PICTURED: Luxury rooftop bar, room for more than 6,000 guests and teams to be housed on the TURF of Hard Rock Stadium: Miami Grand Prix organizers reveal plans for a brand new three-tier Paddock Club that overlooks the start-finish line for 2023 race
Organizers of Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix are taking things up a notch this year as they unveil a brand new, luxurious paddock club.
The three-tier premium hospitality building, which can house more than 6,000 guests, is part of a major shake-up that will have the 10 F1 teams housed inside Hard Rock Stadium, the whole track repaved and the first ever chance for fans to peak behind the scenes from a new viewing platform.
A project six months in the making – the cost of it is yet to be disclosed – the 2023 race is set to look drastically different from its inaugural event, which welcomed 242,955 spectators.
A new three-tier hospitality Paddock Club has been built for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix
The six-month project has delivered a facility for more than 6,000 race-going spectators
Last year’s race was the first of its kind in Miami and much of the hospitality came in the form of temporary structures.
Now organizers have made a commitment that they are here to stay with a luxury 190,000 square foot facility that includes a rooftop bar.
Hospitality was behind the pits last year but this time round they will be overlooking the pitlane, as well as the start/finish straight.
As a result the teams’ paddock has been moved inside Hard Rock Stadium, with the tennis court used months prior for the Miami Open stripped out and Lewis Hamilton and Co housed on the turf.
The cost has not been disclosed but no expense has been spared for the luxury new club
The paddock is sacrosanct and is never usually visible to race-going fans.
That will change in Miami as for the first time ever anyone with a general admission Campus Pass ticket will be able to, from the 300 level of Hard Rock Stadium, look directly into the Team Village from above, catching a glimpse of Charles Leclerc, Hamilton and two-time champion Max Verstappen.
Much of the regeneration of the circuit has come in the form of repaving the circuit too, with a desire for better racing.
The 2022 race did not stand out for its performance and organizers have repaved the entire 3.36-mile race track in the hope of more overtaking this year.
Team personnel will be moved inside Hard Rock Stadium – and fans will be able to catch a glimpse of their favorite drivers from Level 300 inside the home of the Miami Dolphins
One of the organizers, Tom Garfinkel, explained: ‘We could have just come back with the race track that we had last year, and the goal we set out was to have great racing and a lot of overtaking, with side-by-side racing.
‘There were parts of the race track where there was one line where there should have been the possibility to overtake, and so we weren’t happy with that.
‘We’re going to go through with the investment and expense to go ahead and repave it in an effort to get it where it races better.
‘It raced well enough according to the teams and drivers but we want it to be as good as it can possibly be so that’s why we’re going to repave it.’
The 2023 race will be held across the weekend of May 5 to May 7.
