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VROOM VROOM!: Imagine the world's fastest race cars zooming along Maui Veterans Highway next year.
Formula 1 racing is seriously considering adding a new race to its Grands Prix series of contests next year ~ on Maui.
If finalized in time for the 2023 season, Maui would become the fourth Formula 1 race in the United States next season. Formula 1 just announced the addition of Las Vegas to host a November 2023 race that would at least partially transverse the Las Vegas Strip.
A big challenge on Maui is locating a circular route, officials said.
“We saw the big roundabout planned for Kihei, near that new high school, and thought, 'Wouldn’t it be cool to let all those kids see F1 cars rip down Piilani Highway?' ” said Gustav Hermann of the World Drivers’ Championship, the annual series for drivers in the top-level open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
“Sure there are some obstacles to work out, like where the cars would turn around, but we think the Maui Grand Prix will be an awesome addition to our annual lineup and fans will truly enjoy seeing the fastest racing vehicle on the planet compete close-up,” Hermann said.
Just Wednesday, F1 officials announced the addition of the Las Vegas race the Saturday night following Thanksgiving, 2023. The Maui Grand Prix would be sometime between that race and the end of the year.
"We're thinking a December race on Maui, a nice year-end finale for our racers," Hermann said.
Envisioned for Maui is a race along a closed route that would bounce back and forth from Kahului Airport to Wailea, to total 500 miles in the end.
The northerly turn point was simple enough, having the F1 cars go through the airport’s looping access road from the entrance to exit, to be dropped right back onto the Maui Veterans Highway (Route 311) for a truly exciting straightaway south all the way through South Maui.
There, drivers would have to navigate the new, big roundabout coming near the new Kihei High School, along Piilani Highway (31). Organizers have not yet determined how the racers will turn around again in Wailea.
“The Wailea or Makena turnaround looks like the planning focus at the moment,” said A.J. Foy, the most popular United States F1 driver, now retired and working with FIA to identify and plan new races.
“But in reality, the biggest challenge is those humongous OGG speed bumps when you first enter the airport,” Foy said. “I’m not sure our drivers will like those huge things. I’m not even sure they can get the cars to slow down to 3 mph, which our engineers predict as the fastest speed they can travel over those gigantic bumps without blowing an axle. Who designed those things?”
The governor of Hawaii welcomed the concept of an international F1 contest on Maui, which he noted is not yet approved. His first thought is to postpone the event, until all the face masks carelessly discarded all over Maui are picked up and disposed of properly.
“People thought I was not serious about picking up all the face masks when I mentioned it earlier this month,” Gov. David Ige said. “But now we’re super serious. All those race cars zipping by will only swirl them up so they will rain back down like confetti. We can't have that happening on the Valley Isle."
