2023 Miami Grand Prix - Preview

Press release available only in original language. 

Heading Stateside as we return to the Miami Grand Prix:

• Toto Talks Miami
• Fact File: Miami Grand Prix
• Stat Attack: Miami and Beyond

Toto Talks Miami

 From the streets of Baku to the streets of Miami. We’re looking forward to being back on track so quickly after an interesting, but challenging, weekend in Baku. The new sprint format threw up some surprises and we now need to evaluate the merits of it, and if there are any tweaks necessary. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t quite get our car in the right set-up window during practice. That made the rest of the weekend more difficult. Our race pace looked competitive against the Ferraris and Aston Martins, but with overtaking so tricky, we couldn’t put this to the test. That’s about where our car is right now but we also know small differences can have a big impact weekend by weekend.

We’re excited therefore to get to Miami and get back on track. We’ll be using the few days in between to extract as many learnings as we can and put ourselves in the best possible position. It’s a circuit that is a different beast compared to the last few races. There’s a real mix of corners, with some high-speed sections, long straights but also tight, twisty portions. 

It’s also going to be a busy weekend with plenty of off-track activities and events for the team and our partners. There was an incredible buzz last year and I have no doubts it will be another spectacular #event this year.

Fact File: Miami Grand Prix

• The 5.412 km Miami International Autodrome is the 11th track to host a Grand Prix in the USA - the circuit in Las Vegas will become the 12th later this year.
• The track in Miami ranks high in terms of top speeds achieved comparative with other circuits, with only Monza, the Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico and the new Las Vegas circuit expected to see higher top speeds this season. Miami together with Baku are amongst the highest circuits for drag sensitivity.
• This is partly down to the need to optimise the car for the 1.28 km long straight between turns 16 and 17.
• Ambient temperatures are expected to reach up to, and possibly higher than, 30°C.
• This is the second highest statistically expected ambient of the year after Qatar, and ahead of Singapore.
• Last year’s Grand Prix saw similar conditions with George describing it as „a brutal race.“ This was partly due to the high ambient temperatures but also the humidity.
• There have been several small tweaks to the track following the first edition of the Miami Grand Prix last year.
• These include the track being resurfaced with a new aggregate ahead of this year’s race, offering improved grip for the drivers with the aim of increasing overtaking opportunities.
• The positioning of some of the Tecpro barriers, along with rumble strips, has also been altered ahead of the weekend.
• Off track, the team hospitality units within the paddock have been moved on to the pitch inside Hard Rock Stadium. A new Paddock Club building has also been built.
• The track is very narrow in places, particularly in the final sector, which increases the chances of Safety Cars and Virtual Safety Cars. Sector one features faster, sweeping turns and the middle sector is a tighter, twisty sections. Sector three is dominated by the long back straight and hairpin at turn 17.
• The track layout presents a challenge to the car setup with need to have downforce for the fast corners early in the lap (T1 to T8) and especially the twisty T11-T16, but without being draggy on the two very long straights.
• Good mechanical grip/traction out of low speed is primordial to lap time here as T8, T16, T17 are all low-speed corners leading onto long straight segments.
• The dark new tarmac, hot ambient and rather abrasive (from jet washed) surface leads to very high tyre temperatures making management a necessary challenge in the race.
• Last year, we saw one Virtual Safety Car deployment, which then turned into a full Safety Car.

Stat-Attack: Miami and Beyond