Miami Grand Prix: Track and Stats

After the purchase of Formula 1, Liberty Media almost immediately started talking about increasing the number of American podiums. In 2016, CEO Greg Maffei outlined priorities: monetizing digital broadcasting, calendar expansion, and long-term contracts to host races in Miami and Las Vegas. The first two points are in, in 2022 there will be a race in Miami, in 2023 in Las Vegas. Everything according to plan.

Miami is the largest metropolitan area in the southeastern United States and one of the major financial centers. It was important for Liberty Media to host the Grand Prix there, the history of which has consisted of many lawsuits from the local community to the organizers. Because of this, we managed to find a compromise, but after the end of the weekend, the parties will definitely meet in court. Because of noise levels, air pollution or something else.

Initially, the intention was to hold a street race in Miami. The mayor’s office didn’t seem to mind, but they said there was no money – if you want, spend it for free. The decision to implement the project was postponed several times, the parties regularly sat down at the negotiating table and did not agree on anything. As a result, the construction of the route in the harbor was eventually halted.

In the fall of 2019, a new track construction project, independent of the city government, appeared in the area where the Hard Rock Stadium is located. Stadium owner Steven Ross was willing to fund the construction and cost of the race. But the organizers were immediately charged, saying, “You can’t allow races to be held next to wealthy neighborhoods.”

The track configuration had to be changed, limited only to the stadium’s territory. She no longer went into town and the competition schedule was limited so as not to hinder the local school children and students. On April 18, 2021, the Miami Grand Prix was officially included in the 2022 calendar. The contract was immediately calculated for ten years.

36 configuration options were developed for construction. The final version is similar to Albert Park in Melbourne or Sochi Autodrom. The track in Miami is temporary and is also built on a limited area where it is impossible to fit a large stationary track.

Construction started in the summer of 2021. The pandemic got in the way, but organizers met the deadline and laid the final layer of asphalt in March 2022. The finish is now underway, but in Miami they are doing everything they can to not impress making a ‘race on the construction site’.

Track features

Miami International Autodrome. The length of the track is 5.41 kilometers, the circle includes 19 turns (12 left and seven right), three straights and three DRS zones. The maximum design speed is 320 km/h. The project includes three points where overtaking is possible – in the 1st, 11th and 17th turns.

Between turns 13 and 16 there is a drop in elevation where the track descends and rises as it passes under the overpasses. When setting up the machine, it is important to ensure efficient acceleration in sections where a slow bend turns into a long straight.

A high-speed track requires a small amount of downforce and high engine power. The load on the brakes is medium, three zones of serious braking are connected by medium speed segments, where the brakes have time to cool down.

Zach Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing: “I think we will see a show beyond compare. A full house is expected in the stands. And I haven’t seen any races that would spark that much interest from sponsors.

McLaren’s guest area will be twice as big as usual – it will probably be the largest in the paddock, but we sold out there straight away. I believe that in the city as a whole there will be an atmosphere of a real holiday.

Our special guests in Miami are IndyCar stars Colton Herta and our Arrow McLaren SP team drivers Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenquist. Our brand ambassadors Emerson Fittipaldi and Mika Hakkinen will also be in attendance. We need a very strong team to represent McLaren so that there is someone to communicate with our sponsors throughout the week.”

Weekend schedule

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Tires given to teams for the weekend

For Miami, Pirelli chose the middle three of the compositions – C2 and C3 in the role of Hard and Medium for the race and C4 for qualifying.

A set of the softest tires must be kept for the qualifying final – after that those who raced in the final must return this set to Pirelli.

One set of medium and hard tires must be kept for the race – unless declared wet, riders must use at least one of these sets.

Mario Isola: “There is a huge buzz around the first Miami Grand Prix. The track bears some resemblance to Jeddah, although some sections are slower and more technical than in Saudi Arabia, especially the section from Turn 11 to 16. The rest of the track is very fast, traffic is counterclockwise which puts more pressure on the right tires.

Normally we would expect the new smooth tarmac to improve quickly over the weekend, but in Miami the tarmac was treated with high pressure water so the track should have good grip from the start.

Because the track is fast, the cars are likely to adapt to low to medium downforce, which can lead to slippage in fast corners, especially on the hardest compound. We usually make a conservative tire choice for new tracks, it will be interesting to compare our calculations with real data.