Daily Times

PARIS: The organiser of the first ever Miami Formula One Grand Prix to be held next year said the circuit would have “fantastic passing opportunities” to create a race that will be “a little bit different”. Managing Partner Tom Garfinkel also said in an interview with AFP that he hopes the race in Florida will attract a new US audience that has had its interest awakened by a Netflix series that looks behind the scenes of Formula One. The circuit is being built around the Hard Rock Stadium complex, home to NFL team Miami Dolphins. “We’ve really tried to create a racetrack that has multiple passing opportunities, so we expect it to be really great racing,” Garfinkel said. “Our race will hopefully be a little bit different.” The Miami race on May 8 will be the second in the US after Austin and shows the ambitions of F1’s owners Liberty Media to grow the sport in the United States. “I know expanding the market in the US is a big part of Formula One’s agenda at the moment,” Garfinkel said. “There’s certainly been a lot of interest, both from corporate sponsors as well as from race fans and from people that want to come experience Formula One in the US.” Garfinkel said 200,000 people had expressed an interest in buying tickets, a quarter of them from outside the United States, although capacity is expected to be limited to around 80,000 for the debut Miami race.