Why Miami’s mistake generators set F1 track apart

Eau Rouge is a classic example of a corner that can only be appreciated up close – especially when you are stood at the bottom and looking up and above at the towering Raidillon peak.

But there are some circuits that, while looking good from trackside, can only be properly appreciated from where they are designed to be viewed best from: the cockpit.

The Miami F1 circuit is one of those – as Friday morning’s Pirelli hot laps session offered an alternative perspective that didn’t revolve around admiring yachts on a fake marina or listening to a DJ at the Hard Rock Beach Club.

Sitting alongside F1 safety car driver Bernd Maylander in the 577bhp Mercedes AMG GT R, as he powered his way around the track, the perception of Miami’s twists and turns feel completely different to how they are from the other side of the catch fencing.

The opening sequence of corners comes at you thick and fast, with the walls looking especially close as Maylander tries to maximise the momentum through the critical sequence of Turns 4/5/6.

But there are two areas of the track that can certainly only really be appreciated from inside the car.

The first is the long left-handed Turn 7 which runs around the outside of the fake marina.

Looking to the left as you swoop around the corner, it’s pretty hard to spot the yachts and the vinyl water as they are raised up much higher than the track.

But drivers won’t want to be looking in that direction anyway because the complex is extremely tricky – and full focus is needed on getting the exit right.

Turn 7’s duration appears on paper to be similar to Turn 8 at Istanbul, as drivers try to maximise speed throughout the long, long turn.

But while Turkey’s Turn 8 has a triple apex approach, Miami’s Turn 7 is much more complex.

It tightens up on the exit and the wall comes closer to the track as drivers attempt to point their car towards the long flat-out run on the exit. It means a much wider line throughout, with more of a…