What IndyCar Could Learn from F1 Miami Grand Prix

• Given that F1 will have three races in 2023 in the U.S.—Miami, Austin and Las Vegas—the onus will be on IndyCar to up its game.

• “I think one thing that might be able to improve is the marketing around the racetrack,” IndyCar driver and F1 attendee Rinus VeeKay said.

• Formula 1 had a massive PR and marketing presence at Miami, which was further complemented by the PR and marketing staff of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium.

It would almost be easier to name the very few NTT IndyCar Series drivers who weren’t at this past weekend’s Formula 1 race in Miami. Virtually every IndyCar regular was in attendance at the sold-out inaugural event not far from South Beach.

Two of those in attendance, Pato O’Ward, whose future may eventually lead to F1, and Rinus VeeKay, spoke with Autoweek Wednesday morning and gave their impressions on what IndyCar as an organization could learn from the incredible show F1 put on in Miami.

“It was a huge event,” O’Ward said. “I feel like the hype was probably the biggest hype we've ever seen for a Formula 1 race in the U.S. It was just crazy and really, really cool to see how F1 is growing in the U.S. market.

“I think that what F1 has really cracked and I feel like IndyCar has as well—in not all of the races but in some on the calendar. I think we all know what it is that attracts people. The hard thing is to find a way to do it. Right? It's all a business. It has to make sense.”

One of the biggest things F1 really shined at in Miami was giving people more than their money’s worth. And that says a lot, given the average ticket price was several hundred dollars and up.

F1 had numerous on- and off-site activities in addition to the race itself, including a number of concerts, disc jockeys spinning music continuously, dancing and folks just having a good time.

By the way, there was also a race to enjoy as well.

“What is so appealing to people is that it's more of we're going to a music festival and there's going to be a race going on,” O’Ward said. “Let's go see race cars go because, you know, whenever people go see race cars, it's usually people are like, ‘Oh my God, these cars are so cool.’

“But I feel like when you bring like a music festival in there and concerts and artists, people get more than just the race and I think that's what really sells.”

O’Ward, who drives for Arrow McLaren SP, is in the final year of his current contract with the IndyCar organization, but also has aspirations of following his racing dream one day to F1.

Being around the whole F1 atmosphere only heightened O’Ward’s desire to someday race in the world’s most popular motorsport series. But if it never happens, he’ll have no problem remaining in IndyCar and battle for race wins and championships in that series, as well.

“It's cool man, it's really cool,” O’Ward said of his dream. “But like I've told many people, there's so many things out of my control that I just say, ‘You know what, I’m just forgetting about it. If it comes, it comes. And if it doesn't come, then I guess it doesn't come.

“I'm gonna make sure that I'm gonna do everything in my power to do everything as good as I can here in IndyCar. I just want to win, you know. Wherever I am, I want to win. I want to win the (Indy) 500, I want to win the (IndyCar) championship, I want to get Arrow McLaren SP their first of both and I want to give these guys a year to celebrate and give myself that because too much work goes into this to be thinking about other things. So I'm so excited for our year in IndyCar and I just I want to do the best job I can for them and for myself.”

As for the Dutch-born VeeKay, he comes into this weekend’s GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the defending winner, his first career IndyCar victory.

VeeKay was also in Miami over the weekend—it helps that he lives close-by in Fort Lauderdale—and hung out with a number of close friends including former go-kart rival and defending F1 series champion Max Verstappen, who ultimately won Sunday’s race.

Autoweek asked VeeKay what examples from F1 he took away from that race that potentially could help IndyCar increase its reach and success here in the U.S.

“Looking at the track and really the race itself, I think IndyCar is more of a pure form of racing,” VeeKay said. “There's more excitement and character in an IndyCar race. That's always like my thought when I see the races on TV.

“But when I was there in real life (at the F1 race), you see a whole different kind of fan walking around there. Of course the tickets are very expensive, which make everything very fancy when you walk around. But for me, I think IndyCar really has a good product.”

But IndyCar’s product could always improve, as well. Given that F1 will have three races in 2023 in the U.S.—Miami, Austin and Las Vegas—the onus will be on IndyCar to up its game to if not totally compete with F1 in its backyard, to at least increase its own presence in motorsports both in the U.S. and globally.

“I think one thing that might be able to improve is the marketing around the racetrack,” VeeKay said. “I live in Fort Lauderdale, so I was at the Fort Lauderdale airport, Miami airport, and everything was Formula 1 there. So I think when we have a city race, like a downtown race, I think a little bit of extra marketing could pay off pretty well.”