Tom Garfinkel, the Managing Partner of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, has confirmed that English former professional footballer David Beckham has expressed his intention to to be involved in the Formula 1 event, which he hopes becomes a “destination for F1 fans”.
David Beckham is currently the president of co-owner of new MLS team Inter Miami, who were formed just as Formula 1 was finalizing its plans for the first Grand Prix in the Florida city. The event around the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium is scheduled to take place for the first time next year.
Tom Garfinkel was recently interviewed by Sky Sports: “It’s kind of a funny story – David and I have a mutual friend who called and said David wants to meet you and wants to get involved in the Formula 1 race. So we had dinner last week. David is very keen to come out to the event. He’s very excited about coming to Miami for the F1 race. We’ve gotten a lot of calls from different celebrities, friends, wealthy people and powerful people who all are expressing a lot of interest to come. I would expect a large degree of celebrity attendance coming from all over the world for this event. There is a big celebrity culture in Miami.” – he explained.
Miami will be the 11th different venue to host a Formula 1 event in the United States. According to rumors, adding the race in Miami could have made things difficult for Austin’s Circuit of the Americas to stay on the Formula 1 calendar in the future, but COTA chief Bobby Epstein has talked of the two events being “complementary”; a sentiment echoed by Garfinkel:
“All ships rise with the rising tide. For hardcore Formula 1 fans in the United States or casual ones, they now have another event to come to. The more the merrier. The more racing we have, more race fans we can create. Growth is important for everybody so I think it’s just a win for everybody.” – he explained.
NFL commitments mean they will be kept separate on the calendar with Miami held between May 6-8 and Austin retaining its Autumn slot. “It’s up to Formula One,” Garfinkel says. “But we have the football season in the Fall so it would be difficult when we are hosting football games on the campus at the same time. I would expect we will stay in the Spring time for many years to come.”
There were plans to construct a circuit in the Miami Bay area, with a section running over a bridge. In the end the track will encircle the home of the Miami Dolphins of whom Garfinkel is president and chief executive.
“I think it creates a lot of unique opportunities. We have built in premium spaces and clubs and areas for people to enjoy. On top of that you can walk around the top of the stadium and see every corner of the race track. To have vistas of every turn of the track is really unique. We certainly hope to create an event that becomes a destination for F1 fans around the world. When we roll out in early November there will be a lot of different ways to experience this event that are not traditional. It will be a campus, a Disneyland if you will, of different things to do and different things to experience whether that’s for families, for 25-year-olds that want to have a party and have a DJ, for corporate America to entertain clients and for hardcore Formula 1 fans.” – he concluded.
Leave a Reply