The heavy-hitters that have brought F1’s new race to fruition

As Formula 1 stumbles blinking into the sunlight from under the shadow of COVID-19, the world championship enters its most ambitious season with a new jewel in its crown. A second grand prix in the United States – in Miami, capital of 
the Sunshine State of Florida – and one which features an almost unprecedented level of partnership between Formula One Management and the race promoter.

“The US is a key growth market for us,” was F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali’s succinct summary when the race was confirmed last April. With a Las Vegas event also under consideration, you have to believe it will not be too long before America can boast a trio of events.

Students of Formula 1 will recall that Bernie Ecclestone long held ambitions to stage multiple events in the USA. It’s been a somewhat tortuous journey, but the importance of the American market has never been in doubt.

Short-lived events at Riverside and Sebring at the end of the 1950s were followed by two decades of racing at Watkins Glen in the state of New York. Then followed an unsatisfactory series of experiments ranging from the car park of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas to the square-blocked street circuits of Dallas, Detroit and Phoenix. Only Long Beach touched F1’s heart, but the lack of money and commitment failed to secure it in the longer term.

Indianapolis held so much promise in 2000. Anyone who stood on the starting grid for that inaugural event will never forget the scale of the place and its packed grandstands. That was before F1 committed commercial suicide with the ill-tempered, mismanaged and disgraceful spectacle that was served up in 2005, when all Michelin-tyred cars aborted the race citing safety concerns. It’s a mystery why Indy’s Tony George allowed F1 to return for two more years.

The arrival of Austin’s Circuit of The Americas has given F1 a permanent track, a city that gets behind the race and a fanbase that supports the event. Though questions are often raised over its future, it seems unlikely that COTA can fail to capitalise on America’s new-found love affair with F1.

Miami GP track

Photo by: Miami GP

Why the need for a second race? Simply put, the demand is there. While the size of F1’s fan base in the world’s largest economy has always been characterised as small but passionate, its commercial clout has always been significant. Now, at a time of surging growth in US-based sponsorship deals – think Cognizant (Aston Martin) and Oracle (Red Bull) – on top of the dramatic growth in the fan base thanks to the Netflix effect, Miami is set to ride F1’s new wave of popularity.

It has taken time for the planets to align. When David Coulthard drove a Red Bull through the Lincoln Tunnel joining New Jersey and the city of New York in 2012, the stunt was held against the backdrop of a much-anticipated Grand Prix of America scheduled for 2013. With Austin having heralded the start of a new era, the prospect of having a second race set against the backdrop of the New York skyline was an enticing one – particularly as it would form a double-header with the ever-popular Canadian GP in nearby Montreal.

The proposed event, set to take place on a Port Imperial street circuit, never came to pass. Despite the best efforts of promoter Leo Hindery Jr, a former gentleman racer at Le Mans with a stellar career in private equity, the finances were never quite there. Inevitably, Ecclestone’s binary approach to matters of finance meant that the event soon went from ‘on’ to ‘off’.

Public and corporate demand for the race has been off-the-scale, with 275,000 people pre-registering for 80,000 tickets. The initial wave sold out in 40 minutes

F1’s focus shifted to Miami, accelerated by Liberty Media’s takeover of F1’s commercial rights in late 2016 and the arrival of Americans Chase Carey and Sean Bratches to lead the commercial charge. Within months options were being considered.

Vicente Betancourt, Miami’s film and culture administrator, visited the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix to discuss F1’s interest in staging an event. The following November, Bratches reciprocated with a visit to Miami, meeting with Betancourt and City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

Initial thoughts included using the seafront FTX Arena as a base with cars traversing a causeway to reach Dodge Island before looping back through the Port Miami Tunnel – a route which the Miami Herald soon described as ‘a non-starter.’  With the Miami Port authorities lukewarm and Betancourt telling local media: “I was very blunt with Formula 1 and said we’d love to entertain it but we have no money”, that initial discussion seemed doomed to fail.

Liberty remained undaunted, and for good reason. Although Miami is not even in the top 40 of American cities in terms of population size, it substitutes quantity with quality. A 2018 ‘rich cities’ report by Swiss banking group UBS stated that Miami was second only to Los Angeles and eighth in the world.

The 3.36-mile temporary circuit contains 19 corners, penned by Apex Design

Photo by: Miami GP

One reason is that its bustling commercial and financial centres act as a hub for Latin America. A swathe of companies prefer to run their south American operations from a cosmopolitan, stable US city in which 70% of the population identify as being of Hispanic origin.

Florida’s sub-tropical climate and relatively low tax regime is attractive, particularly to the mega-wealthy. This has driven a sustained growth in luxury developments. This includes those offered by former Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine, who flies in from his private island in the Bahamas, 200 miles by seaplane from the very Miami waterfront which F1 initially targeted.

As the plans for a bay area street track met with practical, logistical and political issues, attention shifted to other metropolitan areas. Enter Stephen Ross, billionaire real estate developer, serial entrepreneur and owner of both the Miami Dolphins NFL team and the Hard Rock Stadium. His deal to buy the Dolphins and its stadium was concluded in two tranches totalling US$1.1billion during 2008 and 2009, securing for Ross 95% of Florida’s oldest professional sports team.

It was around this time that he also invested in Kangaroo Media, the company behind the FanVision consoles which enabled spectators at sports events to watch live content and replays. It looked like a game changer. Even F1 struck a deal to offer the technology to racegoers. But the growth in live-streaming, the computing power of modern mobile phones and a plethora of apps – F1TV included – sounded its death knell. COVID-19 killed it off completely.

That investment, however, illustrates Ross’s passion for sports-related deals, combining his interests in telecommunications, media and content creation. He speaks Liberty’s language. That one of his companies had already touched upon the world of F1 comes as no surprise. Nor the fact that he was well known to Liberty Media long before its takeover of F1. They both invested in the Drone Racing League, for example.

Ross and John Malone, founder and Chairman of Liberty, have much in common. Both are aged 81, both are billionaires, both are financial supporters of the Republican Party and influential contributors to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Perhaps the only surprise is that it has taken until now for their sports businesses to find a way to work together. Even if these things take time, patience and a great deal of money make them happen.

Although Miami’s City Commission gave the go ahead for a deal with F1 to be negotiated with Downtown Miami in the summer of 2018, Mayor Suarez announced a delay in the process as more input was sought from residents and businesses in the port area. Resistance to the event included a small group of residents who appointed a lawyer and demanded the city cease its negotiations with F1. The solution, when it came, involved moving the location of the race 14 miles north of the Miami Downtown area to Miami Gardens city, home to Ross’s Hard Rock Stadium complex. It is here that the Miami International Autodrome was conceived.

The Hard Rock Stadium is the Miami track’s focal point

Photo by: Miami GP

Once again there was local opposition. Miami Gardens campaigners Betty Ferguson and Karen Hunter-Jackson alleged the event amounted to environmental racism given that it’s being held within a predominantly black community. Noise, pollution and disruption to school buses and transport were cited in their attempts to have the race halted. In an Op-Ed for the Miami Herald Ferguson complained staging an F1 event ‘would be like having a Super Bowl every year for four consecutive days’. An unusual approach when it came to dissuading the city authorities. Even the critics acknowledge how big this event will be.

Key to bringing the deal to fruition and enabling Miami to join F1 for the next decade are a pair of heavyweights – Richard Cregan and Tom Garfinkel. Cregan is a familiar name to F1. An engineering graduate from Dublin’s Technical University, he worked for Toyota Motorsport from 1985 until 2008 as team manager across the World Rally Championship, sportscars and F1.

At Ecclestone’s request, Cregan quit Toyota to take on the task of delivering the Abu Dhabi GP, working closely with F1 as it sought to create a template to deliver events in new markets. Cregan’s success in Abu Dhabi won him a bigger challenge from Ecclestone, to put Sochi on the map by bringing the Russian GP to fruition.

Simply put, the Miami Grand Prix represents the best that F1 under Liberty could throw at a partnership with Ross’s operation

As F1’s go-to man in helping deliver new grands prix, Cregan has continued to work closely with F1 throughout the transition from CVC to Liberty ownership – evaluating potential venues, including in Las Vegas and Miami. Appointed CEO of the Miami event last August, Cregan is supported by a team comprising former Dolphins staff along with experienced Abu Dhabi GP colleagues Mark Boyd and Ashley Davies.

Through his day job as vice chairman, president and CEO of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, Garfinkel is managing partner of the Miami Grand Prix. He is no stranger to racing. Between 2001 and 2006 Garfinkel worked for Chip Ganassi Racing, overseeing business operations, then moving into Major League Baseball before being lured to Miami by Ross in 2013.

Simply put, the Miami Grand Prix represents the best that F1 under Liberty could throw at a partnership with Ross’s operation. Although any addition to the F1 calendar is important, Miami is close to home – for Liberty, as F1’s owners, and for men like John Malone and Steve Ross, who tend not to do things by half.

The circuit is fast nearing completion, a 3.36 mile street track featuring 19 corners, three straights, the last of which seems to go on forever and leads into a tight left hander. Overtaking is guaranteed, particularly when the DRS zones are confirmed and 2022-spec cars take to the circuit. Turns 1, 11 and 17 carry the promoter’s hopes for plenty of action. More than one person has described it as looking ‘something like Melbourne, only quite a lot quicker.’

Richard Cregan (left) and Tom Garfinkel (right) have been instrumental in delivering the Miami GP

Photo by: Miami GP

Opposition to the race has not entirely disappeared, but South Florida Motorsports – the official name for the company tasked with organising the race – is working hard to engage with the local community, minimise disruption and bring measurable benefits to Miami Gardens city. An F1 in Schools programme was announced last October and will be administered through the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, aimed at children aged 7-17.

Businesses are being encouraged to tap into the opportunity created by F1 coming to town. “It is…rewarding to have partners who are committed to investing in our community and youth,” said Rodney Harris, Miami Gardens Mayor. “These initiatives align with the City’s overall goal of creating meaningful, sustainable programs for residents and businesses.”

Public and corporate demand for the race has been off-the-scale, with 275,000 people pre-registering for 80,000 tickets. The initial wave sold out in 40 minutes.

Many additions to F1’s calendar have met with little enthusiasm. Others, like Singapore’s night race, have really added to grand prix racing’s appeal and spectacle. Miami seems likely to become one of the latter, a grand prize for Liberty and another boost for F1 Stateside. See you there.

Miami GP track

Photo by: Miami GP