F1 drivers bash 'distracting' pre-race ceremony in Miami

Several F1 drivers hit out at the pre-race grid presentation that took place ahead of Sunday's Miami Grand Prix, calling the extravaganza "distracting".

The high-energy pre-race presentation was held on the track's main straight to introduce the drivers to the crowd, with rapper LL Cool J on hand to do the honours.

While the presentations were met with loud cheers and applause from the fans, against a backdrop of music performed by an orchestra conducted by Will.i.am, most drivers felt that the ceremonial was just an unnecessary distraction.

Also, standing in the blazing heat for 30 minutes all suited and booted was also unpopular with many drivers.

"We spoke about it as drivers on Friday night," commented Mercedes' George Russell said, alluding to F1's usual Friday evening drivers' briefing.

"Everybody’s got different personalities. I guess it’s the American way of doing things, doing sport.

"Personally, probably not for me. But you know, that’s just my personal opinion. I’m here to race you know, I’m not here for the show.

"I’m a driver, I’m here to win, and I guess we have to roll with it. It is distracting because, you know, we were on the grid for half an hour in all of our overalls in the sun.

"I don’t think there are any other sports in the world that 30 minutes before you go out to do your business that you’re out there in the sun, all the cameras on you, and making a bit of a show of it.

"Can appreciate that in the entertainment world, but as I said, we only want the best for the sport. We’re open to changes, but I guess we wouldn’t want to see it every weekend."

• Miami GP: Pre-race atmosphere in pictures

Asked for his opinion on the pre-race event, McLaren's Lando Norris was adamant that "none of the drivers like it".

"We do a lot of things. It's probably the only sport where we're so close to the fans," he said.

"We do so much publicity for the fans. As drivers, we all just want to sit down and focus on what we need to focus on and not do so much TV and everything.

"But it's a business at the end of the day, so it's what we've got to do. But adding more and more stuff like this, no driver likes it.

"We've said, 'You can't just keep putting things in and making us do more and more’.

"We do so much. There's a limit to how much we should do. We are here to still focus on doing the job of what we're doing and not just be in front of a camera the whole day."

Fernando Alonso, F1's seasoned veteran, wondered why the sport opted to make its American fans feel more privileged than others.

"If we have to do it, I think we need to remove some of the other stuff we are doing like the parade lap or something like that, because it's really in the middle of the preparation with the engineers and the strategy meeting.

"If we do it, we have to do it everywhere because I don't think that the Miami fans are better than the Italian fans in Imola or in Spain or in Mexico or in Japan.

"We need to make everyone with the same rules and the same show before the race."

Max Verstappen expressed his preference for remaining out of the limelight before a race while Charles Leclerc advocated for a shorted ceremonial, but Lewis Hamilton was a dissenting voice mong the drivers.

"I think it was great. I love the sun!" said the seven-time F1 world champion.

"I think it is cool that the sport is continuously growing and evolving and not just doing the same stuff that they’ve done in the past.

"They are trying new things; they are trying to improve the show and I am in full support of it.

"I grew up listening to LL Cool J and he was there. That was cool.

"Then you look over and you’ve got Will.i.am. who is an incredible artist. You’ve got Serena and Venus [Williams, tennis champions] standing there.

"I thought it was cool, no issue from me."

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