Miami GP hoping to capitalize on Hamilton/Ferrari pairing

The organizers of the Miami Grand Prix say they are “scratching the surface” of the potential draw that a Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari partnership could be this year.

Hamilton’s first week at Maranello has attracted huge interest after he drove for Ferrari for the first time on Wednesday, as Formula 1’s most iconic team and its most successful driver pair up in 2025. Miami Grand Prix president Tyler Epp says there are multiple storylines that are driving fan interest in the United States this year, but that the Hamilton move is likely to be the standout.

“At this point, we’re scratching the surface of it, but I think we all saw it from a commercial standpoint last year when it was announced,” Epp told RACER. “Lewis’s presence in the sport – and not just in the sport, even outside the sport, just as a personality and an ambassador for motor racing in general – he’s just so powerful and so significant, and his success on the track is so admired.

“Then you take that, and as we’ve gotten to know the Ferrari business quite well – we’re doing some business with them in May, and we do engage with them pretty heavily here in South Florida – it’s one of the most unique and powerful brands we’ve ever kind of gotten our hands around.

“And so to put those two pieces together, fueled by the power of Formula 1 on the world stage, I think we all see what could be the reality here.”

Speaking to RACER on the day the Miami Grand Prix began selling one-day grandstand tickets for this year’s race for the first time – a move driven by feedback from fans asking for more flexibility to tailor their access to their own requirements – Epp said the way the race continues to see growth in its local market is particularly encouraging.

“If we’re taking an honest look at it, we have seen steady interest in our race,” he said. “I would tell you that we’re proud of what we built. I say this a lot, but I think the fact that Stefano and Formula 1 allow us to be Miami and we’re not just another Formula 1 race in another market is really important.

“We get a chance to express ourselves a little bit and do the things that we do here that are a bit different than another market, and I think that our fanbase responds to that. The most important thing that that we see is we see continued, steady growth in our market in which we live.

“South Florida continues to be a good market for us, a market that is growing, that is engaging. I think the cutting in the race track for us so that we have additional motorsports events now throughout the year, integrated into our football schedule and our stadium schedule, I think, is helping that.

“We’re we’re seeing engagement in different ways, via social and via some of our membership programs, that I think is different and allows us to spread our wings a little bit, and bring in the local community and make sure that they’re part of what we show every year.

“So we have seen steady growth, and we continue to see it. And I know that everybody wants me to say, like, ‘The F1 fan in us, we can’t figure it out, we don’t know what we’re doing’. That’s not what we’re seeing. The data is really good for us, but it’s being driven by South Florida, Latin America, and the rest of the domestic U.S.”