Changes are being considered to the proposed Miami Grand Prix track which could hold a round of the 2019 Formula 1 season.
The race promoters have been forced to revise its original plan for a Miami Formula 1 track having been denied permission to use an area of public space known as ‘Parcel B’.The Miami Herald reported the new route will avoid both ‘Parcel B’ and the AmericanAirlines Arena to the north, and instead run through Bayfront Park to the south. The RaceFans image above shows a potential route for the course based on the available roads through the park (in green, with the previous route shown in blue).
Formula 1 has indicated the proposed race could attract up to 200,000 spectators and will require 35,000 hotel rooms. It estimated the potential economic impact to the area as $700 million according to the Herald.
The successful opposition to the use of ‘Parcel B’ for the F1 track was led by Audrey Edmonson, the country commissioner for District 3 of Miami-Dade country. The changes to the track plan would mean it no longer runs through her district.
However some significant local opposition to the race remains. A lawyer representing group of residents sent a letter last week ordering the city to cease its negotiations with F1, and promoters of other major events, due to the disruption they cause.
Last month the City of Miami Commission passed a resolution to begin formal discussions over holding a round of the world championship from 2019.
Miami Grand Prix circuit location
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StephenH
25th June 2018, 23:09
Still awful.
gus maia
25th June 2018, 23:18
How “raceable” is that bridge?
DaveD (@daved)
26th June 2018, 1:03
I was just looking at Google earth with a resolution of about 20 feet. It looks like the bridge is about 55-60 feet wide so I guess there’s plenty of room for passing even with safety barriers on both sides. Still, just a really odd venue.
rick2k9 (@rick2k9)
26th June 2018, 5:54
It may very well be that cars can be side by side, but I wonder how they would handle collisions on the bridge. There may not be enough room for safety crew / equipment to retrieve cars. Will they bring out a truck to tow cars the length of the bridge? If that’s the case, any accident on the bridge would bring out lengthy safety cars. Maybe they have some other ideas to address this.
gunusugeh (@gunusugeh)
26th June 2018, 6:06
@rick2k9 : there is a road beside the railway (see the moveable bridge), they could put the crane there
BasCB (@bascb)
26th June 2018, 7:02
Guys, actually the most easy way to get a crane there, is on a floating ponton – that way the crane can be big enough to have a good reach @rick2k9, @gunusugeh
PMR
25th June 2018, 23:25
That’s even worse than the first proposal. And Looks like a really boring track for the drivers. Why are they so hell bent on using that stupid bridge.
DaveD (@daved)
26th June 2018, 0:54
Because it looks really exciting from space and some promoter saw it and got too excited to use anything more than their brain stem. Of course any use of the pre-frontal cortex for decision making is: “a bridge too far” LOLOLOLOL
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Klon (@)
25th June 2018, 23:28
NIMBYs are a plague upon this world – and people wonder why more and more Grands Prix are in dictatorships nowadays.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
25th June 2018, 23:35
@klon If I may play devil’s advocate, isn’t it unrealistic to expect that everyone in a city the size of this is going to want a grand prix on their doorstep?
Just because these people don’t want there to be a race doesn’t mean it won’t happen. But surely in a democracy their views should be represented in the same way the views of those who want the race are being.
To use a race from the current calendar as an example, a lot of people in Melbourne opposed the race at Albert Park when it was introduced, yet it’s been there for over two decades at this point.
Theoddkiwi (@theoddkiwi)
26th June 2018, 1:31
Interestingly the last couple of years in Melbourne the protestors and number counters that would stand at the gate diligently counting fans have all but disappeared at least from the gates I have entered ( they tired to use their own numbers to counter the official attendance figures). The last two years crowds have been huge and I really think the reduced volume of the current generation of cars has helped.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
26th June 2018, 12:24
That’s a lot of assumptions in only a few sentences.
JCost (@jcost)
26th June 2018, 8:33
+1.
George (@george)
26th June 2018, 0:25
@klon
This doesn’t bother me so much as people moving to existing tracks and complaining about the noise. I probably wouldn’t be very happy if someone wanted to build a racetrack on my doorstep either.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
26th June 2018, 2:29
I’m a fan and I wouldn’t want this garbage in my neighborhood. I get this. The people I don’t get are the ones that moved near Monza and then have the balls to complain.
anon
26th June 2018, 8:07
@darryn, there can sometimes be instances where the criticism is justified – I recall that, a few years ago, Spa faced a challenge over its noise pollution levels. Whilst there were many here who did predictably say “why did people move there?”, it turned out that the circuit owners were in the wrong because they were actually breaking the law (they were running more races and therefore exceeding the permitted noise levels for many more days than they were allowed to, and that was the reason for the complaints).
There certainly is a difference when it comes to an urban environment though, and you are right that it is hardly surprising that there are people who are upset at the prospect of the disruption that a race would cause.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th June 2018, 8:59
@darryn Now that I do have a problem with – see also Brands Hatch.
nose
26th June 2018, 14:20
Silverstone too, I believe causing the end of the Britcar 24h Race
nase
26th June 2018, 18:25
A double take had to be done.
James (@alebelly)
25th June 2018, 23:37
@klon, Miami has a very large demographic of older retired folks, Florida is a retirement destination for many on the east cost
ColdFly (@)
26th June 2018, 0:52
Miami’s residents are relatively young, @alebelly.
The median age is less than in London for instance, and Monagasks could be the parents of Miami residents.
Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
26th June 2018, 1:01
Miami is young, Ft Lauderdale is family. Older folks in southern Florida are in Palm Beach, Treasure Coast, SW Florida (Naples/Ft Myers) or the Florida Keys.
Strontium (@strontium)
25th June 2018, 23:40
It’s completely impossible to judge a circuit properly on a map like that. At a first glance this layout looks better but we will have to see the proposal in far more detail before coming to conclusions
Agg
26th June 2018, 0:38
Track looks mega. Make it happen.
ColdFly (@)
26th June 2018, 1:02
Why not have a race track from Miami to Key West? One year one direction; next year the other.
MacLeod (@macleod)
26th June 2018, 7:52
Do you know the state of the highways there? I was there on holiday (Florida) i never seen so many putholes in roads in a 1 world nation. Maintenance is no done deal in the US no one want to pay for that new things no problem money enough.
Tampa F1 Fan
26th June 2018, 1:20
Please, please bring F1 to Florida! The last F1 race I attended was the infamous and insane Dallas Grand Prix back in 1984….so, so long ago…. Ever since I’ve been hooked on F1 and would love to attend a race.
(FYI: Hurricane season started here on June 1st and right now it is hot enough to “fry an egg on the pavement”.) November?? Sounds GOOD!!
Jere (@jerejj)
26th June 2018, 11:30
@Tampa F1 Fan It’s proposed for October, but TBH, June isn’t really any different from that month temperature-wise. The respective average high and daily mean temperatures of these two months are nearly the same (with a difference of 1.4-1.6 degrees Celcius only).
Gary
26th June 2018, 7:06
Liberty’s vision of formula one is a series of Street festivals in major cities hosting large numbers of assorted A and B-list celebrities, where Liberty can charge poseurs thousands of dollars per head to see and be seen. Each weekend festival will include a parade demonstration of F1 cars driving around whatever “race circuit” can be cobbled together although these race parades are secondary to the core activities of music, eating, drinking and carousing. Pathetic.
72defender (@72defender)
26th June 2018, 8:27
Well said!
VMaxMuffin (@vmaxmuffin)
26th June 2018, 12:10
I quite like this version of the Miami track, I think it would be hard to beat because it hits basically all the points of the brief. I am assuming it will run anti-clockwise because that is what would make sense, looking at the layout.
1. It has plenty of long straights for passing, 3 definite passing opportunities (each end of the bridge and the main boulevard, which I assume will be the pit straight). There is also a potential 4th opportunity at
2. It avoids closing too many streets (the bridge will be closed no matter what layout they choose, because they really want to use it, and so will the main Boulevard – the only other closed roads are just those surrounding the park) so it’s (relatively) good for the locals.
3. It has a good place for the pits (on the main Boulevard).
4. Only contains 3 “standard” 90-degree turns that plague many street circuits (Singapore and Baku notably), at each end of the pit straight and on the run down to what I would see as Turn 3 (the easternmost corner other than the hairpin after the bridge).
5. Has a nice more flowy/technical section from (what I’m calling) Turn 3 through to the sweeping right on to the bridge, which all circuits need to be appealing in addition to passing opportunities.
6. It should be reasonably good for spectators with most of the track (other than the long arm across the bridge) centred around a park area. To be clear I’m talking about convenience (ease of walking about, room for ameneties etc) rather than viewing, obviously that depends on where they build stands.
7. It fits the bill for the “scenic” requirement, incorporating the bridge, the park, and a small section right along the shoreline.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
27th June 2018, 0:25
I completely agree with you!
I just don’t understand the negativity in these comments. It looks like a racy layout with several passing zones, a relative dearth of 90º corners, and yes, the bridge, harbor, and the park make for a spectacular venue (check out the aerial shots of the area in Motorsport’s track preview). What more could you want from a street circuit?
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
26th June 2018, 12:35
I think it looks awful.
Erzen (@)
26th June 2018, 13:05
What’s really concerning is how much the residents seem to be against it. Keith mentioned the similar case of Albert Park, but as far as i can find on Google, it says they just had protests and rallies, whereas the organizers are bracing themselves for lawsuits and financial compensations from and for Miami residents, which begs the questions: at what point will it be too much for the sport? How much of the investment will be spent compensating the residents instead of building the circuit? Americans have a notorious reputation of not shying from lawsuits against big companies with outrageous financial demands and i don’t see this to be a different situation. I have always been and will always be pro a few more races on the calendar, but it has to be done in a healthy manner, and so far the Miami GP isn’t looking like it’s happening in a healthy way.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
26th June 2018, 13:21
Wow. That’s even worse. Come on guys, don’t bring F1 here.
Mark Verstappen (@markverstappen)
26th June 2018, 16:51
Looks better already! Somehow always liked the track CART used in Miami Bayfront Park, and this is using quite a lot of parts of that.
Michael Brown (@)
26th June 2018, 18:08
How about no?
nase
26th June 2018, 18:36
That is a sensible question.