Formula 1 doesn’t need fourth US race, says Miami Grand Prix boss
Formula 1 chiefs should resist further cashing in on the sport’s growth in the US and adding a fourth American race to the calendar, says the boss of this week’s Miami Grand Prix.
The explosion in interest, credited in large part to Netflix show Drive To Survive, has seen the sport’s Colorado-based owners, Liberty Media, triple the number of stateside races since 2022, while Cadillac will bring an American team to the grid next year.
New York, Indianapolis and Chicago have all been mooted as possible venues for grands prix but Miami GP president Tyler Epp insists F1 should let it and fellow newcomer Las Vegas consolidate their position first.
“We would certainly not be in favour of a fourth race. I am not worried about the detraction from our event but we need to stabilise some of these new races,” said Epp.
“We are very respectful of the history of Formula 1 before the Miami Grand Prix existed, and we have tried to be very humble with that. And now we have got two of the three races in the States both being what I would consider to be very new races.
“Hopefully we have established ourselves here in Miami as one that is here to stay. And we will continue to invest with F1, the FIA, and the sport.”
As recently as 2011 there was no American date on the F1 calendar, but Austin has been a fixture since the following year while Miami and Vegas were added in 2022 and 2023.
Miami chiefs have discussed making it a night race like Vegas but, ahead of this weekend’s fourth staging, Epp says they are no closer to implementing that change.
“It comes up every year,” he added. “I can tell you that we have an internal discussion about it, and there are folks that sit around our table who are very adamant that it is the right thing to do.
“But we are not there today, and there are no plans for the race in 2026 to be a night event.”
Britain’s Lando Norris won last year’s Miami Grand Prix but currently trails McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by 10 points in the drivers’ championship.