F1 22 Preview – Driving the Miami International Autodrome circuit

Time Stamp: May 5, 2022 11:00 AM

2022 is shaping up to be a great year for Formula 1 fans. Not only is there an intriguing, tentatively balanced new order between the various teams and drivers, all grappling with the brand new car designs and regulations, but there’s a brand new circuit and not one, but two new video games intent on depicting it.

We’ve been hands on with F1 22, the slightly shortened new name for Codemasters’ long-running series of racing games, and we’ll be able to talk all about it in the not too distant future, but for today we’re looking forward to one of the main highlights of this year’s racing calendar: a brand new circuit. Formula 1 has added another US grand prix to the calendar, taking us to the streets and car parks around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

This weekend’s racing is set to be a gluttonous spectacle of excess, with tickets in the thousands of dollars and hilarious fake marina that’s been built especially for the occasion. But the most important thing for Saturday and Sunday is how this new street circuit drives.

F1 22 Miami Track Hard Rock

Using a mixture of new and existing roads that run around the Hard Rock Stadium of the Miami Dolphins NFL team, the Miami International Autodrome has been designed and constructed in such a way to blend together long straights, sweeping turns and tight twisty bits, and with plenty of the challenges that the close concrete barriers of a street circuit can provide. There’s certainly some real spectacle as you come onto the pit straight, see all of the grandstands lining the circuit with the stadium towering in the background. It’s juxtaposed with the oddity of coming onto the back straight, emerging from under the on/off ramps of the Florida Turnpike.

It’s a curious one to drive in F1 22. Most modern tracks introduced in the past 10-15 years have sought to bring together a handful of core manufactured ideas – even the street circuits. Take the Circuit of the Americas, which riffed on Silverstone’s iconic Maggots-Becketts twists in its first sector, borrowed from Turkey’s famous multi-apex Turn 8 for its final sector.

F1 22 Miami Track VR

The Miami circuit has had more freedom than most street circuits to be painted on a blank tarmac canvas, only using the existing roads that suit its purpose. I can see, or at least feel many of the inspirations that have gone into this. The pit straight reminds me of the arcing straight from the old Valencia Street Circuit, the decelerating turns of 4-5-6 remind of Suzuka and Silverstone, leading into the flat out, not-quite-a-straight bends that go through the inventively named Tennis Courts, ‘Miami Open Stadium’ and ‘Lot 2A’.

It’s when we reach the Turnpike that the track suddenly feels claustrophobic, the concrete barriers are right there as you head through ‘The Beach’ of Turn 12, and then the surprise of a slight elevation change through the a tight chicane and onto the back straight. It’s fiddly, and easily my least favourite part of the track – to put it another way, I’m not particularly good at this bit.

F1 22 Miami Track Overtaking

Will it lead to good racing, though? Well, there’s three DRS zones this weekend that will certainly help with overtaking, and the 2022 cars have proven themselves to be better at following closely, if still relying on this drag-shedding crutch. The key will really be in staying up under the diffuser and taking advantage of the amount of DRS available.

It’s certainly going to be interesting to see, and having been able to preview the track, I’m keen to see how well Codemasters have captured a circuit that was still being built in the last week.

Stay tuned for more on F1 22 next week. New cars, new game modes and plenty more are coming to this year’s entry.

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