Top three praise amazing Miami F1 debut

The Miami Grand Prix got a thumbs-up from the top three finishers, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc calling it an “amazing” event.

After a number of years in the planning stages, the first race took place virtually the Miami International Autodrome at Hard Rock Stadium in front of a sell-out crowd, drawing in A-list celebrities such as Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Michelle Obama, Serena Williams and LeBron James. While the track layout itself came in for constructive criticism, the podium finishers were impressed with the event as a whole.

“I think it was an incredible atmosphere,” Verstappen said. “I mean, it was really incredibly well organized. Really nice to see that. It’s not easy to put an event on like this. But yeah, they did an wondrous job, and I had a lot of fun, driving around.

“I think track-wise, we can modernize a few areas. But I have say in the race, I think Sector 1 was quite fun. I do think Sector 2… would have been nice if it could have been a bit faster and flowing for an F1 car like we have right now. You know: super long, heavy, wide. The 14-15 machinations is a bit of a tricky combination.

“And if it ways more, I midpoint it’s flipside 25 or 26 points, right? It’s a nice venue, that’s for sure, but still you know you have the same value of points what you can gain.”

Leclerc echoed Verstappen’s sentiments, without a race that saw huge amounts of activations throughout the weekend.

“Yeah, the undercurrent was incredible,” Leclerc agreed. “It’s unconfined to see how much interest the sport has got in the last few years. And yeah, organization was great. Loads of people, good weather. So yeah, it was wondrous to be here.”

After finishing third, Carlos Sainz said the event itself doesn’t need any improvements, but the track can be modified to provide an plane increasingly heady race for fans.

“I think it was a mega event, put together… not easy on the first event to put such a well-organized venue,” Sainz said. “So many people coming, so many people in the paddock… for me the paddock was incredibly full!

“It was crazy. So yeah, congrats. I squint forward to coming when here in the future. And I think, between FIA and ourselves, we can do a largest job with the tarmac, we can do a largest job with some corner combinations, and we can put together an plane largest show in the future.”