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Miami GP President, Tyler Epp discusses sprint success and night race potential in the Sunshine State.
The Miami Grand Prix held at Miami International Autodrome was introduced to the Formula 1 calendar in 2022. Max Verstappen won the inaugural race and then raced to victory once again in 2023.
This year, Lando Norris achieved his maiden F1 win at the circuit on the streets surrounding the Hard Rock Stadium. In 2024, Miami also hosted a Sprint Race which involved a Safety Car on the first lap. Verstappen claimed the Sprint Race victory.
Looking to the future of the race, there may be changes on the cards for the Miami Grand Prix.
Will the Miami Grand Prix become a night race?
Tyler Epp, President of the Miami Grand Prix spoke to Autoweek about the possibility of the Miami Grand Prix becoming a night race. When asked if that was the plan, he replied:
“We’re not doing that [a night race] in 2025 but we’re in the middle of a study to see what it would look like, how it would impact”
Epp explained that there are difficulties to consider when switching a day race to be held at night instead. He said:
“I will tell you there are some unintended consequences of that, that even in our early discussions we’ve got to make sure we’re aware of.
“It’s really more about a couple of big points: No. 1, as it relates to the broadcast business for Formula 1 and how that does push it back a little bit and make it difficult for other parts of the world to see what we’re doing.
“And the other piece is the impact on the community, and making sure we’re aware and cognizant of the impact it has, moving the race back to a twilight or an evening race, and how that impacts the community of Miami Gardens, and making sure we’re ahead of that.
“We’re just at the beginning stages of looking at that optionality, we’ll see where we land on it, 2025 will be late afternoon, as we always are, Eastern Time.
“We do need to make sure that all the consequences [of a night race] are planned ahead for.”
Therefore, a night race in the Sunshine State will not be hitting F1’s calendar any time soon. However, it could be a feasible possibility for the circuit’s future.
Did the Sprint format work in Miami?
Autoweek also asked Epp about the success of the Miami Sprint Race, considering whether this format would be continued:
“I will admit I was very wary of the sprint race and the impact it’d have.”
Epp also spoke to Autosport about the sprint format, admitting that he was wrong to doubt the benefit of the addition. He admitted:
“I was wrong about the sprint race, I was very concerned about the value proposition there, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
“I will be clear in saying I wasn’t in the camp when we first did the deal but the feedback and the data we got showed that year over year our attendance was up on a Saturday, and they were there early for a sprint race.
“When we look at gate scans and we look at data, they weren’t coming for qualifying, they were coming for the sprint race.
“I was wrong, it has been a really, really good thing for us. I understand it hasn’t been that way for every promoter, but we really have enjoyed and see real commercial value in hosting a sprint race, it has been fantastic for us.”
Commenting on the future of the sprint format, he added to Autoweek:
“It was a positive for us, our single day attendance was up on Saturday, and the feedback was [that was] directly because of the sprint race; you couple the sprint race with quali for the grand prix, it’s positive.
“I think we’re committed for the next two years with F1 to run the sprint, we’re very happy with that to this point; where we go from there, I don’t know.”
What else made Miami popular?
The 2024 Miami Grand Prix broke the record for the most-watched live F1 race in United States television history. An average of 3.1 million fans tuned in to watch the race.
The Sprint Race was an unexpected success in Epp’s eyes. Yet, he also shared with Autosport that the support series played a hugely important role in attendance and audience. The all-female racing series, F1 Academy supported the F1 race in Miami this year.
.@f1academy is sooo back! ✨#DutchGP pic.twitter.com/CXPvhhR6pI
— F1 Miami Grand Prix (@f1miami) August 23, 2024
Epp remarked:
“It does matter what goes on the track before Formula 1 does. In year one it was made very clear that nobody gets on the track before they did because they wanted to be the first on the new track.
“In year three support races were successful for us, putting Porsche on the race track and F1 Academy on the race track, was a real positive. Now, the racing lines aren’t always exactly the same but just laying rubber down did impact what the race teams were dealing with on track.”
Due to their success, Epp committed to the future of these support series hosted at the Miami International Autodrome:
“From our perspective, we are very committed to two support series in some capacity, and we are expecting to have a similar line up next year.”
He continued:
“We learned a lot in years one and two, we take on challenges and mistakes and are honest about it, we try to attack them full throttle.
“Year two to year three was just about tweaks and in years four and five I think it is just as important we listen to our customers – we have put a big emphasis on that in the last 12 months.”
How can Miami maintain its popularity?
Miami enjoyed success from the sprint format and support series. However, the circuit is not without its issues. Following the 2024 race, McLaren Team Principal, Andrea Stella weighed in on the lack of overtaking opportunities at the circuit. He suggested an extension to the DRS zones as a potential solution.
Looking to the future, Epp explained that they are aware of continuously improving the circuit and fan experience. They want to ensure that the Miami Grand Prix meets its goal of being a key race in F1’s calendar. Epp stated that the immediate plan is to:
“increase attendance heading into next year, but not by a ton. We’re hyper focused on the fan experience so just flooding the market with more people and having more people on campus creates some bottlenecks and things we’d want to avoid.”
He added:
“I think one of the key things we’re looking at is to stabilize the fanbase and that’s manifested itself in the membership programme we’re rolling out.
“We’re stealing a page from the [Miami] Dolphins’ playbook a little bit and saying ‘okay how do we really take care of the people who continues to support us year after year after year,’ we’re pulling about 40% of our general base from South Florida, so how do we take care of these people?
“That’s been rolled out, hopefully reflects our commitment, it offers discounted tickets, an opportunity to spread the payments out over a year, experiences around the F1 weekend, but also touch points outside of the weekend.
“We feel like we’ve evolved every single year, there’s different challenges every single year, we look at it like it’s an opportunity to stabilize the business a bit.”
Meaningful moments
Epp shared his ambitions for Miami to be one of the more popular races. To do this, he believes they need to create memorable moments and experiences. He said:
“I think we have strong ambitions, we want to be one of those key races in the calendar for Formula 1, the FIA, the teams, for the media, for our partners and for our fans. It will take time, we’re in the business of creating experiences.”
A meaningful moment for Miami came this season when Norris lifted his first F1 winner’s trophy on the podium. Epp commented that:
“When we do have moments like Lando [Norris] winning his first race, or great passes in particular turns, and meaningful moments in history, it helps our circuit and event. It does take time, but it’s also intentional that we’re being thoughtful and strategic in delivering the experience.”
What will the future of Miami hold? And will we see more moments for the history books from this circuit?
Featured Image Credit:В?@F1 on X