Formula 1 has confirmed that the inaugural Miami Grand Prix will run in early May 2022, and claims tickets are in large demand despite them not having yet gone on sale.
Miami will join the F1 schedule next season, but will be kept separate from the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, which holds a late October slot. While the Miami project faced some opposition prior to its approval, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali noted there’s a lot of interest in tickets that will go on sale once the final race date is announced.
“We are less than halfway through 2021, but planning for 2022 has been ongoing for some time,” Domenicali said. “There is a high demand for venues for the 2022 calendar. We hope to announce the provisional calendar in September/October.
“We can confirm that the much-anticipated Miami Grand Prix will happen in the first half of May, and demand for tickets is high, even though sales have not officially started. We also look forward to our move for St. Petersburg for the Russian Grand Prix in 2023.”
Coming together👀
19 corners.
5.41km.
3 potential DRS zones.
320 km/h top speed.
We can’t wait for 2022. #TrackTuesday pic.twitter.com/clGnziThsA— F1 Miami Grand Prix (@f1miami) August 3, 2021
Talk of the 2022 calendar comes amid big crowds at recent races, but also an ongoing experiment with a sprint qualifying format that is also going to be seen next month at Monza and again later in the year, provisionally in Brazil. However Domenicali believes the different weekend format is likely to be used for more established races rather than new additions like Miami.
“The idea was to offer something different in order to make sure there was something new we can offer to all the stakeholders in Formula 1,” Domenicali said. “We had said that we wanted to do three tests. One has been done at Silverstone, the other will be in Monza, and the other one will be at the end of the season in Brazil.
“At the end of this complete test we are going to have a plan to see what the next step is. What we can say is, after Silverstone, the response we had from the drivers, teams and media has been really positive. And also from the promoter, because every day we had something – people coming to the track on Friday had first qualifying – so the outcome of the first event has been dramatically positive.
“It’s great because that brought attention, and interest and TV, and also partners, so we have seen a financial influence being positive. Therefore, If I may say it has shown very, very positive signs.
“We want to respect what we said. We are going to have a full debriefing at the season. We have a plan for the future – of course, we are developing that. We are fine-tuning some of the comments we received. What I can say is, if we move – as I do believe we should – in that direction in the future, it will not be at every race.
“We have ideas to create a special format for certain historic grands prix, and certain special awards we want to offer to add to the already incredible platform of Formula 1. So very, very positive comments after the first exercise, and (we are) ready to prepare a proposal at the end of the three events that can bring home what will hopefully be a big step, also in a sporting proposition.”
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