Formula 1 is "actively scouting" downtown Miami as a potential site for a new Grand Prix, according to David Smiley of the MIAMI HERALD. Execs and engineers with the global racing brand were in the city this month, "meeting with Miami’s new mayor and the city’s head of film and culture to go over potential racing circuits and logistics." Racing planners have "already put together a half-dozen routes" that would have high-performance vehicles zooming around AmericanAirlines Arena, over the causeway to Dodge Island, down Biscayne Boulevard and -- in "what sounds like a non-starter" -- through the PortMiami Tunnel. Routes and logistics are being discussed "with the hope of bringing a race to downtown" by '20, according to Miami Film & Cultural Administrator Vicente Betancourt. But "everything is preliminary," he said. Under new ownership and "looking to expand its U.S. presence," F1 has been talking much of the year about adding races to its lone U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. An event in Miami, or possibly Las Vegas or N.Y., "has been publicly discussed." Betancourt said, "They had their track engineers come down and look at the streets. We've got to see if it works and what it would cost them to actually bring it out. I think the ball is pretty much in their court" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/28).
