The CEO and President of Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, Tom Garfinkel, has released an official image of the new Miami GP F1 track layout.
A proposed layout was released in October 2019 by Miami Herald, which showed details of the new F1 track layout around the Hard Rock Stadium. Fast forward to January 2020, Garfinkel has made it official on Tuesday, with a slight tweak.
Between October and January, the Miami GP had been scrapped and also saved, thanks to Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who used his veto power against the Miami-Dade County Commission, where he got more days to convince the residents for the race to continue.
There is a strong opposition still, led by commissioner Barbara Jordan, with road closure and pollution being the key points. It was for the same reason that the race in Downtown Miami was scrapped and the alternate venue – at Hard Rock – is being challenged too.
Speaking about the new layout, Garfinkel stated: “The F1 Miami Grand Prix will showcase Miami-Dade and Miami Gardens to the World. See new track – world-class racing w/o using 199th St, and no racing during school hours. We hope the County Commission will support our effort to deliver this huge global event to you.”
The deal between F1 and Garfinkel was agreed principally, with the date set as May 2021 for the first-ever Miami GP. And with the slight tweak to the track layout, it seems like efforts has been made to not disturb the residents as much as possible.
In addition to layout where the stretch of Northwest 199th St has been eliminated, the organisers have also agreed changes in the race schedule where no race action will be permitted before 3 PM local time on Friday, so as to not disturb the school students.
“The F1 Miami GP 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 ‘F1 in Schools,’ a global engineering competition.”
In addition, race organisers will be launching a small business vendor program, which will identify qualified, local, and diverse small businesses to provide goods and services in connection with the F1 Miami GP.
It remains to be seen if the County Commission feels good about it or not ahead of Wednesday meet, because the pollution point – whether air or noise – remains as big block, despite the increased efficiency seen in the sport, unlike the times before the hybrid era.
Here’s the last update on F1 Miami GP