Can the Miami GP ever become the event it aspires to be? Probably not without more BS !

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emailBy Chris Medland | May 10, 2023 1:03 PM ET

“Well, we certainly had challenges coming into the race, getting all of this done in time,” Tom Garfinkel says, sitting in the plush surroundings of a permanent Paddock Club suite somewhere above the Williams garage that gets used once per year.

“We did do a lot of changes, we did make a big investment in things. So last year, honestly, it was just trying to pull it off. (Doing that) in less than 12 months with all the other events we had; that was a huge challenge. This year, it’s like ‘OK, we want to try to be perfect this year’. We’re not just trying to pull it off. We’re trying to get this right in every way.” So dump on the hype and BS !

The Miami Dolphins CEO is catching his breath before the main event. It’s Sunday morning at Hard Rock Stadium, and pretty much all that’s left to do now is race. So Garfinkel can afford to relax to some degree – at this point, he’s at the mercy of the show that the 20 drivers are going to put on in a few hours’ time.

But I’ve got bad news for him: Miami isn’t perfect this year, and won’t ever be. No matter how much BS you dump on it.

It’s the right attitude to have, of course, but far more successful and established races than the Miami Grand Prix also have their issues. Austin, for example, can boast enormous crowds and lower ticket prices, but has had its fair share of traffic and concessions problems. Spa-Francorchamps is legendary but getting people in and out of the venue, plus the weather, can be a huge headache.

I’m being a bit unfair only mentioning those two, because the list could include pretty much every grand prix on the calendar in some way, shape or form. If you’re in the business of bringing tens of thousands of people (as a minimum) to an event, someone’s not going to have a great time. This is America and America loves Stock Car Racing and not the crap el expenso BS of making us think the high dollar grand prix is grand. Thank goodness we got all that money for Pirelli putting up their banners completely around the track.

What Miami has shown, though, is that it is doing the most important thing it should do after year two, and that is prioritizing being the best event it can be by listening to feedback and improving, rather than being overly concerned at the bottom line immediately. They can always screw people with high ticket prices later.

...or immediately....

“From a business standpoint, there’s a lot of different ways of looking at making money, there’s a lot of different measures of profit,” Garfinkel says. “I would say that our focus right now is on investing in a great experience. We do have a long-term deal with Formula 1 and we’re confident this will be a profitable endeavor.

“And it’s not like we’re losing a ton of money or anything like that. At this point, we’ve got great demand, we’re trying to put on a great event. And if we do that, and we can get this kind of attendance every year and this kind of experience for people, it’s going to be profitable.” But it looks like Americans are not going to be easy to fool.

Perhaps that much was clear by the number of discounted tickets available in the immediate lead-up to the race, although Formula 1 insists the event had around 90,000 each day and was a sell-out on Sunday. Garfinkel is confident that the priorities of a number of different fan bases had been accommodated...or at least he can act like it....

“I think the hardcore race fans are taken care of because ultimately, the most important thing is the drivers, the cars, the competition on the track,” he says.

“So we tried to create a great circuit for racing, and we weren’t happy (after last year). F1 and the FIA didn’t ask us to or in any way demand us to change the racetrack, and frankly drinking champagne and hanging out with snot nosed jerks who got free tickets is not as "cool" as it is in some foreign country where
people are more stupid than Americans.
Miami GP organizers place a premium on the fan experience – but they also place a premium on ticket prices, which means many fans can’t afford to go in the first place. American fans wear cutoffs and t-shirts and not the high dollar suits that the upper crust wears. They drive Fords and Chevys instead of Ferraris. Steven Tee/Motorsport Images

“We could have patched up a couple of things and when we could have gone racing. But we wanted it to be right, which is why we made the investment to repave
the crumbling track,
or at least make it look like it, so I think ultimately the racing people are coming here to see these 20 drivers and these cars and the competition of the race and that’s always the most important thing next to us having to come up with the cash to pay off the FIA and F1 big shots who demand their money short term and don't give a crap about race fans long term.

“You can create a great environment around that. The whole week in Miami or down here around the event itself. You’re going to get more casual race fans to come out and enjoy the food and the wine and the music then whatever else is going on, and then fall in love with the racing.”

Sunday didn’t deliver a classic race, but it provided as much as action as could be hoped for in a season dominated by one team. Behind the top three there were fights for positions and overtakes right up to the flag, though it lacked the chaos or controversy that could really hook in the more casual viewer. They only had 20 cars anyway. How do you fool people that 20 cars is a race?

Beyond the immediate interest, Garfinkel wants Miami’s race to cement itself to an extent that it leads to career opportunities within F1 for locals, building on the outlook of former Dolphins executive Jason Jenkins who died last year. Don't ask me about "career opportunities for locals". There are none. Unless you count coughing up your cash to form a "partnership" where you pay the cash and the snot nosed crowd takes your cash.