May 5, 2022
F1 IS HEADED TO MIAMI FOR MOTHERS’ DAY! The very first Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix is about to take place and there are many unknowns about this new track. This weekend is a normal race weekend, unlike Imola’s sprint format. This means there are 2 practice sessions on Friday, 1 practice session and qualifying on Saturday, and the Race on Sunday. No wonky and jam-packed schedules this time. Or, at least for the racing side of the weekend; press events might make it busy for drivers. Anyways, without further ado, here is everything you need to know before the inaugural Miami Grand Prix happens on May 8, 2022:
Weekend Schedule:
Practice 1: Friday, 5/6, 2:30-3:30
Practice 2: Friday, 5/6, 5:30-6:30
Practice 3: Saturday, 5/7, 1:00-2:00
Qualifying: Saturday, 5/7, 4:00-5:00
Race: Sunday, 5/8, 3:30-5:30
When F1 first wanted to go to Miami, the idea was for it to be a street race. However, Miami residents did not allow for this to happen and instead, a track was built on and around the grounds of Hard Rock Stadium. The track is made up of inner roads within stadium grounds, new roads made around parking lots and other areas of the grounds, and one public street. 203rd Street was approved to be used as the backstraight of the track and it leads to Turns 17-19. So, in a way, the race will be a street race at certain times.
The big appeal for the Miami race was going to be the fact that you could see the marina and beaches from the track. It was going to be similar to the way you can see all of the yachts lined up during the Monaco Grand Prix. Miami residents not approving a street race put a damper in the plans, but this didn’t stop F1 from having a marina. Not at all. If F1 wants a marina, a marina is what they shall get! As drivers go into Turn 7 of the Miami International Autodrome, you will see the “marina” that was placed on the track. If you look at the picture below, you will notice a rectangle of “water” surrounded by dry docked yachts. F1 gods and Laura Magnussen, I pray for this “marina” to be removed in the event of another Miami Grand Prix.
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I apologize for the poor quality, but it's a literal RECTANGLE of water! |
Now, for the serious stuff about the track. The 57 lap race will be run at the Miami International Autodrome: a 5.412km long (about 3.36 miles) track with 19 corners and 3 DRS zones. The track is broken into two sections. Turn 1 starts with long, sweeping corners that loop around to a straight and sets up overtaking opportunities at Turn 11. Then, the track becomes tight and twisty before leading into another straight that has a major breaking zone in Turn 17. Formula 1’s data shows that Turns 11 and 17 will make for the best overtaking opportunities. These different sections are going to make finding the perfect set up for the weekend hard. Drivers will also have to deal with a tricky elevation change around Turn 13: where the track goes over a highway exit ramp, under a few highways, and across uneven ground. Then, the track has a downhill exit out of Turn 15. Overall, the track seems like it can make for decent racing.
For the teams and drivers, it's hard to predict how the weekend is going to go because the Miami track is new for everyone. All of the teams are working with limited data about how their car will perform at this track. This makes Friday’s practice sessions very important because teams will be working to get as much information as possible. As the weekend progresses, it will become more clear which teams will do well here.
We went into the last race with Ferrari as the favorite. Everyone expected them to dominate their home race, but what happened was quite the opposite. We don’t have to rehash the details, but let's just say it was painful to watch as a Ferrari fan. The average lap speed of the Miami track is expected to be around 233km/hr, a very similar lap speed to Imola. If the predictions are right, this could play into the hands of Red Bull because their car is especially good at high speed tracks.
Even after Red Bull’s brilliant 1-2 in Imola, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari still leads the championship. However, he only leads Max Verstappen by 27 points; points that Verstappen can easily make up this weekend. Carlos Sainz, Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate, has had 2 DNFs in a row. In Australia he got stuck in the gravel trap after spinning off the track, and in Imola he was bumped by the Mclaren of Daniel Riccardo and ended up in the gravel yet again. Sainz really needs to redeem himself this weekend, so good luck to the Smooth Operator! Ferrari needs a good race in Miami to make up for Imola and get back to dominating the season the way they did in Australia. I know I said it last time, but I’m saying it again. Fonza Ferrari!
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Yes, you should keep an eye on defending world champion Max Verstappen. But we also shouldn’t forget about his teammate Sergio (Checo) Perez. Perez is only 5 points behind Verstappen in the World Championship, putting him at 3rd. His seat for the 2023 season is still unconfirmed but I think he’ll probably get an extension on his contract. Red Bull spent years searching for a teammate to compliment their star, Max Verstappen. The team wanted someone who would support Verstappen, but also get pole positions and wins when the opportunity presented itself. They essentially wanted to find the Valtteri Bottas to Verstappen’s Lewis Hamilton (I’m very proud of this analogy). Perez has proven that he is indeed the Bottas to Verstappen’s Hamilton, and unless he messes up big time, he will most likely get his contract extension and stay with Red Bull for at least another few seasons.
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Midfield racing in Imola 2022 |
The midfield. Really, every team has the potential to dominate the midfield. New racing regulations and new cars have made the midfield much more competitive. I mean, after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, all 10 teams have scored points!! And the only drivers to not have their own personal points are Mick Schumacher and my pal, Nicholas Latifi. Standings are very close.
It will be interesting to see how this weekend will treat Haas. Haas, being an American team, will have one of their home races this weekend. I don’t know how much the home crowd supports them, but at least they’ll have the American atmosphere. Anyway, the team had a pretty good result in Imola. So hopefully, with the Miami International Autodrome being similar to the Imola track, we’ll see the team do well (and hopefully, Schumacher and Latifi can score points)!
Mercedes has been struggling with porpoising all season. George Russell even said that he experienced the worst of it in Imola after pulling off an amazing P5 for the team. The team’s engineers have said that they installed upgrades to help the porpoising and that we could start seeing their effects in Miami. Hopefully they are right. It kind of makes ME queasy watching Russell’s head get thrown around like that. I think I should also point out the fact that George is doing significantly better than Lewis Hamilton. The 7 time world champion just can’t seem to get used to the car. Maybe fixing the porpoising problem will help Mercedes get back to the top.
Honorable Mentions:
I think it’s funny that the track will be given its very own spa treatment! Since this track is new, the road won’t have as much grip as an old, used circuit. To help make sure the track doesn’t have this “new” feeling, it will be given a special water jet blasting treatment to artificially age the track and get better grip and traction. I know F1 is going all out to please everyone with this Miami Grand Prix, but isn’t pampering the TRACK a little extreme?
It’s crazy how popular F1 has become in the U.S. now. During the late 90s and early 2000s, Michael Schumacher used to love vacationing in the States because he was barely recognized. He was the FACE of F1, the most famous F1 driver in the world, the WORLD CHAMPION, and the driver with the MOST world championship titles, and still, no one in the U.S. knew him because Americans didn’t watch F1. Now, Mclaren's team principal, Zak Brown, is from Los Angeles, California.
F1 is trying to make this weekend have a Super Bowl vibe to it. This means that they will have musicians performing throughout the weekend. So if you get bored at the race, you can go to a concert instead!
This F1 commentator had a blast "swimming" in the new Marina!
Ok, that about wraps it up. We don’t know much about the track so the odds for who will succeed this weekend will be clearer after Friday’s practice sessions. Until then, I’m going to continue living in bliss over Lando’s Imola podium, pray to Laura Magnussen and the F1 gods for this race to be a good one, hope the Ferrari’s do better this weekend, and cheer Schumacher and Latifi on so that we can say that every driver in 2022 scored points! I’ll be back with a full weekend recap after the race!
Happy Race Weekend!
~ Divya
Where I got these
from:
Pictures:
https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/00-Miami-on-blue-01-470x264.jpg
https://i.natgeofe.com/n/4e57f727-4dfd-4f7d-9c27-9edd6f73cfd0/miami-travel_2x1.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRnljuBWYAEFJ7t?format=jpg&name=360x360
https://cdn.motorsportmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/25170902/Imola22Mid.jpg