Tyler Epp exclusive: SB Nation talks with the President of the F1 Miami Grand Prix

Photo by Qian Jun/Xinhua via Getty Images

Diving into what it takes to host an F1 race, the 2024 season, and what the Miami Grand Prix has planned for 2025

Imagine, if you will, hosting a multi-day event that attracted hundreds of thousands of sports fans from across the world, and included attendees from Ed Sheeran to, yes, a former President of the United States of America who is seeking that office yet again.

You have just described the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, and you have just imagined being Tyler Epp.

Epp is the President of the Miami Grand Prix, which launched in 2022 as the second Formula 1 race in the United States on the yearly calendar, joining the United States Grand Prix in Austin. With the addition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix last season, the United States now has F1 races on the calendar each year, as the sport continues to grow by leaps and bounds.

SB Nation talked exclusively with Epp regarding the Miami Grand Prix, what it takes to put together such a massive event, how difficult it is to cater to such a varied clientele, what the race promoters have planned for the future, and even some thoughts on how the dramatic 2024 season will conclude.

The growth of the Miami Grand Prix

Our conversation began with a discussion of the Miami Grand Prix, and how the event has grown over its three years of existence. There were certainly some bumps along the way, and Epp addressed what the race promoters have learned over now three years of the F1 race in Miami.

“Look, big success, year three,” began Epp.

“You know, we talked to the promoters out there before we entered this. It was always ‘Year One, the battle. Year two, you’ll get better. In year three, you’ll finally hit your stride.’ I think to an extent we felt that way. I think we felt that we fixed a lot of the challenges the first two years and really started to lean into the value proposition for our fans.”

Epp then outlined how an event like the Miami Grand Prix has a variety of stakeholders, from the fans to the teams, and to the drivers themselves.

“We think about it very much as there’s six key stakeholders to us. It’s the FIA, it’s Formula One, it’s the drivers, it’s the media, it’s our fans, and it’s our partners, and trying to make sure that we deliver the results for each of them is really paramount to what we do here,” continued Epp. “And I think we we took another positive step as it relates to success for those six groups.”

I then asked Epp about what he and the race promoters have learned over three years of the Miami Grand Prix. He focused on how important communication is when pulling off an event like this one, among all the involved parties, from the teams, the sport, and to the fans themselves.

“I think, number one, it’s making sure that we continue to communicate and align with the industry, like including Formula One, the teams, the drivers, the different entities that really make each one of these Grand Prix pull together.

“And I think you can only do that by going through it.

“This isn’t something that I could have read in a manual, like this is something you just have to work through and build those relationships. So I think that’s number one.”

Epp then outlined how perhaps the biggest lesson they have learned these past few years is that the biggest star of the Miami Grand Prix might not be any of the drivers, the teams, or the celebrities that descend on Hard Rock Stadium each May.

It might be Miami itself.

“I think number two, I think we’ve learned how important Miami is to our brand,” described Epp. “Steve [Ross] and Tom [Garfinkle] were way ahead of this in terms of talking about this from the very beginning. But Miami is a core part of what we promised with an experience, right? The culture, the art, the entertainment, the food and beverage, and then you sprinkle on world-class racing on top of it. And that’s kind of the magic that leads the Miami Grand Prix.”

Getting buy-in from the drivers, and the community

Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images

For an event like the Miami Grand Prix to succeed, and thrive, buy-in from involved parties is critical.

Getting that buy-in for a Formula 1 race can mean giving the drivers what they want — a challenging but fair race track — but also making sure the members of the community, whose lives are upended for some time each May, can buy in as well.

Our discussion started with the drivers. Since its debut back in 2022, the racing circuit — and surface — in Miami has undergone some changes. That has seen the race transform into an event and circuit, the drivers have come to love.

“Yeah, it’s drivers, teams, it’s FIA, it’s Formula 1. Again, it’s all those different groups, [but] drivers for sure are gonna be the most vocal, right? They have the largest platforms,” began Epp.

“We always joke about this, right? Every driver who runs in the top three likes the track a lot. The guys who have an issue or finish in the bottom, or the back of the pack have a problem.

“So we try, not to be too reactionary based on what happens.

“But look what I would tell you is that we’re really proud of the work that our team has done to put together a world-class racing facility focused on the racing circuit itself,” continued Epp. “We’ve got a great partnership with folks at Tilke, and the FIA has been a great partner in terms of not only track design but keeping us safe, and keeping our drivers safe.

“I think that the racetrack offers a really differing experience for the people who are on it. We’ve got long flowy turns, got a long straight, we’ve got some really tight hairpin corners.

“And again, the aggregate, we were painstakingly detailed on through the repave in Year Two to make sure that the aggregate, the polymer, and the binder, and it was the right mix for this environment to not only be really great for years, two and three, but on into years four, five, ten, 15 and 20.”

I then asked Epp about partnering with the community. On the morning of last May’s Miami Grand Prix, I was able to spend some time with Tom Garfinkel, the CEO of the Miami Dolphins and the Managing Partner of the Miami Grand Prix, for a roundtable with select media. That morning he talked about some of the programs race promoters have implemented in the community.

Epp went into some further detail, starting with the primary need: Authenticity.

“Well, when we do it, it has to be authentic, right?

“And so I think Tom said it well. I think the programming that we’ve built now with the local schools and the students who are engaged in our programming, we’ve got great local partners who have really taken this and run with it,” described Epp. “The opportunity to integrate not only with F1 in schools, but also taking our own programming into the schools and showing that the people in this community, and most importantly, potentially kids in this community, what racing is, and it’s really not just about the people sitting in the cockpit.”

Part of what the Miami Grand Prix is doing in the community is exposing students to opportunities and careers outside of the car itself.

“It’s also about the engineers and the mechanics. It’s also about the PR teams. It’s also about the marketing teams and the people who sell the tickets and the people who operate concessions, and trying to show that the Grand Prix is not just about the guys in the cars,” continued Epp. “It’s also about an entire experience.

Epp then talked to me about the MIA Academy, an 18-week paid internship program with the Miami Grand Prix that combines work in the classroom, with work at the race itself. Opportunities run the gamut from hospitality, to food and beverage service, through human resources, and everything in between.

“I think one thing we’re really proud of is we’re now entering our fourth year of what we call MIA Academy. And this is we are taking young people from this community, from the local universities and colleges, and truly giving them an opportunity to have a role within our Grand Pix,” said Epp. “They start the program in January, February every year. They work with us all through the semester and work the race with us.

“I will tell you, Mark, by the time we get to the race, these people have real roles that we are counting on.

“In the myriad of like internships and the value proposition amongst them, I think the way that we provide curriculum for them to learn about the business, the ability to apply that curriculum to real-life experiences, and then network with people within the industry, I’m really proud of the team and how we accomplished that,” added Epp.

In addition, the opportunities extend beyond just that initial internship. The Miami Grand Prix has hired participants for full-time roles because of their experience through the MIA Academy.

“The last point of that is we’re hiring these people,” continued Epp. “We have now over a half a dozen people from the first two or three years that are now hired as part of our full-time staff because they excelled in the internship program. So it feeds right directly back to what you’re talking about. Not just community buy-in from a public relations perspective, but really truly community buy-in impacting people’s lives and giving them a future around motorsport.”

What it takes to pull off a Formula 1 race

This year’s Miami Grand Prix was my first F1 race experience.

To say it was overwhelming was an understatement.

But my experience was just a fraction of the entire puzzle that race promoters have to assemble each May, and I was just one small segment of the many segments that Epp described race promoters have to appeal to when putting the Miami Grand Prix together.

Our discussion turned to those various segments, and how the Miami Grand Prix looks to satisfy the needs of each.

“I think we have, you know, over 34 different types of products here and they range everywhere from an expensive high-end paddock club ticket to a a daily campus pass, right? That a family of four can come and join us,” began Epp. “And I think it’s part of the, the magic of this right, is that we have the opportunity to take everybody from all walks of life who are centered around the experience, right?

“And for some people that experience really focuses around race cars, right? It focuses on their favorite driver, their favorite team. For some people, it focuses not at all on the racing, it focuses on, making sure that the right group is catering the space at their event, and making sure that there’s the right things to ‘gram a moment.’ And there’s some people that are coming because they want to see Ed Sheeran or they heard Jelly Roll was coming or whoever it may be.”

That’s when Epp dove into the idea of fan segmentation, something the Miami Grand Prix will be leaning into even more in the coming years.

“But those types of the way we segment the fan base, we’ve taken directly from the work we do with the Miami Dolphins, and the way that they operate their business and the way they segment the fan experience. We’re just taking it a little bit more broader and a little bit wider as it relates to the motorsports business,” described Epp. “But huge credit to Tom [Garfinkle] and Steve [Ross] for allowing us to build off of the work that they’ve done on that customer segmentation with the Dolphins for now over a decade.”

Of course, with so much segmentation, there is an opportunity for some, let’s just say confusion. During last year’s race, Darren Rovell shared a photo of some of the concession prices which touched off a fury on social media over what fans faced at the race.

That photo did not outline how the items were being sold for groups of 12 people, but social media did what social media does.

I asked Epp about concession prices at the Miami Grand Prix, and how that too is another aspect of the difficulty in putting on an event with such a diverse clientele.

“Yeah, if people just want to get a hot dog and you know, a beer. That’s one thing. If people want a hot dog with lobster on it, they can get that too. It’s back to the segmentation you just asked about. Like, so there is a, there is absolutely a way to have a very affordable experience here with high-value proposition that includes commonly priced concessions,” said Epp. “There’s also the ability to have a very luxurious experience that has very high and not even concessions but food and beverage services that you can even upsell into, you know, high-end bottles of wine and alcohol as it may be.

“So, for us, it’s again, making sure we understand what the customer wants.

“We now think about it a little bit more differently after Darren’s tweet, right? That how we put things out on menu boards does matter,” continued Epp. “And making sure that we know if it’s a price for 12, it’s very clear that it’s a price for 12.”

The uniqueness of the Miami Grand Prix

To perhaps paraphrase George Orwell’s Animal Farm, all F1 races are unique, but some races are more unique than others.

With its setting in and around Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Grand Prix is certainly unique, and the race promoters have leaned into that aspect of the event in ways they envisioned, and ways they did not expect.

One such aspect of the race is the paddock, which is assembled on the field at Hard Rock Stadium:

Mark Schofield

As someone who grew up watching Dan Marino play, it was something amazing to walk out onto the field and see his name, and others, in the Dolphins’ Ring of HonorBut the setup of the paddock in Miami also offers fans in attendance a chance to look “behind the curtain” at F1, as they can congregate in the upper level of the stadium and have a view into the paddock. One thing I learned when down in Miami is that when you hear the fans roar inside the stadium, you might want to look around to see who has arrived.

I asked Epp about that aspect of the race, and if it was something they envisioned when designing the layout of the Miami Grand Prix.

“So [Formula 1 CEO] Stefano Domenico gets a lot of credit for the concept of the paddock in the stadium. From day one he and Tom really wanted to showcase the stadium as part of the experience.

“Now, one of the real challenges of Formula 1 in general, especially as it grows in the United States is access, right? Fans as we’ve gotten to know them certainly through our lens here in Miami, like they like access, right?

It’s almost like this, this is where the sausage is made,” said Epp.

“Don’t just look at the beautiful race cars and then get out on the race circuit.”

“Stefan and Tom really drove this as being built in Year Two, saying, ‘let’s use the stadium as the way to showcase the kind of inner workings of the Formula 1 pattern.’ And so that’s the, that’s, that’s what drove the concept.”

Another unique feature of the Miami Grand Prix is another offshoot of hosting the race around an NFL stadium. Each corner of Hard Rock Stadium has a “helix,” a circular ramp that allows fans to reach the upper deck after coming through the gates.

Those helixes offer some of the best views of the race and can be accessed by ticket holders. For example, here is the view from the “northwest helix,” which is where I ended up camping out for the bulk of the Miami Grand Prix itself. You see the tight Turn 17, which comes at the end of the long straight, and then Turns 18 and 19 before drivers reach the start/finish line.

Readers on Apple News can click this link to see the embedded post from Threads.

Epp pointed to those helixes, in combination with the stadium itself and the views of the paddock, as another unique feature of the Miami Grand Prix.

“Now, I think we started it by saying this would just be a really cool way to showcase the stadium combined with Formula 1,” said Epp. “But we very quickly leaned into the fact that our campus pass viewing is most advantageous, the higher you get into the quadrants of the stadium and the helixes give us the best viewing point just externally, not internally, right?

“So all of a sudden you find your most valued tickets have the ability to not only have the best views from the helix, but they also have the ability to walk across the breezeway and into a view of the Formula One paddock.”

Epp views this feature as perhaps the most “rewarding” of the entire setup in Miami.

“I can tell you walking through the paddock on Saturday morning before the sprint race was starting and you see groups of fans who are waving flags because their drivers are walking across, I can’t tell you how rewarding it is,” said Epp. “It’s not necessarily anything that was planned, but we certainly hoped that we would find that kind of engagement and give people who maybe don’t have the opportunity, need to walk through the Formula 1 paddock, an actual view of what’s happening inside.”

However, despite some of those great views, there is at least one person who does not get to enjoy them during the races.

Epp himself.

Of the many questions that readers on Threads submitted, one focused on just how much of the race he gets to see.

Apparently, very little, if at all.

“Oh, man. Almost none,” said Epp when I asked this question.

“About ten laps before the end of the race last year, I went to grab my nine-year-old son because I was gonna take him over so he could take a look at the podium, right? So I grabbed him and I said ‘[H]ey, Trey, it’s time to go. You gotta go right now. Like we have to go right now.’

“He’s a big Max Verstappen fan and he said, ‘[n]o, no dad, Max is gonna lose.’ And so we’re walking across and trying to catch views of TV as we go by and sure enough, Lando [Norris] has this incredible performance with McLaren.

“My point is I saw nothing, like I see no laps of the race. The highest-rated sprint race in America in history” continued Epp. “I saw zero laps of it. But that’s ok. I get to travel the world. I get to see races all over the world. I would much prefer that our fans have a wonderful experience while they’re here watching the race, than allowing me to catch a couple laps.”

The 2024 F1 season, and why you should go to the 2025 Miami Grand Prix

Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/Anadolu via Getty Images

As the conversation wound down, I did want to get Epp’s thoughts on the 2024 F1 season. Our conversation occurred just before the Singapore Grand Prix, which saw Norris take his third victory of the season, and helped McLaren extend their lead in the Constructors’ Championship over Red Bull.

So I asked, will McLaren hold on? Will Norris perhaps catch Verstappen, giving Epp’s son some more heartache?

Epp turned his attention to what this season means for the sport on a bigger scale.

“Well, my son will never be happy unless Max wins. He’s accustomed to Max always winning, so he’s already upset,” joked Epp, before turning serious.

“Here’s what I would tell you about it. I think that the competition that we’re seeing is exactly the opportunity for the sport to take the next step and continue to grow, especially in the United States,” continued Epp. “When you can flip on the screen early on Sunday morning and not know who’s going to win, and qualifying takes on a whole different value proposition? F1 and the FIA get a ton of credit for how they built this series this year. The teams get a ton of credit, the best drivers in the world, all competing at a very high level.

“Historically, you have a great team and their teammates compete.

[This year] we have two, three, sometimes four teams, seven, eight, nine drivers competing for the podium,” said Epp. “It’s absolutely fantastic racing.

“I’m not much of a prognosticator. We are always supportive of competition. Max has got a big lead on the driver’s side, but I think it’ll be really interesting to see, especially as the series comes back to North America.”

That speaks to the rest of the 2024 season, but Epp and everyone else at the Miami Grand Prix already have their sights on 2025. They have started rolling out tickets, as well as some big plans, for the fourth Miami Grand Prix. That includes a specialized McLaren Grandstand, to honor Norris’ maiden victory, as well as some changes to the circuit that will allow for different layouts, enabling the venue to host racing series beyond Formula 1.

The plans for 2025 get back to the “segmentation” model Epp and I discussed earlier in our conversation.

“It’s really focused on evolution, not revolution,” said Epp when I asked about their plans for 2025. “So huge sweeping changes are hopefully not what you’re going to see heading into Year Four. That’s certainly not the plan. But I will say regarding McLaren, Lando [Norris] winning the race, two days after the race, I was back and forth with [McLaren CEO] Zak [Brown] via WhatsApp talking about how we can work together for the year, right? You only get one chance to do it your first time.

“And so, and Zak’s been fantastic. McLaren’s been a wonderful partner for us. Putting that, that McLaren Grandstand program together out of the Marina Grandstand where you’re allowing McLaren fans to come and sit together and root for the entire team to be clear, not just Lando,” continued Epp. “And also having a merchandising opportunity through McLaren, like that’s been in the works now dating back to like, I guess the third week of May. And Zak was a huge help and his team has been wonderful about pushing it through.

“So, I think it’s representative of how we’re attacking or how we’re trying to plan out how we work through the segmentation model, right? So people like to be around people who like the same things that they like to do,” described Epp. “And so putting the McLaren fans together, and so putting Ferrari fans together and Mercedes fans together, those are things we’re talking about constantly, whether it’s brands, whether it’s manufacturers, whether it’s driver clubs. We’ve got integration going into all of those different areas, and we’ll constantly be working on putting those programs together.”

Another change to the ticketing structure for next season? A rotating ticket model. Epp acknowledged that another line of criticism levied at the Miami Grand Prix experience was the fact that fans sat in the same seat each day. They altered that for Grandstand tickets in 2024, and are expanding that to club and luxury tickets for 2025.

“So one of the criticisms that we’ve seen over the years is, you pay whatever you pay for a three-day ticket, but you sit in the same seat for all three days, right? So this year we built a Grandstand product that rotated the ticket day to day to day,” outlined Epp. “We’re extending that this year to our club tickets and also to our luxury tickets. I think we’ve seen really good feedback on that just because it differentiates the experience. Especially when you go to a Formula 1 event where you generally sit on a corner, or sometimes a straight, having the ability to go see the cars in the action from a different vantage point on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we feel there’s a real advantage and a real value proposition to our customers.”

Still not convinced that a trip to the Miami Grand Prix is for you?

Epp closed our conversation with his elevator pitch to those fans who might be on the fence about next year’s race.

“So I pitched my 25-year-old self who spent, you know, most of his early career in and out of North American Motorsport,” began Epp. “And I would tell you that the reason to come to Miami is because you get a team of people here who are focused on you, your experience, and bringing the art, the culture, and the experiential nature of Miami to you surrounded by the best motor racing in the world.”