The 1988 CART champion, who scored his only F1 points at the 1983 Monaco Grand Prix, intends to visit the new circuit imminently, an urban layout that completed its latest breakthrough with a celebration area in its Pit and Paddock building.
Sullivan spoke to Motorsport.com at an event in Miami’s Design District that was held to see the North American debut of the ARES S1 supercar and an art exhibit by his former Garvin Brown Racing Formula Atlantic teammate Hubert Phipps .
“I’ve been there twice, when it was still very basic, but I’ll be driving there next week when it’s all done,” Sullivan said. “What they told me is that they did a very good job on the track. On paper it looks like a great design.”
The 5.41km, 19-turn layout around Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens was due to receive its third and final layer of asphalt over the weekend, meeting the schedule set for the opening race date of May 8.
Sullivan believes the F1 race will also benefit from being located near a major sports stadium complex.
“I like what’s set up there,” Sullivan said of the layout of the course that surrounds the home of the Miami Dolphins NFL team. “I’ve never liked ‘roval’-style tracks, apart from Daytona, because it’s always a compromise.”
“But what you do get by being around a stadium complex, is infrastructure and that helps a lot. Getting people in and out is a big factor, and it’s in a great position near the end of the Turnpike.”
“When you think about all the politics, I think it’s a great solution because they were never going to approve a downtown urban race proposal. Nowadays, it’s very difficult with the noise and the complaints from the neighbors, although it will be in May, when it’s pretty quiet in Miami.
Sullivan also thinks the huge surge in interest in Formula 1 in the United States, which brought 400,000 people to the United States Grand Prix at COTA last year and caused the first event in Miami to sell out, is due to the “Netflix effect”, thanks to his documentary Drive To Survive .
“Give it credit, the growth in America is due to Drive to Survive, and Sean Bratches was the brains behind it,” he said. “They [F1] paid for it, Netflix didn’t, and it has ultimately influenced America because of how well it’s been done,” he concluded.
