Following in the footsteps of Miami’s Art Basel Week.
The third edition of the Miami Grand Prix F1 race is now a wrap! Here’s what went down. Miami, a magical destination city best known for turning almost any event into a citywide party, has put its personal spin on the Miami Grand Prix. Private jets streamed into magic Miami and helicopters shuttled the VIPS onward to their ultimate destination, the private paddock lounges at the Miami Formula 1 races at the Miami International Autodrome built around Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. The official event name to be precise is Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix.
But first, of course there were a slew of kick-off parties off-premises, with the biggest and best being a four-night pop-up tent on the sands of South Beach called Carbone Beach named after the ever-popular Carbone restaurant with outposts in New York City, Las Vegas, Dallas, Hong Kong and South Beach.
Here the lucky few gaining entry at $ 3’000 a pop paced along the red-carpet entry into the Carbone tent presented by American Express. Guests hobnobbed with the likes of Elon Musk dining with Citadel hedge funder, Ken Griffin while surprise top musical entertainers showed up nightly like Pitbull and others. The tent included a 2,500-pound ice sculpture and lots of libations along with seafood towers and the signature Carbone spicy rigatoni.
Ferrari also built a big tent on South Beach to launch a couple of new cars models for a one nightstand party on the beach. Additionally, Ferrari hosted VIPS in the Faena Hotel penthouse all weekend long showcasing their new Ferrari Miami Capsule Collection of fashions. A baseball cap could be had for a mere $300+ bucks and only God knows how much for the jumpsuits and other race-themed gear.
With Miami being the top real estate city in the country if not the world nowadays, developers did not just sit on the sidelines. Aston Martin Residences hosted a glitzy grand opening party for their new Miami tower on Wednesday of F1 race week, including fireworks and all. Mercedes Benz Places, a newly announced development co-hosted a cocktail with the Team Principal and CEO of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. And in between qualifiers, F1 race star, Charles Leclerc, took an extra pitstop to select his very own condo in the upcoming EDITION Miami Residences in the Edgewater neighborhood.
The Miami F1 weekend became a contest of not just racing cars and drivers, but celebrity, pro athlete and gazillionaire sightings. Steve Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins and partner in the Miami F1 made the party rounds as well as a slew of Super Bowl champs like, Taylor Swift’s main squeeze, Kelce Travis and basketballer, Lebron James plus pro golfer Rory Mcllroy and performers, Chainsmokers. Even Donald Trump made an appearance at the Miami F1. Female spottings included tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams, Latin singing sensation, Shakira, modelista, Kendall Jenner and Olympic skier, Lindsay Vonn, and lots more.
Miami’s top nightclub, LIV in the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach hosted celeb DJs like Black Coffee while E11Even in downtown Miami was the spot to be to close out the night. Restaurants also promoted F1 themed events like Cote Miami’s Race Week Feast with tons of wagyu goodies. Catch did a sneak peek opening for their brand-new South Beach restaurant with a VIP only guest list. There were also parties in the Miami Design District, aboard yachts and at waterfront mansions.
Now onto the main event, the races themselves. F1 is now followed more than ever before by the masses since the Netflix series, “Drive to Survive” popularized the elite sport for the “Average Joe”. All seats at the Miami International Autodrome are good with great racing vantage points. The elites however, hide away in the air-conditioned paddock VIP lounges while the younger generation of partiers preferred the Hard Rock Beach Club to revel away during the races. Singer Ed Sheeren and DJ Steve Aoki were crowd pleasers while Latin local swooner, Marc Anthony kicked off the main event singing the national anthem.
At the end of the race day, the real winner on the podium with the trophy was McLaren’s neophyte, Lando Norris, upsetting Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who took the number 1 spot in Miami in year 1 and 2 while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third. The tides changed this year in Miami welcoming this upset and giving kudos to Norris for his first F1 win.
A record-breaking crowd witnessed a landmark moment as McLaren’s Lando Norris triumphed at the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix to record his first-ever Formula 1 victory at his 110th attempt. It was a brilliant result for the 24-year-old who took the checkered flag ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. After starting fifth on the grid, Norris benefitted from a mid-race Safety Car to jump into the lead of the race and comfortably pulled away from the field over the last two dozen laps.
A record crowd of 275,799 attended the Miami International Autodrome, marking an increase of over 5,000 from last year and an increase of 45,000 from the inaugural event in 2022. The TV network telecast of the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, May 5, attracted the largest live U.S. television audience on record for F1 as an average of 3.1 million viewers watched. Last year’s Miami F1 generated $449 million in economic activity and this year’s total race numbers are expected to be even higher when tallyed. It was once again a popular destination for famous figures from the sporting world and celebrities from the film and music industry as well as titans of industry.
For those who missed Miami F1 2024, get your engines ready for the first weekend of May 2025 as the parties and main event will only continue to get more grandiose. After all, Miami is the party powerhouse and rapidly growing sports center in America! See you next year around the track.
Hope Gainer
