MIAMI DICE
FORMULA 1’S INAUGURAL MIAMI RACE THIS WEEKEND is arguably the most eagerly anticipated event on the 2022 world championship schedule, representing the first time that two grands prix will be held in the United States in the same year since Dallas and Detroit were on the calendar almost 40 years ago.
The all-new Miami International Autodrome is situated 13 miles north from one of America’s most vibrant cities, and in this Drive to Survive era it’s a much anticipated event by Miamians. Tickets quickly sold out – the cheapest grandstand seat on race day was priced at over $600, but they’re now north of at least twice that.
Racing in the shadow of the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins NFL and University of Miami college football teams, the event is bankrolled by real estate magnate and philanthropist Stephen M Ross. He owns both the stadium and the Dolphins team, and created a new company with his CEO Tom Garfinkel called South Florida Motorsports. Garfinkel, an ex-Chip Ganassi Racing executive, is ‘managing partner’ for this event and brought in Richard Cregan – the former Toyota World Rally Championship and F1 manager who has successfully overseen F1 circuit projects in Abu Dhabi and Sochi – as CEO.
To create the track, SFM and Formula 1 enlisted Apex Circuit Design, the Buckinghamshire-based company best known for delivering Dubai Autodrome in 2004 and dozens of race tracks around the world since.
Apex has been involved since Ross’s first efforts to bring F1 to a street
