F1 fans are still heading to the bright lights of the Miami GP – and it’s clear they truly love F1!
The very first Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix happened back in 2022, and five years later, fans are still coming out in droves to enjoy a bit of that South Florida sparkle.
“I’ve been saving up for this ever since F1 announced it,” said one superfan of Charles Leclerc as I wandered through the fan zones, trying to understand why people keep coming despite the heat and humidity. “At first, I wasn’t sure if it’d be worth it, but now it feels like a dream come true.”
That fan is Chloe, a 26-year-old from nearby Fort Lauderdale, and she’s one of many new American fans discovering Formula 1. When COVID-19 closed her high school, Chloe turned to Netflix to pass the time and found the show Drive to Survive.
Some longtime F1 fans might not love the show’s soap opera-style drama or its skipping over complex technical details. But those are exactly the reasons it brought millions of new fans in the U.S., many of them younger and female.
“It felt like this whole new world opened up,” Chloe said excitedly about her first time watching the series. “I wanted to know everything.”
With plenty of free time, she dove deep into the sport. Like others I met in Miami, she caught up on old races, movies, and YouTube videos about her favorite drivers. When Formula 1 started racing again in 2020, she was ready to watch every moment.
As I chatted with fans hiding from the Florida sun, I kept hearing versions of Chloe’s story. But I also met a wide mix of fans.
Next to me at the Red Bull Energy Station was a couple who had been F1 fans for years and had traveled the world to attend bucket-list races before coming to Miami. I also spotted Kim Reimer, known as “Ferrari Hat Guy” among fans — an American from Tallahassee who’s been making exact Ferrari hat replicas to wear since 2002.
Miami sometimes gets a bad reputation from F1 fans who’ve never been. They see the yachts, celebrities, and influencer videos and assume that real fans wouldn’t go to Miami or enjoy it.
But everywhere I looked, I saw passionate fans. Sure, some people were there for the perfect Instagram shots or VIPs who didn’t really follow F1, hoping Lewis Hamilton might bring Kim Kardashian nearby.
But most were true fans — wearing handmade outfits, sporting rare merchandise, and grinning from ear to ear.
F1 fandom may look a bit different in the U.S., but five years into the Miami Grand Prix, the excitement only keeps growing.
By Elizabeth Blackstock