Did the Miami Grand Prix live up to the hype? American journalist @RJOconnell attended Formula 1’s long-awaited second US round for RaceFans last weekend.
Thursday
Arriving early Thursday afternoon after an early morning flight from Connecticut, picking up my credentials, and boarding the shuttle to the track, I spent the first minutes in the Miami International Autodrome eagerly exploring the venue, snapping photographs, and absorbing the scale and the spectacle of the first Miami Grand Prix.
Hard Rock Stadium served as the hub of this venue – this home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins has been the host of multiple Super Bowls, and the promoters of the Miami Grand Prix promised to deliver a Super Bowl-calibre event. The hospitality suites at the north end of the stadium were transformed into a massive media centre, letting in enough of the Florida sunshine to cure even the most brutal Vitamin D shortages.
Naturally, the first thing I did upon arrival was to do what every Formula 1 pundit, influencer, and jokester wanted to do ever since this part of the campus was announced: Walk to MIA Marina at turn eight and attempt to walk on the water of the artificial yacht harbour. Sadly, there was no way for me to walk on the “fake water” by then without stern disapproval at best, so I kept to the artificial docks.
Was it a tacky facsimile of the proposed Miami bayfront race that we never got from years ago? Was it a metaphor for Formula 1’s elitist reputation? Yes, and hell yes. But at the same time, it was inoffensive, and the novelty wore off long before the weekend was over, at least from a comedic standpoint.
A few drivers and team principals made themselves available to the writers and journalists. Pierre Gasly was still beaming with happiness after meeting basketball legend Michael Jordan earlier in the week. Maybe Gasly could have channelled some of MJ’s ruthless competitive nature over the weekend. Tsunoda was jealous that he couldn’t be there, but wearing…