Organisers of the proposed Miami Grand Prix have revealed an updated track layout, in an effort to appease local protests to the planned event, while the weekend schedule will be altered.
Formula 1’s owners have long targeted a second grand prix in the United States, to run in addition to the current event, which is held at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
Miami has been pinpointed as a target destination but early proposals for a race around the Biscayne Bay district, initially hoped to debut in 2019, were eventually scrapped.
Instead new proposals were laid out for a race to take place in the vicinity of the Hard Rock Stadium, owned by the Miami Dolphins, whose Vice Chairman Tom Garfinkel is leading the Miami Grand Prix project.
An initial layout, proposed last October, incorporated a stretch of 199th Street but a revised layout was issued on Tuesday, excluding the use of public roads in its entirety.
This came after several meetings took place during the intervening period, which included Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Formula 1 officials, Garfinkel, Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver G. Gilbert III, Commissioner Barbara J. Jordan, local homeowner groups, faith leaders and members of the community.
Stadium and Formula 1 officials also provided substantial scientific evidence proving that there are no credible health threats to local residents caused by the racing.
In another development race organisers have agreed that Friday’s practice action will not begin until at least 15:00 local time.
This is in order to prevent any potential disruption to local schools at the arena where next month’s Super Bowl will take place.
“The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix is another example of a world-class event coming to our region,” said Garfinkel.
“Like the Super Bowl, an event like this provides a unique opportunity to proudly showcase our region to the world.
“We want these events to benefit everyone in the region, including local Miami Gardens residents, and we look forward to working with Superintendent Carvalho, Dr. Steve Gallon, and the District to bring innovative STEM programming to local students, such as ‘Formula 1 in Schools,’ a global engineering competition.”
The announcements come ahead of Wednesday’s Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners meeting, where the Commission will vote on a measure, put forth by Commissioner Barbara Jordan, which attempts to revoke Hard Rock Stadium’s current zoning rights in an effort to prevent Formula 1 racing.
Formula 1 remains hopeful that the inaugural Miami Grand Prix can be held in 2021.
Liberty Media is still seeking to expand the current calendar, with Saudi Arabia and a second event in China understood to be high on the agenda.
