The Dolphins aren’t for sale and other things the CEO said at the Miami Grand Prix

The Dolphins aren’t for sale, you don’t need to be rich enough to buy the Dolphins to eat at the Miami Grand Prix and someone from Miami Gardens will be working for Formula 1 within the decade.

And, though former U.S. President Donald Trump attended Sunday’s Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix in Miami Gardens on Sunday, there would be no fundraisers Sunday.

Those were among the topics Dolphins CEO and Miami Grand Prix managing partner Tom Garfinkel covered in a Sunday morning sit down with South Florida-based media.

Year 3 of the Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix finds the event feeling the security that comes with a little maturity, learning what you need to improve, learning who you are and leaning into that.

“If you look at the way Tom and Tyler [Epp, president of the event] responded after Year 1, the improvements they’ve made were substantial and very good,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said. “So I think they’re not sitting still. They’re constantly developing like we are our race cars.”

But the improvements aren’t as grand, i.e., the course/track in the past vs. opening the gates an hour earlier next year on Saturday if it’s an F1 Spring weekend again. Garfinkel said a late rush of Campus Pass sales gave them a sellout and 275,000 fans would attend Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

They probably won’t be adjusting the menu, either on the high end or the low end.

Garfinkel said he didn’t see NASCAR Xfinity driver Ryan Ellis’ Friday X post that went viral showing a menu with entrees costing hundreds of dollars and some alcohol in the four digits.

READ MORE: Food cost, Miami race weekend’s purpose, American drivers. A Miami Grand Prix notebook

“We have $280 lobster rolls?” Garfinkel chuckled. “I think he missed on that is that’s a suite menu, so it’s a lobster roll for eight to 10 people. So, $280 for 10 people in a suite is still a lot of money, but...it’s lobster! It’s not a hot dog.”

Garfinkel noted that Campus Pass holders could dine not only at the numerous food stands but at the 300 level of Hard Rock Stadium, where prices are the same as they are at Dolphins games.

Speaking of the Dolphins, at the report someone offered owner Stephen Ross $10 billion for the Dolphins, the stadium and the Formula 1 rights, Garfinkel said the Dolphins “unequivocally, are not for sale” and $10 billion would be well short of a controlling interest.

Also, in its third year, the Formula 1 race has become similar to the Miami Open, just another event at the stadium. But, unlike Dolphins games and the tennis tournament, it faced more opposition from area homeowners.

“I haven’t heard much of anything since the first race happened,” Garfinkel said. “One of the real great things about this is 10 years from now, there’s going to be people working in Formula 1 whether it’s engineering, marketing, PR, operations, who grew up in Miami Gardens who wouldn’t be working in Formula 1 if we hadn’t brought the race here.”

READ MORE: Upset! McLaren’s Norris outraces Max Verstappen at the Miami Grand Prix

Ferrari upgrades

Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished third and fourth, 9.9 and 11.4 seconds, respectively, behind winner Lando Norris and his upgraded McLaren but 2.3 and 3.8 seconds behind second place Max Verstappen.

Leclerc said, yes, Ferrari was closer to Red Bull’s ace, Max Verstappen, but Verstappen isn’t the only measuring stick: “we cannot completely ignore Lando,” pointing to how fast McLaren looked Friday and Sunday.

“I’ve said many times, I think this season will be down to upgrades,” Leclerc said. “We have ours coming very soon and that will define the rest of the season for us. Hopefully those upgrades will be as good as theirs and will help us to a significant step forward.”

Pulling another victory

Series leader Great Britain’s Abbi Pulling, as she did Saturday, won the 13-lap F1 Academy race after starting on pole. She was followed by Filipino Bianca Bustamante, 3.8 seconds back, and, France’s Doriane Pin in third.

Chloe Chambers, from the United States, finished fourth after her third place Saturday.