Formula One Grand Prix sets out to be ‘uniquely Miami' with pools, yachts, music

MIAMI GARDENS — Squiggles, scribbles, doodles. Call them whatever you like, but everyone listening to Tom Garfinkel explain what he’d drawn on a whiteboard four years ago knew exactly what his vision represented.

The inaugural Miami Grand Prix would never forget that it’s a motorsports race expected to uphold the tradition of Formula One. But just as it wouldn’t forget the last part of the event’s name, it also wouldn’t overlook its first name.

“We wanted to make it uniquely Miami,” Garfinkel said, giving the anticipated 85,000 fans a hint of what to expect for the three-day event highlighted by Sunday’s inaugural running of the Grand Prix around Hard Rock Stadium.

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Luckily for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, the man he’d hired to be president, CEO and vice chairman of the Dolphins had a hidden talent enabling him to illustrate touches you might not associate with Formula One: a “Beach Club” with two pools, plus 10 dry-docked yachts, a Champagne room, 32 food vendors and concerts. It’s designed to cater to everyone from gearheads to high rollers to curiosity-seekers.

“I was originally an art major when I went to college, so I draw a lot,” Garfinkel, managing partner of the event, said at the conclusion of a media tour Wednesday. “And so a lot of the things you see out here are some of the very detailed things I drew on my whiteboard first, before they became real, and kind of said, ‘Go build that.’”

Speeds expected to hit 199 mph

It took 10 months, from 300 to 1,000 workers per day, 48 million pounds of asphalt and 2.3 million tons of cement — just for starters — to enable drivers to rev up their engines at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. They’ll embark on a 57-lap trek over the 3.36-mile, 19-turn course at speeds expected to top out at 199 miles per hour on the Miami International Autodrome.

Fans used to tuning in early on Sunday mornings to watch F1 races from exotic places such as Monaco and Abu Dhabi will get an up-close look at the legendary rivalry between England’s Lewis Hamilton and the Netherlands’ Max Verstappen. They’ll be witnesses to the unfolding Netflix series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.”

From the start, Ross and Garfinkel decided that at every turn, the event needed a Miami stamp. While some VIPs — Tom Brady is among those expected — can watch the race in luxury, other fans might be tempted to check out the yachts on the west side of the campus or dip their toes in two pools in the Beach Club (although, at only knee deep, not much else is bound to get wet). Deejays and singers including Post Malone will perform.

Hungry? There’s most everything from craft beer to cupcakes to croquettes.

Have a platinum card? The Bal Harbour Shops beckon.

“From the very beginning, Tom and Mr. Ross made it very clear that they expect and hope that this event represents the incredible brand that Miami has become mixed with art, mixed with culture, music,” said Tyler Epp, the event’s chief operating officer. “So every decision we made from a fan experience perspective has been through that prism.”

It was a serious endeavor, to a point. The yachts are there with a wink of the eye and some deception for the eye, too. In photographs and from a distance, it appears the boats are in water. In fact, they’re on a solid surface painted blue.

“The Yacht Club idea — we’re not taking ourselves too seriously,” Garfinkel said. “We know it’s not a real marina, but I think it’ll be a lot of fun for people to have a party going on out here, Miami-style.”

Formula One increasing presence in US

Miami is just the 11th U.S. city to host a Formula One event and the second Florida city, joining Sebring, which held one race in 1959. A shift was in the works tracing back to 2016 when Colorado-based Liberty Media purchased Formula One, which will hold three races in the U.S. starting next year when Las Vegas joins Miami and Austin, Texas.

After securing a 10-year agreement for the Miami Grand Prix, Ross initially wished to make it a waterfront race in downtown Miami. After failing to gain approval, he turned to Hard Rock Stadium, determined to make the best of a landlocked site. Garfinkel then brought in Epp, whom he’d known through prior experience in motorsports, and Richard Cregan as CEO, given his 35 years of F1 experience, including launching events in Abu Dhabi and Sochi, Russia.

Their task was simple: Turn a grass and asphalt parking lot — “thin air,” Epp called it — into a sprawling campus that you’d never guess was temporary.

Yes, temporary. Starting Monday, virtually all of it will be torn down.

Dolphins fans have to park somewhere, after all.

“In terms of complexity, this one outweighs them all — I think there’s no question about that,” said Cregan, who keeps a photograph of Garfinkel’s “squiggles on a board” on his phone, just to affirm that “all of the things that was on that have been realized.”

Cregan added: “I think the vision was very clear from the beginning as to how this event would be different in terms of the offerings and the fact we were building a track on the grounds of the stadium. And then obviously we were trying to negotiate the football season, the tennis, the concerts — this is an incredibly active site.”

Epp said he was reminded of that daily when he’d talk with his 7- and 9-year old kids, who haven’t yet moved here from his native Kansas. When they’d ask Dad what he did today, he’d stumble.

“On any given day you’ll be dealing with the height of the curbs and the third layer of asphalt or also trying to orchestrate how we’re going to load in yachts and incorporate 32 different food vendors … while not forgetting we’re here to put on a motor race,” he said.

Organizers plan to dismantle everything except for the pit and paddock building, which holds garage stalls for the teams and cost Ross a $45,000 penalty because it was built over a sewer main. The structure might be used to house racing displays for fans during football season. But at least for now, everything else must go until next spring.

Tom Garfinkel takes Stephen Ross for a ride, all right

That’s for the flip side of this weekend. First, Garfinkel, Ross, Epp and Cregan get to witness the fruits of four years of work.

Wednesday night, Garfinkel had a chance to do something all of us could appreciate. He took his boss for a ride. Ross was among the first to take a lap around the circuit, with Garfinkel at the wheel.

Ross’ reaction?

“Slow down, baby!” Garfinkel said, laughing. “He was a little nervous — ‘Don’t go too fast.’ I told him I had attended driving schools. He said, ‘I didn’t know that.’ I said, ‘There’s a lot you don’t know about me.’”

Garfinkel has a heavy foot, for one.

“I took off a little fast on purpose, just to get him going,” Garfinkel said. “I think I went about 130 down the back straight. He enjoyed it. We had a good time. It sounds fast, but when you’re in a closed environment like that, in a car like that, it’s actually really safe.”

Just like he drew it up.

Hal Habib covers the Dolphins for The Post. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Formula 1 Grand Prix race at Hard Rock Stadium to be ‘uniquely Miami'