07/07/2019
NEWS STORY
With the original plan to host a race in the Biscayne Bay and Bayfront Park area of Miami now seemingly dead and buried following objections from local businesses and residents, the best hope of hosting a race in the Magic City seems to rest on the area around the Miami Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium, which would cause a lot less disruption.
While talk of a Miami event has gone quiet of late, F1's global director of promoters and business relations, Chloe Targett-Adams, insists that for the sport's bosses the dream is very much alive.
"We are taking a long-term view on it," she tells ESPN. "Miami's definitely a city we want to race in... it's electric, it's an awesome destination, it's a hugely vibrant, dynamic, great city to add to the Formula One calendar.
"It's a complex project getting a street race up and running when you've got multiple stakeholders and multiple community interests," she admits, "you have to go about it in a way that minimises disruption to businesses and residents - quite rightly - but also that adds to that area. It seemed that when you're looking at something on a long-term basis that's quite a challenge to resolve.
"We are trying to work out how we can work out a race to Miami in locations that work, whereas there might still be a challenge or complex to work through but ultimately can deliver on a great race and is additive to the wider community and stakeholders."
As witnessed in its dealing with the teams and circuits, such as Silverstone, Formula One Management prefers to do its negotiating away from the spotlight of public scrutiny, but as Targett-Adams explains this isn't always possible.
"When you're working through with government stakeholders it's natural that a project will have to become public at a certain point in time," she says. "We felt it was better to get on the front foot and be open about that, than try and obviously keep things... We don't negotiate in public but at the same time when you're dealing with public government stakeholders there's a degree of transparency."
She also insists that a Miami event would not threaten the future of the United States Grand Prix at COTA.
"A clear strategy for us was to find another race in the US. We love Austin, we think it's a great event, super promoter, and in terms in technology-focused town, vibrant, young, up and coming, it plays quite well with an F1 audience and our brand aspirations and what are brand is at the heart of technology and entertainment in sport.
"Miami was a dream location for us and remains a very interesting project."