Welcome to Miami…as F1 finally comes of age in US

Miami has hosted the Super Bowl an unprecedented 11 times, but now it is coming with wheels on — the Super Bowl of motorsport, Formula One.

Over the past few years, driven by F1’s current American owner and the Netflix series Drive to Survive, the pinnacle of racing has — after 70 years of trying and failing — finally found a foothold in the USA. This is to be proven beyond all doubt this weekend, as Miami hosts its first grand prix. The sport is exploding over here.

It’s the second US race on the current calendar, with Miami and Austin to be joined by Las Vegas next year, and marks a significant tack to the west, the Far East having been a focus during the twilight years of Bernie Ecclestone’s reign, which ended in 2017.

So much has changed since Liberty Media took over. Now the sport has a more outward look, proactively engaging with young fans, new markets, streaming services and commercial opportunities in areas such as cryptocurrency. It’s carving out a fresh image, promoting equality and sustainability and other causes (even though it continues to race in countries with dubious human rights records and accept money from polluting corporations). As a showcase, Miami is considered so important in doing this that the city is paying no contractual fee.

Both the British Grand Prix and Austin pay a reported £20million-a-year each in hosting rights. Individual races in the Middle East pay up to £50m. Miami pays nothing, and the only other location to get that deal is the traditional blue-riband race, Monaco. The Principality, which held its inaugural grand prix in 1929, may find itself unceremoniously usurped if this weekend is as glamorous as promised.

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