Formula One Shelves Plans To Debut Miami Grand Prix In 2019
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MIAMI (CNN) -- Formula One has hit the brakes on a proposed 2019 race in Miami, shelving plans until at least 2020.
After Miami city authorities delayed a crucial vote, initially set for July 26, until September, F1 has decided to put the race on hold rather than sign off "on a sub-optimal race track."
"Whilst our preference would have been to race in Miami in 2019, there was always a point by which delivering the best possible wheel-to-wheel racing experience for our fans, drivers and teams wouldn't be possible in the time available," F1's managing director of commercial operations Sean Bratches said in a statement.
F1's US-based owner Liberty Media is keen to add a second US race to the calendar alongside the United States Grand Prix, which has been held in Austin, Texas since 2012.
'We've not been asked for our input'
Earlier this year, four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton praised the decision to take a race to Miami but questioned the proposed track layout.
"Miami is a super cool place, and I was very, very excited to hear about it and then I saw the layout," Hamilton told reporters before Spain's GP in May.
"I dread the thought of a street circuit like we had with Valencia, which wasn't really a great street circuit. It can be very hit and miss, but maybe it's a hit."
Hamilton lamented the lack of consultation with drivers over track design.
"I don't get why, for example, in golf you get all the great golfers who design golf courses, and then you've not got any of the top racing drivers ever in history who ever designed a race track," added the Briton. "Not that we're designers or anything, but we've not been asked for our input or anything like that."
