F1 Races Are the Next Big U.S. Travel Destination
–By Opheli Garcia Lawler–
Opheli Garcia Lawler is a Staff Writer at Thrillist and writes about why travel to F1 races should be on every thrill-seekers bucket list.
Miami’s Formula 1 grid walk during the May 2023 race felt like a Hollywood red carpet event had been teleported to a racetrack. As a member of the press, I was ushered into the crowd and quickly found myself crammed between the Jonas Brothers and J Balvin as I narrowly avoided crashing into the coned perimeter of one of the McLaren MCL60s.
Later, a celebrity-filled surge along the track had me within 10 inches of Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams taking a photo, while last-minute checks were made to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari SF-23.
The entire Miami race weekend was a relatively big departure from what longtime F1 fans (and drivers) are used to. In addition to the star-studded pit walk, grid walk, and paddock, LL Cool J was brought out to introduce each racer in the style of a WWE wrestling match. The entire spectacle earned backlash from fans. One of the main criticisms? It was such an American thing to do, and the sport’s global audience was loath to endorse the stylistic changes.
However, as F1’s domestic fan base continues to grow, the Americanisms infiltrating the sport are likely to stick around. Formula 1 race weekends have always been travel destinations for dedicated and moneyed fans, but with the Miami race in its second year, the November launch of the Las Vegas street race, and the long-running Grand Prix in Austin, the US is set to host three races in 2023—more than any other country.
You’ve read about the powerful rise of the F1 fan girls, the success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive, maybe you’ve even seen those Charles Le Clerc fan edits on TikTok. Now, the races themselves are becoming the next big event-travel destination, joining the ranks of Coachella and the Super Bowl.
Destination by design
Turning F1 races into travel destinations didn’t happen by accident. Tyler Epp, who was named Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix’s president in 2022, told Thrillist that the intention is to offer an experience specifically tailored to each of F1’s many different fan demographics.
“Every single person who comes, we want them to walk away with the experience of a lifetime,” Epp said. “We believe that someday, part of our secret sauce will be the way we study our fanbase and provide options that fit what they want. Not everybody wants to sit on the finish line or on the start line in a seat—our job is to distinguish what [is of] value and put together a proposition so they go, ‘Oh, I’d love to do that.’”
Formula 1 has traditionally been seen as a sport for the elite. The iconic Grand Prix in Monaco, where a good chunk of spectators watch on from yachts moored in the harbor, was never marketed as an every man event. And for a long time, the sport itself wasn’t either. Much like NBA All-Star Weekend, where fans descend upon a chosen city to watch their favorite players while also partaking in the glitz and glamour of a celebrity-studded event, the actual race is only part of F1’s draw.
In Miami, the Campus Pass—a.k.a. a GA ticket, which started at $125 for track-only access on Saturday—included getting to see lineups of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars driving across the sidewalks and navigating through throngs of crowds, the car show serving as an appetizer to the main course.
On-site shopping also offered exclusive race weekend merch, like special edition T-shirts produced in partnership with on-trend designers (retailing at a cool $245 each) alongside more affordable souvenirs like novelty cups and hats. If you’ve ever been to Downtown Disney, that’s exactly what it felt like to roam the racetrack’s general admission grounds. There weren’t any rides, of course, but there was certainly magic to be found around every corner—plus plenty of opportunities to empty your pockets while you’re at it.
That magic also came with a food court area stocked with a specially curated selection of Miami restaurants, saving you the 30-minute drive back to South Beach should the hunger pangs set in. Prices weren’t cheap, but they weren’t exorbitant either—Epp even said they ran focus groups to determine how much to charge for beer. You could grab food for around $16, and most alcoholic beverages for less than $20.
The base pass didn’t include Grandstand seating or access to any of the club spaces, but it did give fans the opportunity to see the track in real life, watch the action from TVs mounted all around the site, and, should someone want to shell out $100 extra, listen to the race’s commentators on a set of custom headphones. A three-day general admission pass, which likewise did not include grandstand seating, started at $590. For access to Grandstand seating, which included a guaranteed view of the track, weekend passes started at $750, with an average cost of between $1,000 to $2,000 per pass. And, depending on where your seat was located, the price could increase; seats at sharp turns and the starting line ran the highest. More at Thrillist
The Author: Opheli Garcia Lawler is a Staff Writer on the News team at Thrillist. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Journalism from NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She’s worked in digital media for seven years, and before working at Thrillist, she wrote for Mic, The Cut, The Fader, Vice, and other publications.