Once upon a time, Miami’s Formula 1 organizers proposed a layout that would have sent cars down Biscayne Bay, around the Miami Heat arena, and over the bridge leading to PortMiami, highlighted by shining skyscrapers and stunning turquoise water. What we got instead was… something else.
The Miami International Autodrome is the city's first proper F1 track. It dots the parking lots and surrounding city streets of Hard Rock Stadium—home of the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami Hurricanes. It’s about 40 minutes north of South Beach, tucked away in the suburbs just south of the Broward County line.
Yes, a road course in downtown Miami would have been sweet. But at a spot already ripe with grandstand seating, facilities for thousands of people, and (at least formerly) infield parking, it makes sense that the stadium’s owners would lobby hard to woo F1 organizers away from a slightly more difficult to pull off track downtown.
As a native South Floridian, having a Formula 1 track so close to my childhood home certainly piqued my interest. So when McLaren asked me if I’d want to drive the track, you know damn well that I jumped at the opportunity.
Being able to drive on an F1 track is a pretty big deal. I’ve only ever done it once before at Circuit of the Americas (unless you also count the Las Vegas strip). Even McLaren—a preeminent name in Formula 1—admits that getting access to the track for a few dozen lucky guests to hot lap supercars is no easy task.
The event in question is called McLaren Amplified. Last year, it took place in Miami as part of the automaker’s Art Basel events. It allowed a few dozen lucky customers and a handful of journalists—including myself—the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of its best performance cars on an actual F1 track. That included ride-alongs in the Senna, drift sessions in the GT and Artura, and, of course, driving a few laps of a condensed version of the Autodrome in the newest McLaren 750S.
The track is 3.4 miles long and consists of 19 corners, a few moderate elevation changes, and two long, fast straights. I sampled the three-quarter layout, which omits turns 4-8, where the track crosses over some public roads. Still, it gave me the chance to see what all the fuss was about surrounding Miami’s first F1 course.
With a McLaren test driver riding shotgun, I settle into the 740-horsepower 750S supercar. If you want to check out our full review, you can watch that video right here. I head out on some feeler laps initially to get an idea of the track layout, and a few things stand out immediately.
For one, this is a tight track. McLaren warned us in our driver’s meeting that nearly every inch of the track was surrounded by concrete barriers on either side—no space for runoff. I figured we wouldn’t be going fast enough to have to worry about runoff anyway, but even I felt a bit claustrophobic in some corners.
The speed gathered down the Autodrome’s front straight is impressive. It loosely reminds me of Virginia International Raceway’s (VIR) front stretch, minus the terrifying crest blocking your vision of the first right-hander. It’s completely flat, as is most of the track in this particular layout.
Turns 2 and 3 are smooth and quick; in a car as agile as the 750S, you can easily bomb through those first turns without touching the brakes. This shortened version of the course takes you directly into turn 10 and onto one of two back straights. Unwind the wheel quickly enough, and you’ll get decent speed before having to stand on the brakes ahead of turns 11, 12, and 13.
McLaren warned us in our driver’s meeting that nearly every inch of the track was surrounded by concrete barriers on either side—no space for runoff.
Turns 14 and 15 are two of the slowest on the entire course—near 90-degree left and right-handers that bring you to a crawl relative to the speed achieved on the first two straights. Once you’re out of that and through turn 16, the main back straight is the fastest piece of pavement on the entire course.
The fastest recorded time by an F1 car down Miami’s back straight is 211 miles per hour, achieved by Lance Stroll in 2024. I’m not nearly touching that speed, but the 750S’s twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 is a rocket nonetheless. Stand on the brakes and twist the wheel hard into turn 17, speed around 18, and you’re back on the front straight toward the start/finish line.
With the caveat of missing turns 4-8, the Autodrome isn’t a hugely technical track. There are some tight turns and a blind corner or two, but for the most part, it’s a flat track with a lot of forward visibility that transitions from high to low speeds at breakneck pace. If you get nauseous easily (as I do), make sure you take some non-drowsy Dramamine before heading out on the course. You’ll thank me.
The car itself? Fucking phenomenal. The 750S is essentially a riff on the former 720S—a car I believed to be pretty damn perfect already. The 750S is even more... perfecter, with extra power, more agility, tighter steering, and an even nicer cabin.
When taken at face value, the Autodrome lacks a certain mystique you expect for Miami; I should be flying over Biscayne Bay and racing through downtown with skyscrapers on either side, sipping cafecito in the pits and strolling down South Beach, helmet in hand. Instead, I’m puttering around a parking lot. Not exactly what you think of when you hear "Miami."
Still, any chance to drive on a real F1 track is a genuine bucket list experience. McLaren Amplified allows you to do exactly that. It’s something everyone should experience if given the opportunity—especially behind the wheel of a 740-hp British supercar.
