Nicholas Frankl Previews First Miami Grand Prix

MIAMI GP F1 Preview
By Nicholas Frankl
Senior Editor
Global Motorsports
The Auto Channel

Miami May 2, 2022; Miami is booming with record numbers of new residents and real-estate sales. With world famous Art and finance events plus a new wave of blockchain conferences Formula One has finally found a long term solution and partnered with and partnered with Steve Ross the Miami dolphins owner.

I drove the original track layout around downtown in 2019 but local NIMBY’s shut down what would have been the second most spectacular venue (after Monaco naturally).

Ross has signed a ten year ‘sweet heart’ deal committing $100m to invest in his own stadium to build the track but without a promotor fee – with a sold out 80,000 seat venue the word is that he’s making money in his first year!

For the very first visit to the eagerly-anticipated Miami street circuit, Pirelli has chosen the three tyres in the middle of the range: P Zero White hard is the C2, P Zero Yellow medium is the C3, and P Zero Red soft is the C4. This combination is the most commonly-used one all year, and also the most versatile.

The 5.41-kilometre Miami International Autodrome is set in the Hard Rock Stadium Complex in Miami Gardens – the home of the Miami Dolphins – with 19 corners, three straights, elevation changes and a chicane. Top speeds are expected to be in the region of 320kph with an average of around 223kph and drivers on full throttle for approximately 58% of the lap. Turns 11 and 17 are the two main overtaking opportunities, with three DRS zones.

With the 11th venue to host a grand prix in the USA being brand new to everyone, Pirelli has had to rely on simulation data to come up with the tyre nominations. This information indicates that the tyres in the middle of the range will be most suited to the 57-lap race, with smooth asphalt that offers reasonable grip and the forces at work on the tyres being about average for the season.

The brand new asphalt is likely to lead to a high degree of track evolution, especially at the start of the weekend, with the Porsche Challenge and W Series as support events. The weather could be unpredictable, with ambient temperatures of around 20 degrees and quite a high risk of rain and wind on the Florida coast at this time of year.

Mario Isola Motorsport Director of Pirellitold me that " There's been a huge buzz of excitement around the first Miami Grand Prix, where the track has some similarities to Jeddah, although there are some parts that are slower and more technical than Saudi Arabia: especially the section from Turns 11 to 16. The rest is a very quick layout, running anti-clockwise, which puts the emphasis on the tyres on the right hand side of the car. We’re expecting the usual rapid track evolution and a smooth surface with the new asphalt, but the track has been jet-washed at high pressure, which means that it should offer quite good grip from the beginning. Because it’s a fast track the cars are likely to run a low to medium downforce set-up, which could lead to a bit of sliding in the high-speed corners on the hard compounds in particular. For any new track our choice tends to be on the conservative side, so it will be interest to confront the simulations with real data."

2022 Miami Grand Prix - Preview