08/08/2023
NEWS STORY
Miami GP president rules out possibility of the event becoming a night race, certainly as far as 2024 is concerned.
Speaking at this year's race, Miami Dolphins CEO, Tom Garfinkel admitted that talks had been held with F1 over the possibility of the race being held at night.
However, speaking in Belgium last week, Miami GP president, Tyler Epp, while revealing that organizers of other night races, including Singapore and Las Vegas, had been "very helpful", admitted that next year's event will once again be held during the day.
"We' talked about ‘Could we do this, does this make sense?'" Epp tells The Athletic. "We didn't really get too deep into the analysis because at some point, it's, why are you doing it? Like, let's make sure there's a justifiable reason.
"It's very unlikely we would do it for 2024," he adds. "We will continue to evaluate. We're always looking at ways to make the experience better.
"If we get to the place where Formula 1 says this really does work for us from a broadcast perspective, and this makes a lot of sense, certainly we'll take a look at it."
Liberty Media's 'have your cake and eat it' approach not only means that the forthcoming Las Vegas race is to be held at night, but for the first time in almost forty years the Grand Prix will take place on a Saturday, thus ensuring that the all-important TV viewing figures in what remains the sport's heartland, Europe, are not compromised.
While fans in Europe will be able to watch the Las Vegas over Sunday breakfast, a night time race in Miami would see fans having to get out of their beds at around 03:00.
F1 currently has four night races - Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Qatar and Las Vegas - while Bahrain and Abu Dhabi are held at sunset, however, for now Epp is fully focussed on building an identity for the Miami event.
"Miami is our brand," he says, "and we try to bring that out with the circuit. Vegas will be a night race as well. Singapore certainly has their spot on the calendar. I can't tell you what their decisions are and why they are. For us, we're pretty committed to being Miami, day or night."
One thing Epp admits to not actively pursuing however is the opportunity to host a Sprint, feeling that the traditional race weekend, with the build-up to qualifying on Saturday, being popular with the Miami audience.
"We're always interested in a sprint race," he says. "But I would also tell you that qualifying was really valuable for us. We see a lot of value in the qualification experience in F1. There are a ton of our fans who have given us great feedback about traditional qualifying.
"We're here to support, and if we have an opportunity to host a sprint race at some point, we'll welcome that. But it's not something we're actively pursuing."