MIAMI, Florida — This year marks the fourth installment of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
It will certainly not be the last.
F1 announced on Friday a massive extension of the Miami Grand Prix, beyond the current ten-year deal that is in place. Under the extension, which is for an additional ten years, F1 will stay in Miami through 2041.
At a press conference here at Hard Rock Stadium F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali along with Tom Garfinkel, the Managing Partner of the Miami Grand Prix, outlined the reasons for the extension and what it means about F1 in general, as well as the sport’s growing popularity in the United States.
“Well, first of all, it’s great to announce that because as always in this moment of an incredible period of growth of Formula One, we want to make sure that we stay tuned and work together with the best partner that we have,” began Domenicali.
“Then secondly of course confirming that Miami will be part of our bigger strategy to be even stronger than the United States of America, and this is a place where it’s crucial to be,” continued the F1 President.
“We have shared a lot of thinking together to make sure that this event will be as it has been incredibly successful, but also could be one of the most important pillars for our growth in this country that, as you know, is representing the place where we do believe we can do a lot of things together.”
From Garfinkel’s perspective, the long-term commitment from F1 to Miami means that race promoters can continue improving the event, and the racetrack itself. Ahead of last year’s Miami Grand Prix SB Nation spoke with Garfinkel about the continued improvements race promoters have made to the Miami Grand Prix, and the Managing Partner of the race stressed that commitment on Friday.
“So, what this enables us to do now is continue to invest more into this event, and continue to try to make it even better than we have, which is a goal that we have every year,” stated Garfinkel. “We reach out, talk to fans, talk to customers, ‘how can we improve? What can we tweak on, what can we do better?’
“And this enables us to continue to invest in it and try to continue to differentiate and innovate.”
Domenicali outlined how the sport’s continued growth in the United States remains a goal, but that F1 needs to keep expanding stateside to keep pace with some of the other professional sports leagues here in the US. The F1 President outlined how the initial deal with the Miami Grand Prix was the first contract he helped sign after becoming President, after years of discussions.
“We want to hammer down a very important significant piece in this part of the US with this specific customer base with what is Miami in the equation of the bigger picture of the US,” began Domenicali. “So therefore, as I said it is really crucial because we can really think, long term as one should think, and how to leverage together the growth of our sport. Because, you know, we are getting bigger and bigger, but we are still very small if you compare if you compare [F1] to the biggest sport franchises in [the] US.
“So working with this kind of legacy, this will help us to grow in the right segment, in the right direction, and of course, as always with the right people.”
Garfinkel added that race promoters in Miami take the responsibility of growing the sport in the United States “seriously,” and that the extension gives the Miami Grand Prix a chance to continue that growth.
“Look, we take our responsibility of helping to grow the sport of Formula One in the United States pretty seriously, and I think what this says is, you know, we can use this now to help do that,” added Garfinkel.
“And when, when you take someone to an event who’s a casual fan who may not love the sport, that’s when they really fall in love and become a more avid fan.
“And so we believe if we’re here doing that year after year, we’re just going to grow more fans here in the United States.”
That process continues this weekend at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix.
SB Nation will be on the ground for the entire Miami Grand Prix, so check our story stream all week long for full coverage!
