Rumour: Miami F1 Street Race Off - Other Venues Under Consideration

Paul Jeffrey

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Miami Grand Prix.jpg

The off and on again saga of a Grand Prix on the streets of downtown Miami appear to have finally come to an end, but the region remains keen to find alternative accommodation for Formula One in the near future.


For the last year or two a proposed Grand Prix on the streets of Miami has been something of a point of debate within Formula One circles, the idea having first gained traction under the watchful eye of Bernie Ecclestone before having come firmly onto the radar of Liberty Media and the current Formula One management group.

Initially planned to be held as a fast street circuit on the public roads of downtown Miami, a destination city in a marketplace Formula One is keen to penetrate further following the success of the CoTA track in Austin, it now appears that the plans have finally been abandoned by both the event promotors and Formula One - but hopes of a race in the region haven't quite died out yet.

According to the Miami Herold, the Formula One group and Miami Grand Prix promoter Stephen Ross have mutually agreed to cancel plans for a race on the city streets following strong opposition from several parties, and are now evaluating options to host a Grand Prix elsewhere within the area.

One of the potentially most favourable proposals is to build a purpose built facility within the confines of the existing Hard Rock Stadium parkland area, an area of land that is already used for entertainment purposes and is located just outside the main downtown area - still affording the venue a perfect visual backdrop for any potential new circuit creation.

A lot would have to happen for us to be able to do it, but we have over 250 acres of land so adding an F1 race to where Hard Rock Stadium and the Miami Open sit means we can create a world-class racing circuit that is unencumbered by existing infrastructure,” said Tom Garfinkel, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hard Rock Stadium.​

“It also means better ingress and egress, better amenities, unprecedented sight-lines, and opportunities for the best hospitality anywhere in racing. We can still do parties and events all week downtown. We only want to do it if we can create world-class racing, a great fan experience, and a lot of value for Miami.
Liberty Media are keen to expand their presence in the United States, and Miami has long been regarded as one of the key 'destination cities' that the sport would like to attract to the current Grand Prix schedule. Although the loss of a deal to run a race on the main city streets is a short term blow for the sport, with other potential locations such as Las Vegas still under consideration, and the counter Miami proposal within the parkland setting of the Hard Rock Stadium, plenty of opportunities for another US based Grand Prix in the near future remain.

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There are many GP tracks in the world that are available. I never really did understand why they ever tried to establish a street track race in Miami. (or Baku..., Monaco is enough)

If LibertyMedia wants another race in the US, they should reach for Sebring, DaytonaRC or Laguna Seca, or probaly just race at a SuperSpeedway.
 
There are many GP tracks in the world that are available. I never really did understand why they ever tried to establish a street track race in Miami. (or Baku..., Monaco is enough)

If LibertyMedia wants another race in the US, they should reach for Sebring, DaytonaRC or Laguna Seca, or probaly just race at a SuperSpeedway.

An F1 Race on Sebring would be crazy but really expensive;) I'm sure Grosjean would be able to smash a Backflip with his Haas car when he came through Sunset Bend;)
 
If LibertyMedia wants another race in the US, they should reach for Sebring, DaytonaRC or Laguna Seca, or probaly just race at a SuperSpeedway.

I don't think any of those tracks have a high enough rating to even be considered. Sebring and Leguna Seca specifically, those tracks gets way too dusty and too bumpy to even be an option. I don't think F1 teams would like the corkscrew much.
 
i hope they never go to sebring because they would have to completely destroy everything good about the track to make it f1 friendly
 
F1 @ Road America would be awesome. But they probably need to turn it into a parking lot to race there. No thanks.
 
F1 @ Road America would be awesome. But they probably need to turn it into a parking lot to race there. No thanks.
Road America could be awesome - at least from the drivers perspective.
I mean taken from the flow of the virtual track in iRacing and Raceroom.

Another great US track could be Watkins Glen - in one of the full length layouts.
I only know it from iRacing - but I think its very challenging and could be fun to watch with F1 cars on the several banked corners.:thumbsup:
 
i hope they never go to sebring because they would have to completely destroy everything good about the track to make it f1 friendly

Absolutely.

The trail of destruction F1 has left behind it for "classic tracks" is horrific.
If they feel they can't race there any more, change the venue, don't try and destroy a classic race track to appease the FIA safety nannies for one weekend of the year.
 
F1 used to run there up until 1980 I think.
Loved it in GPL.
Oh sorry I feel a bis ashamed.
Hehe because Im that old that I have probably seen a F1 race or two on that track in telly.
And conserning GPL then I suddenly remember all my WG laps in the GTP mod for NR2003 in the FSB Racing league.
Those were the days.:)
 
Please keep F1 away from our natural classic flowing tracks thank you! They have made it this far without being completely nuetered so let's keep it that way.

F1 already ruined Watkins in the 70s with the esses chicane. Thank god they had the foresight to make sure it was temporary and got rid of it when F1 left.
 
I feel like Sonoma could be a good fit for F1. It's a little short (around 3.5km), but it doesn't look to me like it would need much changes. Plenty of runoff available at all the big braking zones.
 
I feel like Sonoma could be a good fit for F1. It's a little short (around 3.5km), but it doesn't look to me like it would need much changes. Plenty of runoff available at all the big braking zones.

I don't see that ever comming.

Absolute great track to drive on, but I fear, they would have to destroy the fast, flowing esses before last turn to create a propper DRS-Zone.
 
F1 already ruined Watkins in the 70s with the esses chicane. Thank god they had the foresight to make sure it was temporary and got rid of it when F1 left.
Just to understand your post.
Is it the red part you call a chicane or have there been more chicane than that?

wg.jpg
 
OK thanks - now I understand.
That chicane looks complete bullocks.
So I agree completely that this did spoil a nice track.
The reason I asked was because I thought that the "chicane" was was the esses themselves.
Because as I see it these esses is one of the fun thing on this track just before the straight.
Hehe in iRacing a lot of people get crashed more or less by purpose in these esses because they try to block each other.:D
 

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