World Champion Lewis Hamilton has suggested that Formula 1 chiefs should consult drivers regarding the layout of new tracks, expressing ambivalence towards the proposed Miami layout.
Miami is set to be added to next year’s Formula 1 calendar in an October date, with a provisional track layout drawn up by city officials.
But Hamilton, having seen the layout, believes that there are “better locations” in the city in which to place the circuit, and reckons drivers should be consulted.
“I don’t really get it, for example in golf you get all the great golfers designing golf courses, we’ve not got any of the top racing drivers in history, they’ve never designed a race track,” he said.
“Not that we are designers or anything but our input. Miami is a super cool place and then I saw the layout and it was like ‘nah’.
“But it could be fun. You’ve got two of the longest straights but maybe when we drive it, it could be fun. I dread the thought of a street circuit like we had with Valencia, that wasn’t a great street circuit. It can be a hit or miss, but maybe it’s a hit.
“I don’t want to get an assumption before we’ve even driven it. But I’m sure as drivers we can give an insight into it and I know Miami quite well. There’s a few better locations to put the track for example.”
McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne expressed a similar viewpoint, commenting: “I think it’ll be great to have a race there.
“The US has always been a territory where you want to promote the sport a bit more, Miami is a great location for that as well.
“I don’t know about the track layout, have seen the proposal, I can’t really visually imagine where it is exactly or how it’ll look like, but looking at the shape of it, it doesn’t look very attractive so far, maybe something we could change there.”
