Miami's connection to motorsport predates the Formula One race by four decades. In the early 1980s, Ralph Sanchez, a local Miami promoter and racing driver, proposed a race on a hybrid street and permanent circuit in Bayfront Park in central Miami to Formula One rights holder Bernie Ecclestone. When that plan proved unworkable, Sanchez promoted IMSA sportscar racing on a Miami circuit from 1983 for three years before shifting operations to Bicentennial Park in 1986. The American CART IndyCar series competed at various Miami-area locations from the mid-1980s through 2010, including Tamiami Park further inland, Bicentennial Park, and the Homestead-Miami oval speedway further south.
In 2018, a proposal for a Miami Formula One Grand Prix was submitted to the championship, with 2019 identified as the target date and PortMiami as the proposed location. When PortMiami's ongoing construction and development created complications, a new proposal for a 2021 race at Hard Rock Stadium was submitted. The race did not make the 2021 calendar, which instead debuted a street circuit in Jeddah for the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Miami race was announced for the 2022 calendar in April 2021 as part of a ten-year contract. The inaugural Miami Grand Prix took place on 8 May 2022. On 2 May 2025, the contract was announced as extended through 2041.
The Miami International Autodrome was designed and delivered by Apex Circuit Design, Formula One's specialist track design consultancy. Multiple potential track layouts were proposed and tested before the final design was selected. Stephen M. Ross, owner of Hard Rock Stadium and the Miami Dolphins NFL franchise, had worked for several years to bring the race to Miami before succeeding. The circuit layout was designed to avoid disrupting local residents. It is a permanent-style circuit with temporary infrastructure — barriers, fencing, grandstands — erected for the race weekend and removed afterward. The racetrack opened on 7 May 2022, with the first on-track session the following day.
A sprint event was added to the Miami Grand Prix weekend in both 2024 and 2025, making the weekend a two-race format with a Saturday sprint race preceding Sunday's Grand Prix.
The Miami Grand Prix is one of three Formula One races held in the United States, alongside the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which joined the calendar in 2023. The May timing of the Miami race places it near the traditional centre of the European calendar and gives it one of the most prominent positions of the North American events. With the contract extension running to 2041, Miami is established as a long-term Formula One venue.
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