Last-ditch lawsuit aims for Miami GP cancellation

Miami residents are having one last try at forcing the cancellation of the inaugural Formula 1 race in their city.

The Miami Grand Prix race weekend is scheduled for May 6-8, when it will become F1’s second venue in the United States – with Las Vegas the third from next year onwards.

But many Florida residents have long since been opposed to the grand prix on the grounds of “intolerable” noise pollution, and even with just a few weeks to go and final preparations taking place at the circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium they are not giving up the fight to have it called off.

TRACK PAINTING HAS BEGUN AT THE @F1 @cryptocom MIAMI GRAND PRIX pic.twitter.com/oepjkxhA11

— F1 Miami Grand Prix (@f1miami) April 13, 2022

As reported by the Miami Herald, a lawsuit from Miami Gardens residents, led by Betty Ferguson, the former Miami-Dade County Commissioner, is seeking to block the grand prix.

A decision is set to be made early next week, although the Miami Herald quote Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Alan Fine as having expressed “frustration” that a ruling will have to be made in such a tight timeframe.

The basis for the residents’ lawsuit is that the noise from the race would “cause severe disruption and physical harm to Miami Gardens residents”.

They quote an engineering firm’s forecast that noise of potentially 97 decibels for homes up to a distance of 2.5 miles from the circuit would be experienced – “similar to the sound levels produced by a chainsaw”.

The grand prix is still awaiting the issuing of its special events permit by the city, with Judge Fine saying: “Numerous courts before me have resisted the temptation to jump into something that hasn’t been issued yet. Shouldn’t I wait to see if the city manager issues the