The Miami F1 Grand Prix wants to take advantage of the popular excitement about the arrival of Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. Tyler Epp, the president of the event, already saw last year that the Briton's signing within the Scuderia had had positive effects, and he is convinced that his own event can also benefit.
“At this point we are just scratching the surface, but I think we all saw it from a business perspective last year when this was announced” Epp told RACER.
“Lewis' presence in sport – and not just in sport, even outside of sport, just as a personality and an ambassador for motor racing in general – is just very powerful and very significant, and his success on the track is much admired.”
“Then you take that, and as we've gotten to know the Ferrari business pretty well – we're doing business with them in May, and we're engaging with them pretty heavily here in South Florida – that's the “one of the most unique and powerful brands we've ever had at our fingertips.”
“It's one of the most unique and powerful brands we've ever had on our hands. And so, bringing those two things together, fueled by the power of Formula 1 on the world stage, I think we all see what could be reality here.”
Epp was pleased to Racer that the Grand Prix is increasingly succeeding in attracting audiences and generating engagement with fans and communities in Miami: “If we look at it honestly, we have seen a steady interest in our race.”
“I would tell you that we are proud of what we have built. I say this a lot, but I think the fact that Stefano and Formula 1 allows us to be Miami and that we are not just another Formula race 1 in another market is really important.”
-“We have the opportunity to express ourselves a little bit and do the things that we do here that are a little bit different than another market, and I think our fanbase responds to that. The biggest thing we see is “is a continuous and steady growth of the market in which we live.”
“South Florida continues to be a good market for us, one that is growing, one that is engaging. The track as it is, which allows us to have additional motorsports events throughout of the year, integrated into our football calendar and our stadium calendar, contributes to this.”
“We're seeing engagement in different forms, through social media and some of our membership programs, which is different and allows us to spread our wings a little bit, engage the local community and make sure they're doing part of what we show every year, so we've had steady growth, and we continue to do so.”
“And I know everyone wants me to say, for example, 'the F1 fan in us, we can't understand, we don't know what we're doing'. That's not what we let's see. The data is really good for us, but it's driven by South Florida, Latin America and the rest of the United States.”
