[Official] Miami Grand Prix 2024: Round 6 of 24 - Grand Prix Weekend Thread

[Born Racer]

This will be the third installment in the Miami Grand Prix's F1 history. F1 is now well and truly becoming established in the US, although still has a curious relationship with it. The opposition to the Andretti entry leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Nonetheless, with three Grands Prix run in the country last year, Liberty clearly intend to keep putting on events there.

The history

Some of the earliest racing in Florida began in 1926, when the AAA (American Automobile Association) ran an event on a board track, the Fulford-Miami Speedway, which was a banked oval using wooden planks. The name was the Carl G.Fisher Trophy Race and the victor of the 300-mile event was Pete DePaolo in a Dusenberg. The circuit was destroyed in a hurricane a mere seven months later. The name of 'Grand Prix of Miami' has been attributed to this in various places on the net, but I could find no source which confirmed this to not be erroneous. Can anyone assist? The 'Grand Prix of Miami' designation has, however, used for IMSA, Grand Am and Indycar.

In Formula 1 terms, though, Florida, in fact, hosted the first United States Grand Prix to count for the championship, with the exception of the Indy 500 (which featured from 1950 to 1960), when a race was run at Sebring in 1959. Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks all entered the events in title contention. Moss led away off the start, while Brooks was hit by Wolfgang von Trips. Moss retired on Lap 5 with a transmission failure. There was a strange climax of the race when Brabham had some problems and waved Bruce McLaren through, who upon seeing the other Cooper slow, lifted himself, only just speeding up in time to take over first and keep the lead over Maurice Trintignant who was runner-up in his Cooper. Brooks just beat Brabham to the podium, but the Australian was drivers' champion and Cooper constructors' champions. The race was also unusual for seeing the Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser midget of Rodger Ward take part. The event was a financial failure, though, and the promoter took the event to Riverside in California the following season.

Plans were afoot for a Miami downtown race earlier this century with the Biscayne Boulevard area touted, but these came to nothing (but an F1 Fan Festival there), and in 2019 the new plans were announced.

Max Verstappen won the inaugural Grand Prix, from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc and the latter's Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz. Last year, even a 9th-place start couldn't prevent the world champion from pipping Sergio Pérez (who had qualified first). Fernando Alonso completed the podium.


The track



The circuit, Miami International Autodrome, is set around the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins, and features a 5.412 km layout, with 19 turns and three DRS zones.

Turn 1 is a slow 90-degree right, before the track segues into a faster and more flowing section, with the left at 2 and long Turn 3, before drivers bring the car to the right in order to chuck it into the fast left-hander Turn 4, which is swiftly followed by the switch to 5, before the triple-apex 6, 7 and 8 complex brings us to the end of Sector 1. There's the potential for a number of lines here as they approach the end of this complex, perhaps hugging the inside or keeping it to the right for 8, and the risk of a lock-up as braking is completed under turning, as at Sakhir.

Now it's all fast sweepers before the big stop at Turn 11 with the 90-left and then the more curved 12 before dipping into 13. Climbing uphill into the clumsy 14 and 15 left-right chicane, drivers meet the crest and then speed downhill towards the more 90-left at 16. This takes them into Sector 3 and after a massive straight and a big stop at 17, the quicker 18 and 19 vault them back onto the start-finish straight.

A one-stop strategy continued to be favoured last year.

One big talking point this year will be one of the most important people in F1 history - Adrian Newey. Is there anywhere he won't be linked with? This year, Miami will also have extra racing, with the addition of a Sprint.


Other information

Circuit length: 5.412km
Number of laps: 57
Race distance: 308.326km
Race lap record: 1:29.708 (Max Verstappen - Red Bull-Honda - 2023)
Dry weather tyre compounds: C2, C3 & C4
First Miami Grand Prix: 2022

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