While F1 hints that another street race, this time in China, would be interesting, they seem to be slowly cooling off the notion of a street race in Miami. After residence in Miami fought back over the possibility of hosting an F1 race in the downtown streets, the discussion has changed to a piece of property next to billionaire Stephen Ross’s Miami Dolphins football stadium.
The CEO of the Miami Dolphins and the stadium, Ted Garfinkel, said:
“We want to do something great for Miami,” said Garfinkel. “But unfortunately when we finally received the detailed report of what it would take to build out a street circuit each year, the multiple weeks of traffic and construction disruption to the port, Bayfront Park and the residents and businesses on Biscayne Boulevard would have been significant; which Steve and I felt defeated the purpose.
“A lot would have to happen for us to be able to do it, but we have over 250 acres of land so adding an F1 race to where Hard Rock Stadium and the Miami Open sit means we can create a world-class racing circuit that is unencumbered by existing infrastructure.
“It also means better ingress and egress, better amenities, unprecedented sight-lines, and opportunities for the best hospitality anywhere in racing.
“We only want to do it if we can create world-class racing, a great fan experience, and a lot of value for Miami.”
I’m not sure if the stadium plays any role in this proposed circuit but looking at the property, it is hard to not get the impression that it could become a parking lot race like Caesar’s Palace was back in the day.
Of course Ross could spend serious cash and build an all-new racing circuit on the expanse of land there and you never know, it may turn out kind of interesting but it would take a lot of cash and time to complete. It would be a very significant investment to be sure.
In the end, at least it isn’t another street race and that’s a positive sign in my book but I think the $200-300 million investment in transforming a portion of the 250 acres into a world-class racing facility that is FIA approved is a tall order. You never know, Ross might do it.
Hat Tip: Autosport
It just seems a bit backwards after years of pushing for permanent venues for F1 in the USA that are regressing to stadium car parks and poor street circuit layouts when it comes to a second event in the nation.
I hope if it happens that it ends up more like the transformation of the Olympic Park into an F1 venue in Sochi or the transformation of Sydney’s Olympic Park into a race venue than like Indycar at Houston stadium was.