The hype around the Miami Grand Prix is huge when it comes to marketing the event around Hard Rock Stadium. But the route itself also draws some criticism. And not just because of the improvements to the asphalt, which were necessary even during the weekend, or the fact that there is so little grip next to the ideal line that overtaking maneuvers in the race could become extremely tricky.
The passage between turns 11 and 16, especially chicane 14/15, is considered unconventional. The extremely tightly designed combination, dubbed the “Mickey Mouse” spot by many commentators, does not sit well with most drivers.
First and foremost: Max Verstappen. “I don’t like it at all,” says the world champion plainly. “Doesn’t fit a Formula 1 car.” Because the vehicles of the 2022 generation are “too heavy, too long and too wide” for such a passage, he thinks.
The combination is unconventional, even if it is more reminiscent of a kart track than a Formula 1 circuit. For Verstappen, however, this does not represent a driving challenge that belongs in the premier class. But, he criticizes, driving there is just annoying.
Verstappen against more city courses
The fact that more and more street courses like Miami are being included in the Formula 1 racing calendar and that this trend will continue, think of Las Vegas 2023, for example, does not go down well with the traditionalist Verstappen.
“We drivers have to talk about that,” he says. “Hopefully we can have a little more say in how the tracks are built in the future. We’ll have to talk to Formula 1 and the FIA about that.”
Incidentally, the heat in Miami is “not that bad,” explains Verstappen, because: “It has the long straights. The fast corners don’t seem that fast to me personally, because they’re just very long corners. And in the slow corners there’s not much you can do.”