Tag: Miami GP

Processional F1 races aren’t a surprise – Alonso

Fernando Alonso says fans shouldn’t be surprised if there are processional Formula 1 races, despite the adoption of regulations aimed at providing scope for more overtaking opportunities. Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, last weekend’s race in …

Fernando Alonso says fans shouldn’t be surprised if there are processional Formula 1 races, despite the adoption of regulations aimed at providing scope for more overtaking opportunities.

Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, last weekend’s race in Azerbaijan has remained a talking point after a lack of overtaking following an early safety car as the two Red Bull drivers eased away from the pack. Aston Martin’s Alonso finished fourth behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

“This is Formula 1 — it has been always like this,” Alonso said. “There was seven years of (Lewis) Hamilton and (Valtteri) Bottas first and second, it has been in the past (Sebastian) Vettel and (Mark) Webber…

“If you have the fastest car and you’re going to start a little bit behind you will still maybe be making some moves and overtakes, but if you are in many other cars (that) are all within one tenth or whatever, where you qualify you’re more or less secure in that position and there’s not many overtakings after lap two or three.

“Maybe here (in Miami) we can see some rain so it may change on Sunday, but to not see many overtakes is the nature of Formula 1, so should not be a surprise.”

Alonso doesn’t believe the current regulations can be judged by the shape of the current season, saying that there could be more intriguing races ahead if Red Bull’s advantage can be closed.

“I think there were high expectations on following cars and having the grid a bit closer together, but I don’t know — I think we need to give a little bit more time,” he said. “If we didn’t have the Red Bulls that much ahead I think it’s a very interesting fight, with three or four teams (within) one or two tenths.

“We’re saying the new rules are a success, so maybe this is the story in a few years’ time or whatever when we have some stability in the rules — maybe 2026, everything changes again.”

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For their second visit to Miami, the F1 cars will run on a new track surface that Alonso believes will add a different challenge given the heat in Florida.

“I think the circuit is going to be different from last year with the new tarmac so let’s see how it goes,” he said. “It’s similar to Jeddah and Baku, so maybe not too many surprises but still these temperatures are a little bit unique — yesterday was 60C (140F) track temperature. We have to wait and see but the car should be fine — only five days since Baku, so I guess the performance will not be too different.”

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F1 TV Pro takes your Miami GP experience to a whole new level

Formula 1 is ready for a street fight in Florida this weekend, and you can experience every lap, pass and unforgettable moment of the Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix from the best seat in the house with a 7-day free trial* of F1 TV Pro. Red Bull Racing …

Formula 1 is ready for a street fight in Florida this weekend, and you can experience every lap, pass and unforgettable moment of the Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix from the best seat in the house with a 7-day free trial* of F1 TV Pro.

Red Bull Racing heads to Miami with four wins from four 2023 races – two apiece for reigning F1 champ Max Verstappen and on-form teammate Sergio Perez. But Ferrari ace Charles Leclerc’s pole-winning form on the streets of Baku last weekend and Aston Martin’s stunning start to the season with the timeless Fernando Alonso says it won’t be an easy weekend for Max and Checo in The Sunshine State.

Throw in the street-racing smarts of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell, plus a McLaren team that’s looking to climb up the order with a raft of technical updates on its MCL60, and we could be set for one of the most unpredictable races of the season so far.

Adding to the storylines, U.S. fans will be rooting for home-grown Logan Sargeant as the Fort Lauderdale-born rookie makes his first F1 start on American soil. The 22-year old has already impressed for his Williams team and is looking forward to an intense, but unforgettable weekend in Miami.

“I’m really excited for my first ever home race,” says Sargeant. “I’m expecting it to be a challenge with the heat and not knowing the track, but my energy and motivation to be at my best is topped up. It’s going to be a very special weekend for me that I will enjoy very much.”

You can take F1 TV Pro for a test drive with a 7-day free trial* that covers every moment from this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix. CLICK HERE to start your trial and follow all of the F1 on-track action from every angle, live or on demand.  

F1 TV’s expert team of commentators and analysts will bring you the inside line on F1’s Florida street fight. It all starts with Thursday’s scene-setting Weekend Warm Up, before the on-track action starts with Friday’s two free practice sessions, heats up with Saturday’s final free practice and qualifying session, and culminates in Sunday’s 57-lap grand prix.

Race day coverage starts with F1 TV’s exclusive pre-race show, where you get all the latest interviews and the grid walk before the grand prix. And after the checkered flag flies, stay around for the post-race show with reactions from all the main players, and maybe even a sprinkling of celebrities – hey, this is Miami, baby!

It’s set to be an unmissable weekend, and with F1 TV Pro, you can customize your viewing experience and create your own pitwall, using your computer, smartphone or tablet.

Plus, F1’s first transatlantic trip of the year means no early-morning alarm calls needed for U.S. subscribers – it’s east coast time all the way for this showdown in the Magic City.

From those all-important first laps in Friday afternoon’s Free Practice 1 (starting 2:30pm ET), through Saturday’s grid-deciding qualifying session (4:00pm ET), to the action and drama of Sunday’s Miami GP (3:30pm ET), F1 TV Pro lets you decide who you’ll ride along with. Onboard cameras from all 20 cars are streamed live, so pick your favorite and enjoy a wild ride. You can even select two cars and put them in head-to-head battle mode.

The Miami International Autodrome is a 3.362-mile, 19-turn temporary circuit that blasts its way around the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. With a sequence of fast corners early in the lap, followed by slower corners into long straights, plus three DRS zones for maximum action, it’s one of the fastest, trickiest street courses on the F1 calendar. Last year, F1 cars hit more than 210mph on the straights, with average lap speeds topping 135mph.

“The circuit in Miami is a fast one, with lots of sweeping corners and long straights,” says Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. “It’ll be interesting to see if the resurfacing has had an impact on the track, and we’ll get plenty of time to assess this on Friday. Our performance in Baku was encouraging and I hope to see similar results in Miami. We will be aiming to outscore our closest rivals again and put on a good show for the fans.”

And for the ultimate immersive experience, F1 TV Pro brings you unedited team radio, live leaderboard data and driver maps, real-time telemetry from every car, and even tire usage history. It’s the next best thing to being on the pit wall, because it’s the same data and information the teams are seeing as they make their crucial strategy decisions in the heat of battle.

“Definitely, we’re looking at a lot of that information when the cars are on track,” says McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. “What I like to see in particular is sector information, timing and scoring, of course, and tire information, plus onboards for both our drivers in addition to the broadcast. It gives you a good perspective if there’s an incident on track, or watching for other teams’ pit stops, and things of that nature.”

F1 TV Pro can be used as your primary F1 feed with commentary, and you can add up to 5 more screens with tons of data, driver onboards and exclusive reporting available.

Can’t watch the on-track action live? Not a problem, because all sessions, including the onboards, are also available on catch-up and replay. Just set your devices to block out the results so as not to spoil any surprises.

You can also live stream every round of F2, F3 and Porsche Supercup whenever they join the F1 bill, and watch exclusive F1 documentaries and archived races to get a 360-degree view of the pinnacle of motorsports.

F1 TV Pro goes where you go, streaming across web, apps, Apple Airplay and Chromecast, Apple TV, Google TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku. It’s live, ad-free and on demand, with commentary available in multiple languages, whenever you’re ready to take to the track.

Every lap and every pass, get the most from the Miami Grand Prix and elevate your F1 viewing experience to a whole new level by signing up for F1 TV’s 7-day free trial now.

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Red Bull reveals special fan-designed Miami GP livery

Red Bull has selected the first of its fan-designed liveries for this season, with a special color scheme for the Miami Grand Prix. Fans who are part of Red Bull’s loyalty program “The Paddock” were able to submit entries for the Miami livery that …

Red Bull has selected the first of its fan-designed liveries for this season, with a special color scheme for the Miami Grand Prix.

Fans who are part of Red Bull’s loyalty program “The Paddock” were able to submit entries for the Miami livery that would feature changes to the lower half of the car. The winning effort was submitted by graphic design student Martina Andriano, and features pink, blue and purple ribbons along the sidepod and front and rear wing endplates, with the designer being flown out to join the team trackside in Florida this weekend.

“The Make Your Mark initiative is great, to give our fans the opportunity to influence our design at the three USA races is something you just don’t see other teams doing,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. “It’s important to the team to be able to involve our fans in what we do and give them unique opportunities like this.

“I think Martina has done a great job and the livery looks incredible when you see it in real life. The design keeps the ethos of who we are but introduces Miami to the RB19 as well. We are definitely going to stand out when you see that car on track. I’m intrigued to see what people come up with for Austin and of course Las Vegas, that promises to be really exciting.”

Horner was part of the judging panel for the winning design alongside Red Bull’s main team sponsors, and Andriano says she hopes to work full-time in F1 in the future.

“The moment when I found out I’d won I was shocked and speechless, I couldn’t believe it — it feels like a crazy dream,” Andriano said. “The first thing I thought about when I started my design was how the air flows through and over the car, then how it moves and how fast it is and that is where my inspiration came from. Then, of course I wanted to represent Miami and Miami’s race so all of that was the inspiration.

“Since I started studying my degree in graphic design I wanted to design something for a car, like a livery, a suit or a helmet, and even before that I knew that one day I wanted to work in Formula 1 so getting this opportunity from Oracle Red Bull Racing is something huge. This is going to be my first ever race, the car is going to have my design and I’m going to be in the garage. It’s going to be an amazing week.”

Red Bull will also run the competition for the other two American races in Austin and Las Vegas later this year.

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Racing on TV, May 5-7

All times Eastern; live broadcasts unless noted. Friday, May 5 Miami practice 1 2:25- 3:30pm Miami practice 1 2:25- 3:30pm Miami practice 2 5:55-7:00pm Miami practice 2 5:55-7:00pm Saturday, May 6 Monaco 8:30-10:00am Kansas qualifying 12:00-1:30pm …

All times Eastern; live broadcasts unless noted.

Friday, May 5

Miami
practice 1		 2:25-
3:30pm

Miami
practice 1		 2:25-
3:30pm

Miami
practice 2		 5:55-7:00pm

Miami
practice 2		 5:55-7:00pm

Saturday, May 6

Monaco 8:30-10:00am

Kansas
qualifying		 12:00-1:30pm

Miami
practice 3		 12:25-1:30pm

Miami
practice 3		 12:25-1:30pm

Miami
race 1		 1:35pm

Kansas 2:00-4:00pm

Miami
qualifying		 3:55-5:00pm

Miami
qualifying		 3:55-5:00pm

Kansas
qualifying		 5:00-7:00pm

Kansas 7:00-8:00pm
pre-race
8:00-10:00pm
race

Denver 9:00pm

Sunday, May 7

Miami
race 2		 1:35pm

Miami GP 2:00-3:25pm
pre-race
3:25-5:30pm
race

Miami GP 2:00-3:25pm
pre-race
3:25-5:30pm
race

Kansas 2:00-3:00pm
pre-race
3:00-6:30pm
race

NOLA 7:00-9:00pm
(D)

Key: SDD: Same day delay; D = delayed; R = Repeat/Replay

A variety of motor racing is available for streaming on demand at the following sites:

  • SRO-america.com
  • SCCA.com
  • Ferrari Challenge
  • The Trans Am Series airs in 60-minute highlight shows in primetime on the MAVTV Network. For those wishing to tune in live, the entire lineup of SpeedTour events will stream for free on the SpeedTour TV YouTube page. SpeedTour TV will also air non-stop activity on Saturday and Sunday (SVRA, IGT and Trans Am). You can also watch all Trans Am event activity on the Trans Am YouTube page and Facebook page.

Magnussen feels Miami has taken F1 events ‘to the next level’

Kevin Magnussen believes the Miami Grand Prix is a race weekend that has taken Formula 1 events “to the next level” in terms of coverage and interest. Miami joined the F1 calendar last year on a 10-year deal, and has since been joined by Las Vegas …

Kevin Magnussen believes the Miami Grand Prix is a race weekend that has taken Formula 1 events “to the next level” in terms of coverage and interest.

Miami joined the F1 calendar last year on a 10-year deal, and has since been joined by Las Vegas as the sport increases its footprint in the United States. Both races have placed a big focus on activation and the fan experience, and Magnussen says it’s making a noticeable difference to the weekend’s demands from a driver’s point of view.

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“The Miami Grand Prix is one of these new races in the U.S. that kind of feels like a new type of Formula 1 event, where it’s taken to the next level,” Magnussen says. “It’s very unique, it’s very hyped, there’s a lot of new things about it and I also think the track is fun.

“There’s more activities during a U.S. Grand Prix weekend, being the only American team, plus having an American title sponsor. It’s also one of the races where we really want to do well in front of our home crowd, and also in front of many of our sponsor’s home fans as well.

“It’s the closest I get to a home race in a way, because there isn’t a Danish Grand Prix and the closest I get is the team’s home race and I count that as ours. Luckily we have three of those and hopefully we can do well at all three.”

Magnussen’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg didn’t race in Miami last season as he was without a race seat but the German says he got a taste for what to expect

“I will only explore the track on Friday in a Formula 1 car, but I did do hot laps around here in a road car and it seemed fun,” Hulkenberg said. “I’m looking forward to exploring it and learn the track as it’s quite technical and challenging for sure. The event was mega hyped, successful and I’ve never seen such a big paddock and grid like Miami during my time in Formula 1, so that looked pretty entertaining.”

The Haas drivers will be taking on a busy marketing and activation schedule around the race, with team principal Guenther Steiner saying it feels like an established event already given the focus on it for the U.S.-owned team.

“It feels strange as Miami’s only had one year but it feels like it’s been there a long time,” Steiner said. “Everybody’s looking forward to it because everyone did a good job last year. When you look at these events, there’s always room for improvement but I’m very positive as it’s one of those events where it’s great for the teams to come back.

“It was a great event last year and it will be a great event this year. There’s a positive buzz to it because the fans are really waiting for these events to come around.”

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Miami will show McLaren upgrade potential – Norris

Lando Norris says McLaren’s upgrade at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a clear step forward but he is hoping it will be even more obvious in Miami. McLaren brought a number of new components to Baku, with the biggest change being a new floor that is …

Lando Norris says McLaren’s upgrade at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a clear step forward but he is hoping it will be even more obvious in Miami.

McLaren brought a number of new components to Baku, with the biggest change being a new floor that is designed to increase performance at all venues. Despite that, Norris says it was tough to gauge the difference when racing in Azerbaijan, and he believes the higher speed corners in Miami will allow him to notice a greater impact.

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“Doesn’t feel any different inside the car but it is a step forward,” Norris said. “I’m just being honest with it. Everyone will probably say ‘yeah it felt mega’ but you don’t feel it. It’s such a small amount in every corner, the oversteer is like this little bit less. It’s a step forward in terms of like efficiency, also a little bit.

“We weren’t expecting a big step, and like we said, Baku was not the track where we will show its potential. Miami we will maybe understand a bit more, and some of the high-speed corners, because that was more where it was aimed at. So, (in Baku) we weren’t expecting a lot, but it’s done what it’s done what it was meant to do so happy with that.”

Norris qualified in the top 10 in both sessions in Baku and picked up two points in the grand prix, having spent much of the race stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg until the Haas driver finally made a pit stop late on. Despite the frustrating time sat behind the German, Norris says it’s unlikely he would have finished any higher even if he’d had clear air for much of the race.

“It didn’t make a difference really. I would have finished P9 either way. Just a tough race, long, sat behind the cars with our straight-line speed, and just with quite a short DRS zone. Not just for us, but everyone just very very difficult to overtake. So, not a lot to do. Just sat behind for almost 40 laps. And then he made a mistake and then I managed to capitalize on that.

“Long race, but we did the best we could. Ninth is all we can achieve at the minute. I try and go with the guys ahead and one lap later the tires go off a cliff. It’s a challenge. We are little bit closer, this track has definitely helped us, but we will see how we are in Miami.”

Ferrari upgrades set to start arriving at Miami GP

Ferrari will be looking to bring regular upgrades from the May 7 Miami Grand Prix onwards, with only Monaco not likely to see new parts. Red Bull has dominated the first three races of the season leading to an admission from Mercedes that it got its …

Ferrari will be looking to bring regular upgrades from the May 7 Miami Grand Prix onwards, with only Monaco not likely to see new parts.

Red Bull has dominated the first three races of the season leading to an admission from Mercedes that it got its car concept wrong and is investigating a new direction to try and close the gap. For Ferrari, team principal Fred Vasseur says the team is sticking with the same path it had outlined earlier this year despite having yet to finish on the podium, with new parts coming in quick succession during upcoming races.

“I think we have a flow of updates that will come (soon) — not for Baku, because in Baku we have the aero package for the level of downforce, but with the sprint race, it’s not the easiest one,” Vasseur said. “But for Miami, Imola and Barcelona at each race we will have an update on the car. We are sticking to the plan.

“We made some adjustments I think in terms of balance and behavior and it was much better in Melbourne and it will continue on this direction. It’s not a B-car — we won’t come with something completely different, we will continue to update this one and we will try to update massively.”

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Vasseur says there remains the raw pace in the Ferrari to put pressure on Red Bull over one lap, but that finding a way of making the car more predictable to drive nearer its limit in race trim is the main differentiator so far this year.

“It’s true that, in the first three events we always had the feeling that we are not far away and able to fight for the first row with them in qualifying and it was more difficult in the race. From the numbers we are able to analyze, the advantage in the race was much lower, and I think this is also coming from the capacity of the driver to drive the car on the limit with different levels of fuel, different tires, and so on.

“If you have a car that is a bit too peaky, you can probably manage the situation in quali for one lap with new tires. You know the balance after five set of soft tires. But over the race (distance) it is probably a little bit more difficult and we took this direction over the last couple of weeks.”