30-4-2024
The Miami Grand Prix has a paddock which is unique in all of Formula 1. The hospitality units of the ten F1 teams, including Alpine’s, are located on the football field belonging to the Miami Dolphins NFL franchise.
Opened in 1987, the 65,326 capacity Hard Rock Stadium is transformed each May into the F1 Team Village in which fans can sit inside and watch the comings and goings of drivers and celebrities around the paddock.
Situated in Miami Gardens at 347 Don Shula Drive (named after three-decade long Dolphins coach) the stadium has recently hosted a range of international sporting spectacles and live music concerts. These include the Miami Open tennis, the 2021 College Football Playoffs, El Clasico — a friendly featuring Real Madrid v Barcelona — and it will be a venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
It’s also hosted Beyonce, Lady Gaga and the Red Hot Chill Peppers with Taylor Swift due to perform in the stadium later this year. And of course, it is the centrepiece of the 3.36-mile Miami International Autodrome.
In 2020, the Super Bowl was played in Hard Rock Stadium with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49ers. Recently announced as an investor to the Alpine F1 Team, the Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was awarded MVP (Most Valuable Player) at that game.
Mahomes, along with the Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, are among a group of high-profile athletes of Otro Capital who have recently invested into our team. The relationship is part of a wider crossover between a variety of different sports as the investment group includes PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy, heavyweight champion boxer Anthony Joshua, Liverpool FC’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and former Manchester United and Chelsea star Juan Mata.
The South Florida city also enjoys a rich sporting culture across a range of disciplines. Whether that’s Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami MLS team (partly-owned by David Beckham), last year’s NBA play-off finalists Miami Heat or even the Marlins baseball side, Miami is a city that is sport mad. It’s why a Formula 1 Grand Prix is a perfect fit.
Pierre Gasly was one of the first drivers to visit Hard Rock Stadium and famously trained alongside the Dolphins’ wide receiver Tyreek Hill — running in a 100-yard sprint. As one of the fastest athletes in the NFL, the ‘Cheetah’ got his own chance to experience F1 last May when he helped our team with pit stop practice and radioed Pierre good luck advice from the garage before the start of last year’s race.
In its first two years, the Miami Grand Prix has gained a reputation as an event where sporting legends join movie stars and A-list music artists. Everywhere you turn on the Miami Grand Prix grid, there is a famous face from the world of entertainment or the sporting industry. It’s the perfect race to host both sporting royalty and Hollywood stars — so keep a look out for who you might spot in our garage over the weekend. Who knows, it might be one of our investors…