Beware of Iguanas: Everything You Need to Know about the F1 Miami Grand Prix

The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix is Sunday on the campus of the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

If you're wondering what the fuss is all about, here's the facts, courtesy of organizers for the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix:

Hard Rock Stadium

• Racetrack is built around Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins NFL franchise.

• This is the first year of a 10-year agreement for the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix to be held at Hard Rock Stadium at Miami Gardens, Florida.

• Hard Rock Stadium has recently hosted the Miami Open tennis, the 2020 Super Bowl and 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship, El Clasico Miami Soccer: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona (July 2017), Concerts for Jay Z, Beyonce, Coldplay, U2 and the Rolling Loud Hip-Hop festival.

The Track

• Planning began in the summer of 2019, while the ground-breaking process started in April 2021. Over the past 12 months, 24,000 tons of asphalt have been laid, with the final top lift completed in February 2022.

• Apex Circuit Design designed the track. In total 45 different iterations were drawn until this 3.4-mile version was decided.

• There are 14 pedestrian bridge spans—the most of any F1 circuit—to enable ease of access around the Miami Campus.

• The track has a number of royal palms, plus a 100-year-old oak tree, near to Snake Creek. Organizers had to ensure there were no loose boughs and that iguanas would not fall out of trees overhanging and onto the racetrack. Some of them can be quite large, 20 inches across and weighing 20 lbs.

• The 19-turn track features three straights—the longest being .8-mile in length—three DRS zones and simulations predict drivers will be on full throttle for 58 per cent of the lap, with an estimated top speed of 198 mph.

• The top layer of the bitumen has been stripped off to expose the aggregate. This gives it a rough feel like sandpaper. This will also give the track a lot of grip but could also impact tire wear. It will also mean it has good grip if it rains.

Highlights on the track

• Turn 4 is likely to be one of the most challenging sections for the circuit in terms of the way the cars behave. Drivers will be turning in top gear at about 185 mph but as they go through the corner, they’ll be shifting down two gears to take Turn 5 and 6. Cars will be pulling 5-G laterally through this sequence.

• Key overtakes will be Turn 11, Turn 17 and opportunist overtakes could happen at Turn 1 if a driver is on fresher tires. There might also be overtaking in areas where there are what track designers are calling "mistake generators" in the tricky section for challenge for the driver from Turns 13 to 16.

Fan Experience

• The goal is for people to leave feeling positively blown away reflecting on a first-class experience.

• Over 300,000 people registered online with an intent to purchase tickets, but the team deliberately set capacity for year one at approximately 80,000 per day to focus on ensuring everyone had the best experience.