Gentlemen, Start Your REVENUE STREAMS!

New owners have given stodgy F1 an American makeover. Can the racing series and its photogenic stars finally crack the world’s biggest sports market?

- Austin Carr

Off Exit 2X of the Florida Turnpike, Hard Rock Stadium’s parking lots are getting a Monaco-esque makeover. With six weeks to go before Formula One’s newest U.S. grand prix on May 8, the vast expanse is being outfitted with a 3.36-mile circuit, palm-tree-shaded villas, and VIP clubs that’ll cost upwards of $9,000 for a weekend pass. The home of the Miami Dolphins may not ooze the aristocratic decadence of Monte Carlo, where F1 drivers whip their multimillion-dollar machines through picturesque streets overlooking harborside yachts. But at Turn 7, where a line of port-a-potties sits amid the construction, a “marina” will host deep-pocketed fans aboard small boats trucked in and “docked” on stands surrounded by planks painted to look like water. The whole event is sponsored by Crypto.com. “The idea is that this is going to turn into an almost Disneyland map,” says Tom Garfinkel, chief executive officer of the Dolphins, pointing at a blueprint of the track at his office. “It’s kind of like, ‘Do you want to go to Space Mountain? Do you want to go to Pirateland?’ ”