The Miami Grand Prix project comes back to life

We thought the Grand Prix project in Miami (United States) would be postponed indefinitely, to be polite, but the story experienced yet another twist after a vote organized Wednesday in the city council of Miami Gardens, a town located just half an hour from the famous Florida city. 

Before looking at this new adventure, a quick summary of the previous ones: since the arrival at the helm of Liberty Media in 2017, the American group has been valiantly trying to add a 2nd American stage to its calendar F1. Stefano Domenicali, new CEO of the F1 Group, has been repeating it again in recent days. 

Faithful to its target destination strategy, F1 quickly decided to go and perform in Miami, in the south of this sun-drenched Florida, a stone's throw from the art deco hotels on the very chic Ocean Drive. 

The first drafts of the route take downtown Miami as a setting and a pre-agreement is even ratified with an inaugural edition planned for the 2019 season. 

From postponements to blockages, the project was then relocated to Miami Gardens under the leadership of real estate magnate Stephen Ross. This billionaire also owns the Miami Dolphins American football club which plays at Hard Rock Stadium, a gigantic sports and cultural complex located precisely in the town of Miami Gardens. 

The arrival of F1, however, is not to the taste of local residents, the majority of whom are African-American, who first complain about possible future nuisances then accuse the county of Miami-Dade and its former mayor Carlos Gimenez of discrimination in a complaint filed in October 2020. 

New twist last week when Rodney Harris, the mayor of Miami Gardens who had previously voted against the arrival of F1 in his city, proposed a joint resolution with the Hard Rock Stadium to allay the fears of residents. 

A memorandum of understanding is thus presented and plans to include 5 million dollars (4,2 million euros) in investments over a period of 10 years intended for residents, local businesses, and restaurants in the city. 

The proposal also includes a promise to erect noise barriers near the track, whose new route will no longer use Northwest 199th Street. 

Despite these concessions, Betty Ferguson, a former Miami-Dade County commissioner who defends the interests of Miami Gardens residents and filed a complaint against the Dolphins and F1 last year, said she was determined to derail the matter once moreover. 

Ferguson was unsuccessful this time because Racer reports that Harr's memorandum was adopted Wednesday. AUTOhebdo was confirmed by another source close to the matter of such a vote in favor of the GP project in Miami Gardens, which could enter the calendar as early as 2022. Unless resistance is organized again in the great suburbs of Miami. In this affair, we are no longer close to a twist.