Formula One F1 - Miami Grand Prix - Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, United States - May 1, 2025 General view of the track ahead of the Miami Grand Prix REUTERS/Marco Bello
MIAMI (Reuters) -Formula One handed Miami the longest contract on the calendar on Friday, securing the grand prix until 2041 with a 10-year extension on top of an existing decade-long deal.
Miami is the first of three races in the United States -- the others being Austin's Circuit of the Americas and Las Vegas -- and Formula One is at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens this weekend.
The race was held for the first time in 2022.
Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali said the extension marked "a strategic milestone of enormous importance".
"In this moment of an incredible period of growth of Formula One, we want to make sure that we stay tuned and work together with the best partner that we have," the Italian told a press conference.
"Miami will be part of our bigger strategy to be even stronger in the United States of America. This is a place where it is crucial to be.
"We are getting bigger and bigger but we are still very small if you compare to the biggest sport franchise in the U.S... this will help us to grow in the right segment, in the right direction.
"We want to think bigger and bigger. The only way to think big is to work together with partners that are the best and will help us to know an environment that we are still discovering."
Liberty Media-owned Formula One has boomed in popularity, particularly in the Americas where it has plenty of potential for growth, thanks largely to the hit Netflix docu-series 'Drive to Survive'.
A Hollywood movie 'F1', starring Brad Pitt, is due for release next month.
Domenicali said also that there was a lot of interest in the U.S. media rights package, currently held by ESPN, with discussions ongoing. He gave no details of the interested parties.
Miami GP promoter Tom Garfinkel said the extension would enable organisers to invest more in the event and make improvements.
The Hard Rock Stadium is home to the NFL Miami Dolphins and also a venue for soccer -- including next year's World Cup -- and concerts. The surrounding complex also hosts tennis and track day events.
"This has a huge impact, both financially on South Florida but also locally here in the Miami Gardens community," said Garfinkel, adding they could now be sure the event was here to stay.
"When you take someone to an event who's a casual fan who may not love the sport, that's when they really fall in love and become more of an avid fan," he said.
"So we believe if we're here doing that year after year, we're just going to grow more fans here in the United States."
Garfinkel said the facility could also become something of a motorsports hub.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Toby Davis)
