Watch: Perez wrestles Red Bull around Miami GP circuit

For the second time in its history, Formula 1 travels to Florida for round five of the 2022 season in Miami.

Sergio Perez has taken an old Red Bull car around the brand-new Miami circuit in a video published on the team’s social media channels.

Formula 1 returns to Florida for the first time since 1959 in a couple of weeks when the circus rolls into Miami.

The 5.4 kilometre Miami Gardens Circuit will see the drivers traverse 19 corners as they weave around the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins NFL side.

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While giving the ground’s staff a nice repair job on the grass on the stadium’s pristine pitch, Perez wrangled the V8 Red Bull round the unfinished circuit, negotiating his way through the track outlined, at that time, by cones, bollards and temporary barricades.

The lack of grip on the uneven surface was plain to see but, when the cars take to the completed track in May, the conditions should be less difficult to navigate.

The event in Miami this year is set to be the 73rd Formula 1 championship grand prix in the United States, and fans in attendance will have the opportunity to enjoy the sights of the circuit from the high vantage points of the stadium, as well as from the comfort of an artificial yacht club on the inside of the circuit.

Needless to say, you would need to dig fairly deep into your pockets for that – general admission for all three days would set you back over a thousand dollars – but the track was designed for close-quarter racing that the organisers are confident will be worth the investment, and we hope the new cars can continue the trend of exhilarating action we have seen in the first three rounds of the 2022 season.

F1’s head of vehicle performance, Craig Wilson, was one of the key figures in the materialisation of the ambitious circuit build, and he revealed the logistical challenges of putting it together.

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“It is actually quite a restricted site to work on, both in terms of existing infrastructure and operationally,” he said in an interview with Formula1.com.

“The south-east to south corner section is where the Miami Open tennis is held and houses all of their courts and infrastructure, plus a gondola system running above it, and the eastern section has a combination of Florida Highway on and off ramps from the Florida Turnpike and some historical trees, both of which that we had to navigate around, which placed a heavy restriction in this area.

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“Then there is the matter that there is a big stadium and all its infrastructure right in the middle of the site that has to operate during the NFL season.”

Furthermore, residents of Miami Gardens have filed a lawsuit against the event, complaining of the “unavoidable noise” that will emanate from the circuit, and this is currently being considered in court.