Miami GP planning big expansion to grow beyond F1

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The Miami International Autodrome is aiming to build on its success in Formula 1 with an ambitious year-round programme of motor racing events using multiple different configurations.

The Miami Grand Prix staged its inaugural race in 2022, seeking to take advantage of one of the most glamorous holiday destinations in the United States.

The waterside venue is set in the Hard Rock Stadium complex in Miami Gardens, home to the NFL’s famous Miami Dolphins franchise, boasting a 5.41km layout featuring 19 corners, three straights and three DRS zones.

But the operators are planning to expand further the facilities to add new track configurations varying in length from a 19-turn 4.5km version to a shorter 2.30km loop.

Illustrations of the proposed new circuits have been provided by the developers to support their application for road closures around the area to start work on building the new circuits.

Read also: Miami GP organisers to consider holding night race

“This is an exciting time to be a motorsports enthusiast here in South Florida,” Miami Grand Prix Managing Partner Tom Garfinkel explained.

“Our investment into the facility and construction of the inner loop creates five track configurations worthy of the world’s most elite drivers.

"[It] allows us to engage with the growing motorsports community of South Florida while also respecting the impact to local residents and businesses," he continued.

“There’s a thriving car culture here in South Florida and this investment enables us to better serve this growing group of automotive enthusiasts, as well as utilising our campus for more community programming.

He added that would also be education and career opportunities for local youth and student populations in the Miami metro area.

The Miami GP venue will also host the Ferrari Racing Days event on the new Extended Marina Loop layout next year, two weeks after the 2025 Miami GP.

The headline attraction will be the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli, as well as the Ferrari’s exclusive F1 Clienti, XX Programmes, Sport Prototipi Clienti and Club Competizioni GT programmes.

Next year's Miami GP will continue to use the existing circuit, but organisers have suggested that the race might be moving in terms of time in sometime int he future with a possible switch to a night race after 2025.

That follows on from the successful introduction of the Las Vegas GP which is held at night under floodlights, with Miami organisers getting similar ideas for their own event going forward.

But that certainly won't happen in time for 2025, nor are there any plens change the homologated circuit that the Miami GP users.

This year's race saw Lando Norris claim his maiden F1 race win with McLaren in a big victory over Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at the start of May.

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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.