Why Miami-Montreal double header concept could lead to more schedule headaches

The Formula 1 circus racks up thousands upon thousands of travel miles each season as the open-wheel series traverses from one destination to the next hosting Grands Prix.

The only problem, though, is the fact that F1 is looking to drastically reduce its carbon emissions in an attempt to be net carbon zero by 2030, and to reduce the emissions caused by travel, Miami and Montreal could become back-to-back weekends.

F1’s Miami/Montreal doubleheader could solve some travel concerns

In a recent conversation with Motorsport.com , Miami Grand Prix president Tyler Epp didn’t discount the idea of one day fielding back-to-back race weekends with the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal — so long as the Miami GP date doesn’t shift too drastically.

“We like our slot on the calendar,” Epp told Motorsport.com . “We like being early on, the first US race and it juxtaposes nicely with what Vegas is doing later in the year.

“To be honest our date doesn’t have much movement given everything else we have going on.

“American football doesn’t finish up until, hopefully, late January, we run the Miami Open, so logistically I can’t see us moving the date because of everything else.”

That being said, Epp stated that he “wouldn’t mind it necessarily” if F1 were to rework the schedule to sandwich Montreal into the immediate Miami aftermath.

“One of the things that F1 does not get enough credit for is they let each promoter be distinct and unique,” Epp stated.

“Going to a race in Miami is much different to going to a race in Montreal or in Vegas. It is why people travel to different races.

“I think that is fantastic for the sport. I’m not scared of putting Montreal around Miami, especially if it meets some sustainability goals around the sport.”

More on the Canadian and Miami Grands Prix:

👉 The foolproof Canadian GP formula that new US F1 venues should copy

👉 Miami Grand Prix introduces new 2025 ticket packages in bid to keep three American F1 races relevant

The ultimate decision to alter the calendar in the future would come down to sustainability. F1’s pursuit of net carbon zero status will depend on the series making some serious logistical changes, as freight and transportation compose the bulk of the sport’s emissions.

That would mean creating a calendar that groups events in certain regions together, in order to avoid any significant cross-continental jumps.

Just view F1’s 2024 calendar for a look at what that could involve. F1 jumped from China to Miami this year. Miami was followed by the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, then the Monaco Grand Prix, before the F1 circus dipped back to North America for Montreal, and then back to Europe for Spain.

Though F1 made an effort at better grouping races by region this season, odd outliers like Montreal now stick out like a sore thumb.

If we take Epp’s word that the Miami race date needs to be static in order to accommodate the city’s other sporting events, then that would mean Montreal would need to consider a date in early May.

The Canadian GP date has evolved since it was first introduced to the F1 calendar in 1967. It was first hosted in August before being pushed to September and then October.

But pushing the race later into the year opens up a greater risk for the Grand Prix to be plagued by cold, rainy weather — which is what saw the event moved to June in the first place.

Presuming that the Miami GP will take place during the first weekend in May as standard, that leaves Montreal taking on the following weekend. But early May can still be a bit too early in the year.

Late-season frosts can be common in Quebec until mid-May to June, and average mid-May temperatures range from a low of 48F (9C) to a high of 65F (18C). Add in rain to the mix, and it could make for a particularly chilly weekend.

An early May race wouldn’t be impossible, but it would likely be uncomfortable.

If anything, this serves to highlight one of the biggest challenges in developing a race calendar that makes sustainable sense; local weather trends often influenced the initial logic behind event scheduling, and grouping Grands Prix on the same continent risks scheduling an event at a time that normally wouldn’t make sense.

Even though they sit in the same continent, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the Miami International Autodrome lie 1,500 apart on a North-South axis. That introduces some impressive variables in climate. If F1 wants to position those two events as back-to-back races, it may come at the cost of comfort or ideal logistics in one — or both — of the events.

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