Would it have been received better if Max Verstappen’s charge from ninth to first didn’t feel so inevitable? That’s subjective to one’s fatigue levels of seeing Red Bull running up front every weekend. The way things are going this year it will take a Turkey 2010 moment to keep them from running the table.
But there were chances to pass and opportunities for drivers like George Russell, Carlos Sainz Jnr, Lewis Hamilton, and Yuki Tsunoda among others to advance their positions throughout the race – even at a circuit where there was not much grip on the racing line, let alone off it, and this was even before monsoon-level rain showers made all the accumulated rubber of the last two days go bye-bye.
It’s fair to expect an event that F1 clearly sees as a crown jewel of its calendar to deliver a quality of race befitting of the spectacle it manufactures around it, for sure. I just thought it was okay. And maybe that’s still good enough to be viewed as one of the better races when 2023 is done.
RJ O’Connell
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The view from the sofa
The Miami GP theatrics was a reminder to F1 to not over-sell an event which may fail to deliver.
What is more concerning, however, is F1 keeps referring to its events as a ‘show’, when it’s not uncommon for a race to be a damp squib. With Red Bull and Verstappen in a league of their own, audiences knew the world champion had a good chance of winning despite starting ninth.
Of course F1 is there for entertainment, and what Liberty and Stefano Domenicali has done is revolutionary – but the race did not deliver, and the jarring activities felt more misplaced as a result.
Entertainment value may be important for F1, but losing sight of why we’re there could be a weakness. If F1 strays too far from its origins it runs the risk of alienating fans by trying to accommodate new ones.
With Imola up next it’s a significant time for F1 to get back to its roots and remind existing fans why they love the sport, especially when the championship doesn’t seem too competitive this season. Miami essentially did not give us what we were promised. Perhaps it’s because the championship feels like it’s already wrapped up just five races in, but something felt off about Miami.
The ‘show’ could overtake the race if things continue this way. But the real selling point of F1 is what happens on-track – everything else is just noise.
Claire Cottingham
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No change in the script
If Verstappen’s race-winning overtake on team mate Sergio Perez around the outside of turn one would have happened not in F1 but in IndyCar, then the motorsport community would have been raving about it for the rest of this week.
The Miami GP was not one of the best races of the era. It probably won’t be among the most memorable races of the season. But it was a entertaining race. It was an eventful race. It was a race worth watching – not least of which if you were a beauty influencer invited to attend the race in a glitzy hospitality suite as the guest of a popular cosmetics brand.
Miami featured the most on-track of overtakes of any 2023 race so far – almost three times as many as Baku and more than in 2022. And even if most of them felt like they were Verstappen activating warp drive to pass half the field, his double pass on Charles Leclerc and Kevin Magnussen and his race-winning move into the opening corner of the lap were examples of DRS passing at its best.
What Miami showed is that F1 does not have a racing problem – it has a narrative problem. Verstappen’s win was a brilliant achievement rendered pedestrian in how it was a film we’d all seen before. How can there be the same tension, the same awe when we’ve seen him win like that no less than five times in the last 12 months? When Red Bull continue to be as untouchable as they are? Swap the Red Bulls with the Ferraris, Aston Martins or even the McLarens – we would not be having this discussion.
That, ultimately, is why the Miami GP did not satisfy the passionate die-hard fans as much as we all feel it should have. The influencers probably loved it, though.
Will Wood
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A foreseeable conclusion
I saw Verstappen’s race-deciding pass on Perez entirely differently to Will. For me, there was no tension, no excitement and no drama in that moment because DRS made the move entirely predictable. There is no DRS in IndyCar, so when Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin swapped the lead twice in the final stint at Barber two weeks ago I genuinely couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.
One week on from a thoroughly underwhelming debut for F1’s latest sprint format, the series should take note that having three practice sessions did not prevent qualifying from producing real excitement and an intriguing grid for the race. It was arguably the highlight of the weekend, and not just because Leclerc’s blunder cost Verstappen dearly. Earlier in the session we had the second-quickest car going out in Q1, Hamilton slipping up in Q2 and six different teams claimed the top six places.
Before the race several drivers warned the FIA’s decision to shorten two of Miami’s DRS zones would make passing too difficult. The race proved those fears were unfounded. Hopefully the FIA paid heed to Carlos Sainz Jnr’s observation that there was a correlation between which drivers complained most about the DRS changes and which of them needed the most help on the straights, and sticks with its policy of shortening the activation zones.
This is essential, because there’s more to what makes a memorable race than the raw total of passes. Battles for position need to be memorable, and that is what DRS all too often prevents.
The celebrities and the ceremonies may have done nothing for me, but is anything really being lost by having them? It’s not essential to watch them. I’ve always found the tedious pre-race anthem rendition a useful opportunity to grab a pre-race cup of tea – if the driver introductions are here to stay I reckon I can squeeze in a round of sandwiches too…
Keith Collantine
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2023 Miami Grand Prix
- Verstappen picks Miami Grand Prix as his best drive of 2023 so far
- Albon “maximised most races this year” despite single point scored to date
- A sign the upgrades worked? Ferrari see an upside to Leclerc’s Miami crashes
- Red Bull ‘surprised other teams under-delivered’ with their 2023 cars
- F1’s driver intros are right for US market but wouldn’t work at Silverstone – Horner
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
9th May 2023, 13:53
I have no idea where the level of hype stood before the weekend, but in absolute terms, the 2nd Miami Grand Prix over-delivered compared to base 2023 assumptions.
Liberty should be happy.
bosyber (@bosyber)
9th May 2023, 15:03
Hah, that too seems like a valid take @proesterchen
Retired (@jeff1s)
9th May 2023, 15:36
Gimme your ride tinted glass or just look up the empty grandstands.
Spencer (@spencer)
9th May 2023, 15:47
The race had 30k more in attendance than last year? Empty stands? Race day was filled. As is customary Miami is a late arriving crowd so seats weren’t filled until just prior to lights out. I can assure you it was packed.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
9th May 2023, 19:37
I saw lots of blue or whatever the seat colors were. Lap after excruciatingly boring lap. There seemed to also be a closed grandstand or two. I’m not sure it matters as the prices were probably really high. This will get worse as the hype wanes.
anon
10th May 2023, 8:00
@spencer there will be many who are sceptical of those attendance claims when, barely over a week before the race, the event organiser admitted that ticket sales at that point in time were lower than the previous year and that they had not yet sold out the grandstands.
Furthermore, the claims of such interest in the race seem to be rather at odds with the reports that the organisers were having to resort to heavy discounting to shift more tickets.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
10th May 2023, 8:29
I have no idea how the number of people in the grandstands – any number of people in the grandstands – could be construed as a verdict on how the race turned out compared to base 2023 expectations.
Even if we presumed a large part of the potential audience to be time travelers from the future and consider their attendance (or lack thereof) as an indication of how this race will be rated by future fans, it still wouldn’t have a bearing on the question.
Alan Dove
9th May 2023, 13:58
Liberty’s media strategy looks very very dated to me. The obsession with spectacle is myopic and creates unrealistic expectation. Liberty got lucky with a couple of things. Drive to Survive was lightning in in a bottle, and the editorial style was somewhat forced because of the absence of the the championships top two teams in season 1. It also took advantage of enormous latent interest in behind the scenes stuff that was already present in the fanbase. Another thing they did was just engaging on social media. They didn’t have to do much and most media companies would have had similar success such was the lack of presence prior to their buyout. Again, they took advantage of latent interest. I am not sure they’ve really done anything beyond that that’s particularly innovative.
Chess right now is booming, especially with teens. This should act as a warning shot to any marketeers making large assumptions about ‘young audiences’ wanted fast paced hype action. I know you have blitz games in chess, but still the fundamental of the game are not something you’d immediately associate with young audiences.
Finally on this point “The celebrities and the ceremonies may have done nothing for me, but is anything really being lost by having them?”. Yes, brands can absolutely nose-dive when they alienate their core audience. I suspect a fair number of people will absolutely not want to be associated with whatever that pre-event thing was. The more stuff we see like this, the more chance we see of fan alienation from F1. That’s not a good thing.
F1 is starting to look a bit Emperor’s New Clothes. If something is rubbish, I think it’s worth saying out loud it’s rubbish before its too late.
SteveR (@stever)
9th May 2023, 14:51
Agreed, good points. Now just wait for Vegas to see how bad it can get…..
Alan Dove
9th May 2023, 15:24
The only part of the Vegas GP I care about is what is happening with the SKUSA event that usually takes place during that weekend of the year. If that is negatively effected in anyway F1 will have a lot of questions to answer.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
9th May 2023, 19:38
Agreed. It looks scarily similar to NASCAR’s turn of the century push into non-rube parts of the country. Lost the rubes and the non-rubes after about 5 years.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th May 2023, 14:19
Better than I expected & better than the inaugural race.
I wouldn’t consider the most recent COTA race an instant classic, though, & I couldn’t really disagree more with Keith’s view about Max’s eventual pass into the race lead after his pit stop.
DRS didn’t make that move entirely predictable but rather Max’s considerable tyre advantage, not to mention, the move got completed at a corner exit & not even either one of those preceded by the two longest full-throttle sections, so zero correlation.
Lastly, FIA would be wrong to pay heed to Sainz’s observation because the overall reality differs, which is that DRS has been overpowered to any extent only on a few rare circuit sections since its introduction, with most circuits never having had this issue, especially those where overtaking has always been difficult.
From the remaining circuits, only the Kemmel straight & Montreal’s back straight would have any true justification for shortening.
David BR (@david-br)
9th May 2023, 14:40
The circuit isn’t a supermarket car park ‘stop-turn-accelerate’ type like some other street circuit additions; it’s flowing and allows the better drivers to show their skill. The close walls disfavour harder racing, though. The race itself was an anticlimax with no one risking anything and no rain. The Red Bull’s with DRS look like they’re racing a lower formula – and that’s no exaggeration. It’s a pathetic sight, frankly. So the only ‘battle’ in terms of race win was the non-battle between Verstappen (fast) and Perez (slow). How can anyone sell any rivalry between these two drivers? It’s over five races in. We all know it, even or especially Red Bull. Could future Miami races be better? Probably. Not that I care if it vanishes (obviously it won’t).
The driver presentation at the start may be optional for us but not for the drivers. I hate it. It’s a few minutes before the race: I expect the drivers to be focused on the start and the race ahead, not forced into small talk or fake smiles with random celebrities. It’s drivel.
Spencer (@spencer)
9th May 2023, 14:45
Was in attendance. Great event. Quantum leap over last year. Race itself was fairly representative of what we have seen throughout the season and what I suspect will continue. Watching in person the circuit is a great test of the machinery. Somewhat annoyingly this circuit is constantly mentioned to be a street circuit or or temporary racetrack. It is a permanent circuit with a dedicated (and greatly improved) surface.
bosyber (@bosyber)
9th May 2023, 15:19
Interesting perspective, glad to read it has improved so much over last year when there were a lot of complaints from those attending @spencer, and nice to hear your assessment that the track clearly offers some good stress to the machinery (and drivers).
As for the race itself, I’ve further switched this season’s expectations of how to watch a race to once again look at what the (often not featured heavily during the broadcast) midfield is doing and appreciation of drivers trying to eke out every bit out of their car.
This has especially helped for the front of the field, and feels a bit more like I did when I started watching F1 in the nineties when the top team used to regularly be over a second faster (of course, the times were different, and I was a young teenager, so my default mindset was a bit different, but even so :) This has much improved my feeling of tension going into the race weekends and appreciation of what goes on with the individual drivers, teams and their cars so that when the inevitable Verstappen cutting through the field/flying ahead of the queue happens yet again, I can admire his craft in making it work and of the team for creating a car like that (as well as seeing Perez try and get as good a result as he can get, while realizing he is unlikely to win the day).
Addme (@dontme)
9th May 2023, 17:27
But… it isn’t permanent. It’s a temporary circuit. That is why everybody calls it that.
Steve Holmes
9th May 2023, 15:00
The event was more about the hype of F1 racing in America. This race was vastly improved over its first one. Yet the importance of the pre-race hype over powered the event. Example the driver introduction in Florida is the American way of media hype. Nice attempt but doubtful it’ll be seen again. The coverage pushed F1past what it is normally and the attempt to ramp up the race start was not F1 as we know it. Yet it was entertaining but if is the expectation fans want then f1 as a sport is beginning to lose itself as the new way of race coverage before during and after the event left me concerned about the America influence and it’s loss of innocence.
F1 as a sport “is or is not better” from the Miami effect ??
raddie (@raddie)
9th May 2023, 15:20
No hype for me, more like disgust with the stupid celebrity fixation.
Rolfski (@rolfski)
9th May 2023, 16:09
The sad reality nowadays is that a slip up of Verstappen in qualification is almost required to have at least some perspective on an exciting race.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
9th May 2023, 17:09
Even then it was too easy to comeback for him this race.
pastaman
9th May 2023, 16:31
I was at the race and most likely I will not be back. The atmosphere was very much “corporate party” and not “racing”, and was tailored to the average DTS fan in attendance. The lack of support races was disappointing but understandable as the stands were basically empty for the only support race that was there (Porsche Supercup). Ticket prices were exorbitant, and while I’m used to being advertised to when at an F1 race, it was just at another level here.
As for the viewing experience, due to the nature of the track there aren’t any seats where you can see more than one or two corners. We had decent seats in the turn 18 grandstands so we were able to witness most of the passes at the end of the back straight, but the cars were in view for <10 seconds. In our usual seats at CotA, I can see the cars going through the tail end of the esses, all the way down the back straight, and through the entire stadium section. The cars are in view for almost a full minute.
Listening to conversations around me in the seats, it was apparent that many of the people did not know much about F1 or racing in general. People cheered at the top of their lungs when Checo came out of the pits ahead of Verstappen, but looked confused when I said aloud that Max would be passing him within 2 laps.
Overall, the experience at CoTA is miles ahead if you are a racing fan. Many more support races and people who actually sit in the stands to watch them all. I’m glad I could say that I attended the Miami race, but again I will probably not go back.
David BR (@david-br)
9th May 2023, 16:40
Obviously the aim seems to be to create a ‘US Monaco,’ included the paddling pool for yachts. I think the circuit is actually (much) better than Monaco. But I was really struck by how even the TV coverage was unable to cover the racing for more than a few seconds; it’s really difficult to track any racing duel over a few corners because the director clearly has to switch cameras every two seconds due to the poor lines of visibility. It makes even the TV viewing experience disjointed and confused.
Invisiblekid (@invisiblekid)
9th May 2023, 17:43
For the price, I would have thought most people would watch every second of racing.
Practice and I’m sure qualifying had lots of empty seats, but of course, they could be corporate seats which if taken at all are late lucky company staffers, guests, and family.
TBF lack of support races doesn’t help and it shows it’s geared towards DTS and the mentioned corporate deals which generally lacks hardcore F1 fans
SteveR (@stever)
10th May 2023, 1:20
Las Vegas has NO support races…..
Antz (@antznz)
9th May 2023, 16:38
This is my biggest issue w F1 lately. I used to love all the off track stuff but its become so disingenuous. It’s hard to not see this leach into the races especially as they’re branded a show rather than a sport. Increasingly the teams seem to be melodramatic and if ride heights weren’t raised this year, I expect the sporting aspect, ability to race closer would be improved. Granted this has always happened but you’ve never had such a direct audience connection to play to.
The race was surprisingly ok but events like Miami really show what LM cares about most and it doesn’t feel like it has much to do with sport. It’s hard for F1 to be the pinacle of motorsport when it isn’t treated as a sport by its owner.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
10th May 2023, 18:22
@antznz It doesn’t help when it feels like Liberty has missed what many of the “new fans” want.
The “new fans” are primarily here because the drivers showed they were people. Relatable, talented, athletic and very much human. While the social media element has done a good job of continuing to express all these things, that hasn’t extended to broadcasts I’ve seen – and even less to the changes made and proposed to events.
Almost a decade ago, The Guardian newspaper wrote that F1 was guilty of parading its props when it should be parading its people. Now I feel like it is guilty of parading its pounds when it should be parading its people. An understandable mistake for Liberty to make considering its leaders probably have fond memories of how F1 promoted itself in the 1990s, but one that will have serious consequences for Liberty’s profitability the more it pushes that way. It’s already noticeably less profit-dense than in the earlier years of its reign, relying on extra events to make up for making less profit per event. At some point, the bubble bursts…
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
10th May 2023, 18:24
(There are fans who are more interested in things like the racing, the tech and the teams’ skills. However, they can be easily catered to using similar techniques as have been shown to be successful in attracting what are currently called “the established fans”. Liberty knows how to keep them and if it doesn’t, it’s because it’s lumped them in with fans it thinks it no longer needs).
Antz (@antznz)
11th May 2023, 4:57
@alianora-la-canta i agree. I personally like the technical challenge mixed with the human element. The glitz, glam and artifical hype does nothing for me but I’m willing to accept I could be a minority in this. I think drive to survive has turned the genuine human interactions and responses into performances for the camera or radio. It feels like the whole show aspect is a bad reality tv series and I know some people love them but I can’t think of anything worse to watch.
I don’t do much more than watch quali and races these days. The rest too often feels artifical now. I wonder if so emphasis on growing the American market may backfire by alienating a good chunk of the rest of the world?
JohnC
9th May 2023, 16:55
Post the race radio transcripts from Max and Checo. Let’s see if they didn’t help Checo or if the Sky pundits are lying.
Neil (@neilosjames)
9th May 2023, 17:21
I thought the race itself was OK. I just have a real difficulty with appreciating races on certain circuits, and Miami is one of them because I find it so visually unappealing and insipid.
I’m unsure if this makes sense to anyone else, but I get no joy from watching an F1 car drive around Miami. Likewise Paul Ricard, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi. The setting matters, and when I’m watching cars on a setting that doesn’t match up to my mind’s idea of what a ‘grand prix track’ should look like, I end up judging the on-track action to a higher level than I would if the race were taking place at somewhere like Silverstone, Monza, Spa or Interlagos.
Imagine watching the Olympic figure skating final on a brown ice rink, and you’ll know what I mean.
Objectively the race was OK, and there was nearly always something happening somewhere. I can even forgive a few DRS drive-bys. But I gave it a fairly unimpressed 6 on the Rate the Race poll because I just didn’t enjoy it… and I strongly suspect I didn’t enjoy it because it was held on the F1 equivalent of a brown ice rink.
Maybe if I’m not alone in feeling that way, it could explain why certain new tracks have such a hard time gaining acceptance.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
9th May 2023, 19:01
@neilosjames Makes complete sense to me, and I’m sure many others feel the same way. Paul Ricard is the biggest offender in my book; there is at least genuine jeopardy in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi is, well, better than it used to be.
I suspect that my reaction to Miami is not as strong as yours only because I’ve grown up watching CART/Champ Car and IMSA race on so many even more soulless car parks outside of US sports stadiums (the Meadowlands, Houston, Denver, RFK). So for me, Miami — a circuit that at least has a proper esses and an interesting chicane — is a vast upgrade!
SteveR (@stever)
9th May 2023, 23:08
Agree. I can recall thinking ‘thank god we’re at a real track again’ when we get to tracks that have actual grass beside the track. The sterility of the middle eastern and city tracks is profound, as is the tunnel effect created by the concrete barriers and catch fencing on street circuits. When we get to somewhere like Spa I’m grateful and a weight lifts (sort of).
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
9th May 2023, 17:58
The race was bad but the organization of the event itself was cringey and made it even harder to watch. They were going for some kind of trashy Super Bowl half time meets corporate event environment. I’m glad I wasn’t there. I’m usually excited to see every weekend session but I felt very negatively every time I tuned in.
I really get the feeling F1 is trying to attract a group of Americans who don’t care much about racing and are at the some time alienating their long time fans.
SteveR (@stever)
9th May 2023, 23:09
Yes, and most of the new fans they attract won’t be around for the long term.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
9th May 2023, 18:16
I thought the Miami GP was a perfect summation of the state of modern F1. Lots of hype for a product that ultimately underdelivered. Even the action on track – of which there was mercifully some, compared to Baku – felt low-stakes, with no real uncertainty as to the outcome.
sam
9th May 2023, 18:21
Nothing could live up to that hype. So no.
PeterG
9th May 2023, 21:22
I just find it to be one of the worst circuits on the calendar. There’s nothing of interest to the track, No part of it that really excites or makes you want to see cars going through it.
Even when there’s something going on the setting just doesn’t excite. It reminds me of the modern Paul Ricard in that regard as there’s actually been some decent racing at Ricard but it just never seems that interesting because of how bad it is visually watching the cars going around it.
It’s the perfect example of whats wrong with modern venues and circuits. Even if they produce a lot of passing or half decent racing at times the circuit itself doesn’t excite and both it and the races on them ends up been completely forgettable as a result.
If the Miami GP on this circuit was cancelled tomorrow would it be a circuit anyone would miss?
Would it be a circuit anyone would be pushing to see return?
Would it be a circuit any of the drivers would miss been able to drive on?
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
9th May 2023, 21:28
It’s a weird one. A driver closing down the lead towards the end of the race should be exciting. It should last for a few laps of back and forth or at least deliver some tension with some robust defensive driving. But this one just felt flat. Sergio knew he had no defence. Given his old tyres and Red Bull’s bizarrely powerful DRS, he knew there was no point trying to defend. I think the audience did too. Perhaps we should ban DRS for 2nd place? Make the fight for the win worthwhile…
MichaelN
9th May 2023, 21:38
It seems Miami represents something to someone, but whatever that is, I guess I’m completely out of the target audience because I have no idea what’s so special about Miami, or about F1 having a race around an American football stadium.
I didn’t see more of the F1 weekend than the highlight clips on YouTube, but it seems… like F1. It’s kinda cool, but not nearly as exciting as it’s made out to be. Nevertheless, it usually delivers a couple of minutes of fun motorsport, and this race weekend was no different.
Are there problems with the track? Sure. But a lot of that would be mitigated, if not made entirely irrelevant, if nine out of the ten teams weren’t so bad at F1. And if the cars weren’t 5,5 meter long nor weighed nearly a tonne.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th May 2023, 21:44
To me Baku felt tense, because for a long time we weren’t sure whether Max would be able to catch (let alone pass) Perez.
Here it felt a foregone conclusion after seeing how Max was blasting trough the field from lap one. Sure, there were several really solid fights going on, like the repeated one between Magnussen and Leclerc, which also gave us that lovely double pass by Max. And to his credit Perez did at least make Max have to really commit to finish that inevitable DRS pass. But none of it felt really satisfactory to me, and I am sure DRS plays a large role in it. Like when Max just flew by the Mercedes cars in Australia.
isthatglock21
9th May 2023, 22:16
Hope this week was a reality check for liberty & throws a spanner in the proposed 5 race in the states. Hype is dying, embarrassing scneces of promoters flogging 50% discounted tickets in final week & bombarding people with sales calls. Empty stands/rows from practise till quali & even in the race. Tells you a lot about fans paying huge sums but don’t even show up for most sessions, contrast with Europe where Friday’s are now packed. 3 races this year & already eating each others demand up & even celebs are choosy. Viewing figures down 30% on last year. Lots of unrest amongst drivers over intros. Also feel like new American fans (also eurpean dts) are very unlikely to ever visit live GPs again from feedback. Above all throws Andretti into question as American market has peaked, what more can they offer?
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
9th May 2023, 23:49
I only watched the C4 highlights of the race so obviously missed out on a lot of the pre-race hype and driver intros, etc. Like some of the drivers I think these seem unnecessary if the promotors are at all confident most of those attending will know the drivers who are taking part. Obviously many don’t which sums things up really which undermines the desperate drive for growth and extra income.
Of course the hype and build-up might be better received if the on-track offering is as good or better than expected. Miami 2.0 was not an awful race and there were some entertaining incidents. The circuit is better than it was last year. Then I was not bored at any point but all of us knew a Red Bull would win baring anything highly unusual happening and then that this would be Max from about 2/3rds of the way through.
I am not sure that the events or ‘shows’ which are being added, in the U.S. in particular, are delivering anything that is so unique that they are going to lead to a sustained growth of interest in F1 there or anywhere else. A lot of people realise the new circuits are quite mediocre and unexciting. I think Liberty would have been best advised to just stick to the COTA for the U.S. GP and remember that there are still other races not far away for U.S. fans in Canada and Mexico.
As we all know though it’s all about the money and not the sport.
Short Circuit (@jjohn)
10th May 2023, 1:28
Fail.
My wife was unimpressed.
Where were the pom pom guys with their socks on their jocks.
S
10th May 2023, 9:33
Does anything F1 live up to the hype?
I don’t think so.
Moshambles (@moshambles)
10th May 2023, 9:56
Wasn’t aware of any hype and the race was OK
Adam (@rocketpanda)
10th May 2023, 12:26
I find the track uninspiring, visually. I’m sure if you’re there it looks amazing but on cameras, watching the cars – which we’re all here for really, it’s indistinguishable from the other street circuits. Just very average corners and high walls. So the idea “its Miami” isn’t really relevant, it could be in a Tesco carpark and have the same atmosphere. In fact, it is in a carpark.
The race was okay. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t terrible – I’ve certainly seen worse F1 races but with the way the field is spread and a race with no DNF’s, no incidents of note and no weather/track shenanigans it was average. The ‘hype’ is artificial, especially when the final product is so forgettable. Not every race can be a classic or one for the diary of course, but nobody will talk about Miami 2023 in future.
Cristian Ingles (@doctorlovesexy)
11th May 2023, 17:35
I felt asleep at 10 p.m watching the race.
It’s such a shame that Watkins Glen is 4 hours away form NYC, or that Barber is the middle of nowhere or that Chicago is not a bit closer to Road America… we would have a proper second race un the US