Crucial vote could put Miami in F1 until 2038!

40

Miami city authorities are set to vote on proposals for a Grand Prix street race that could be on the Formula 1 calendar for up to 20 years.

A meeting of the City Commission on July 26 will vote on a proposed contract negotiated between the City Manager and Formula 1's commercial rights holders, Liberty Media.

There are five commissioners, and four must vote in favour of the proposal for it to go forward. The Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez - a big supporter of the event - will not be among those city officials getting a vote.

A legal notice issued in advance of the meeting states that the agreement will be for an initial ten-year period. Starting in October 2019 and concluding in October 2028, that would actually cover 11 races.

The contract also stipulates a Fan Festival to be held at Bayfront Park in October 2018.

Miami GP seen as risk to COTA, but event could be in jeopardy

The notice adds that there will be an option for a further ten year extension on top of the initial period, taking it through to 2038.

It's not immediately clear who would have the right to exercise this extension, or equally who would be in charge of activating any 'break points' to bring the contract to an early conclusion.

Silverstone recently used its contractual right to a 'break point' to terminate its contract to host the British Grand Prix after next year's race in 2019.

The planned route for the race puts the start line on Biscayne Boulevard before a high-speed run along Port Boulevard, which includes a long road bridge across water to Dodge Island.

After a tight hairpin they would come back across Miami Marina Bayshore Drive, around the American Airlines Arena and south back down Biscayne Boulevard to the finish line.

Although Formula 1 is optimistic of getting the race on next years calendar - which would make it the first brand new event on the schedule to have been negotiated by Liberty since Bernie Ecclestone's departure - it's by no means a done deal.

There have been objections to the idea of a Miami GP voiced by Miami residents and local businesses. They will have a further chance to raise their complaints at next week's meeting.

The statutory notice announcing the meeting states: "The Miami City Commission requests all interested parties be present or represented at the meeting and may be heard with respect to any proposition before the City Commission in which the City Commission may take action."

The notice states that the meeting will involve a resolution "authorising the city manager to execute the host city agreement ... by and between the City of Miami, the Bayfront Park Management Trust, South Florida Racing, LLC., and Formula One World Championship Limited."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.