You know Miami Grand Prix is loads of fun, but it turns out it’s also (relatively) affordable

MIAMI GARDENS – There’s an incorrect perception, perhaps due to media messaging, that the Crypto.com Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix is only for the rich and famous, that you must spend thousands of dollars to have a good time.

That’s not true from a recent three-day experience, which included walking more than 15 miles around the campus, interviewing about a dozen people, and casually chatting with many others.

It turns out two people can have a great day at the Miami Grand Prix for about $300.

That minimal-cost good time total breaks down to a pair of one-day grandstand passes at $70 apiece and parking for $45, leaving $115 for food, drinks and merchandise.

“We do want it to be for everybody,” said Tom Garfinkel, managing partner for the Miami Grand Prix.

The Miami Grand Prix isn’t cheap by any definition.

A hamburger can cost $22, a beer can cost $12 and water is $6.

However, it seemed the vast majority of the estimated 275,000 people who attended this year’s three-day racing event/party at the International Miami Autodrome (Hard Rock Stadium) had a great time watching Oscar Piastri of McLaren earn his sixth career win by defeating teammate Lando Norris, last year’s Miami Grand Prix winner, and Mercedes’ George Russell. 

Timothy Heard, a 54-year-old from Chilicothe, Ohio, estimates he’s been to more than 100 NASCAR events. 

To say Heard was impressed by the Miami Grand Prix would be a huge understatement.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Heard, a Daytona native who was attending the event with his son, Timothy Jr., to celebrate his 16th birthday.

“Nothing NASCAR does compares to this… we’ve been to a lot of NASCAR races but the atmosphere here, the people, the food. Everything totally blows NASCAR away.”

For the fourth consecutive year, the Miami Grand Prix was a veritable who’s-who of celebrities.

However, Friday’s crowd, which basked in sunny and pleasant weather, seemed more middle-income and younger than Saturday or Sunday.

That might be because it was the cheapest one-day pass.

Garfinkel, who also serves as president and CEO of the Miami Dolphins, thinks the crowd was the same as last year.

“I just think maybe people look at it a little differently,” he said. “You’re looking through different eyes and noticing it more. I don’t know that it’s fundamentally different than it was last year, or the year before.”

Saturday’s full-house crowd, which battled intermittent rain but had the benefit of cloudy skies to keep the heat away, was a bit more of an older, high-income crew. 

Kaskade, the American DJ/producer, rocked the Hard Rock Beach after Saturday’s wet and wild Sprint race that was won by Norris, followed by Piastri (who was the driver for Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s hot lap Friday) and Ferrari superstar Lewis Hamilton.

Among those in attendance Saturday were Miami Heat president Pat Riley, hip-hop artist Pusha T, hip-hop artist/singer Travis Scott, and Michael Strahan, the NFL Hall of Fame player and TV personality.

Sunday’s guests included Tagovailoa, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels, DJ Khaled, the world-famous hip-hop artist and producer, actors Michael Douglas and Terry Crews, musician Seal, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

The Miami Grand Prix said 60 percent of fans attending the races are Floridians, and 80 percent of those fans are from South Florida.

Meredith Moody, who lives in Orlando, attended her second Miami Grand Prix this year. She brought her sister, Elizabeth, along.

She enjoys the Miami Grand Prix for more than just the racing.

“It has a lot of little hangout spots,” Meredith said Sunday.

“They entertain in between (races),” Elizabeth said.

“There’s fresh flowers and trees,” Meredith said. “And little spots to take pictures with people. And a lot of local food vendors.

“Very local and celebratory,’ Elizabeth said of the atmosphere.

Steve Kent, a 73-year-old resident of Reno, Nev., has been to many Formula 1 Grand Prix races.

Montreal. Singapore. Austin. Las Vegas.

This was his first Miami Grand Prix.

“This one looked cool,” he said Saturday.

And the verdict?

“It’s been good,” he said.

Everything wasn’t peaches and cream, though, at the Miami Grand Prix.

Kent said the traffic leaving the Miami Grand Prix was brutal Friday.

Garfinkel said the traffic issues are largely caused by construction on the Turnpike and there are talks to alleviate the situation in the future.

Meredith Moody wasn’t happy about some things with the Miami Grand Prix app, such as what she said was poor information guiding her to her parking lot. She also wasn’t happy about having to use a portable restroom after spending lots of money for her ticket package.

Overall, however, things seemed to run smoothly while attempting to provide something for everyone.

The Miami Grand Prix, after all, is a multi-faceted entertainment venue — featuring areas such as The Beach, The Promenade, The Fountains, Sunrise Key, etc. — that offer lots of variety.

“I kind of envisioned it like a Disneyland map,” Garfinkel said of the campus. “Like, do you want to go to Treasure Island or Magic Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean, whatever?

“And that’s kind of how it is. Do you want to go to the beach? Do you want to go to the yachts? Do you want to go to this bar? Do you want to go to this restaurant? Let’s go get a Miami slice pizza and then let’s go to the champagne tent. And so I think from that standpoint there’s just so much to do here.”

Of course, there’s a bottom-line truth to the Miami Grand Prix that organizers want you to remember.

“This is a motorsports event,” said Tyler Epp, president of the Miami Grand Prix.

To that end, anecdotally it seems more people were actually watching the race this year than just coming out to party. It seems more people attending the race are becoming racing fans.

In this battle to win hearts and minds, and turn curiosity-seekers into F1 fans, the Miami Grand Prix seems to be doing that, sometimes at a relatively reasonable cost.

Race officials want fans to experience the good-time-at-a-reasonable-price messaging for themselves. And the rest, they think, will take care of itself.

“I do believe that fan bases are built at events not on television,” Garfinkel said. “I think you become a fan at the event, so if we can create a great festival atmosphere here for casual fans, and then they come, they’re going to fall in love with the racing.”