Formula 1’s popularity among Black racegoers is growing

MIAMI GARDENS — The U.S. popularity of Formula One racing is in overdrive, but Black racegoers were few and far between at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, which ironically takes place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, a small, predominantly Black municipality just north of Miami. Photo Courtesy: Blair S. Walker One of the melanin-enhanced folks giddily watching multimillion-dollar Formula One cars shriek around a 3.36-mile road circuit at velocities exceeding 200 mph was attorney Alan Clarke. “Brothers already like cars and we already like driving,” said Clarke, who flew in from Columbia, South Carolina. “It’s just about exposure and access to Formula One. A lot of people don’t know that it exists, a lot of people don’t know that the best driver, Lewis Hamilton, is Black. But, as long as it’s considered a White, or European sport, we’re just going to opt out,” adds Clarke. He was rocking a red Ferrari T-shirt and paid around $500 to take in a weekend of motorsports. “Without knowing that it really aligns with all the things we like. We like cars, we like engines, we like good weather, we like nice women. It’s really a match made in heaven!” Fans...