Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Bahrain International Circuit, 2018

Hamilton and Vandoorne unimpressed with Miami F1 track proposal

2019 F1 season

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Two drivers have raised concerns about a proposed track which could host the Miami Grand Prix in the 2019 F1 season.

Lewis Hamilton and Stoffel Vandoorne both welcomed the plan to hold a race in Miami but said they hope the track layout will be revised.

“Miami is a super-cool place and I was very excited to hear about it,” said Hamilton. “But when I saw the layout I was like… meh. I think it could be a lot more fun. You have got two of the longest straights, but maybe when you drive it, it will be fun.”

Hamilton hopes the race promoters learn from past F1 track designs which weren’t successful.

“I dread the thought of a circuit like we had in Valencia, which wasn’t a great street circuit.”

“Maybe it is a hit, but if there is time and anyone wants to approach me or any of the drivers, I am sure we can give some good insight to what the layout is like and how it can be better. I know Miami quite well, so there are a few better locations to put the track.”

Vandoorne also said he has reservations about the track design, but backed F1’s plan to hold a second race in the USA.

“I think it’ll be great to have a race there and I think the US has always been a territory where we want to promote the sport a bit more. I think Miami is a great location for that as well.

“[But] I don’t know about the track layout, I’ve seen the proposal. I can’t really imagine where it is or how it would look like but just looking at the shape of it, it doesn’t look very attractive so far so maybe there’s something we could change there.”

Proposed Miami track layout

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2018 F1 season

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10 comments on “Hamilton and Vandoorne unimpressed with Miami F1 track proposal”

  1. It is always difficult building a street track in a city, as the track has to be built around what’s already there, but that is a poor attempt. That being said, especially considering it’s America, they’ve done well to avoid many 90 degree corners… Still though… Why not have the track just outside the city? Or something, but that track doesn’t fill me with any confidence. I think the way all the bridges are done in miami means the straights going over the bridges will just be too long, and if anyone crashes on them it’ll be a bad time for everyone trying to get it out of there…

    1. There have been sportscar races on the road course variant at the Homestead-Miami oval.

    2. Yeah the bridge concerns me as well, have a bad day and that could be catastrophic. Plus most tracks have viewing angles at all points along the track route. Who is going to see any action on that bridge?

  2. We have a street track in Baku with long straights, and I would argue that the Baku circuit is more interesting than this proposal.

    Drivers want a challenge, I am sure more could be done. If Miami are serious they need to put together something more interesting.

    1. If the circuit did look like that, there’s a certain adult “entertainment” company based out of Miami that would love to be the title sponsor of the race. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

    2. Hardly a “pinnacle”.

  3. I’m really excited about this track—I like the bullring feel of it. At 2.57 miles, it’ll be the shortest track on the calendar bar Monaco, yet have two of the longest straights in F1, back to back. From the map, they look about 0.85 and 0.75 miles each! I think that would make them, after Baku of course, the second and (roughly) third longest straights, with the latter basically coequal with Shanghai and Abu Dhabi. Paired with those two hairpins, Miami might be the closest track we’ve seen to a modern AVUS. It may not be the most challenging or varied layout for the drivers, but it could make for some action-packed racing.

    And having watched a video preview of the track online, it will certainly look spectacular on TV.

  4. I think it would be great if the bridge were iconic. This one is all a bit nothing though.

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