Judge clears final legal roadblock for Miami GP

Michelle Foster
Downtown Miami. USA May 2021

An aerial view of downtown Miami. USA May 2021

The 2022 Miami Grand Prix will go ahead on 8 May after Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Fine ruled against residents who had tried to block the F1 race.

But that doesn’t mean the 2023 edition of the grand prix is safe.

Earlier this month local homeowners filed a suit to seek a preliminary injunction to keep the city from proceeding with the race due to concern over noise levels.

But the last-ditch lawsuit, based on the grounds of “intolerable” noise pollution, has been denied.

According to the Miami Times, Fine rules that he would not schedule a preliminary injunction hearing prior as the evidence presented by the local homeowners was “very highly speculative”.

“Although the burden may seem unfair to the plaintiffs [the residents], I do find that any potential harm is avoidable,” Fine said.

“In combination with that, the evidence proffered so far regarding the potential hearing loss is, in my view, very highly speculative.

“It is not based on any current Formula 1 noise information, and the most recent affidavit from overnight does not take into consideration the south wall [a noise barrier previously erected at the venue].”

As for the race disturbing the lives of the locals, he said: “I agree that your clients are blameless, and that there’s an inherent appeal to a fairness argument that it’s just not fair to ask the people who are innocent and blameless to alter their routine to have their lives interfered with by taking precautions, any myriad number of precautions, to mitigate or eliminate the harm.”

 

He, however, did not rule out the possibility of further court proceedings in the months to come declaring that heed expect a “full-blown evidentiary hearing in four-five months” after the May 8 race.

Sound tests will reportedly be conducted throughout the race weekend.

Earlier this week the organisers of the Miami Grand Prix say the Miami International Autodrome circuit is “95 per cent” complete as time ticks down to the inaugural race at the venue.

 

Miami Grand Prix clear the final legal hurdle

A lawsuit to block the race in Miami filed by the local residents has been denied by the judge.