Formula 1 is no stranger to live events, hosting dozens of races around the world each year.
But this year, coupled with the Miami Grand Prix, the racing league, owned by Liberty Media, is trying out a new idea: a live sports, entertainment and business summit.
Called F1 Accelerate, the top is a collaboration with Custom Events of WSJ, the commercial unit of Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journaland will be held at the Rubell Museum in Miami, Florida on May 4, the day before the Miami GP begins.
The entertainment world will be well represented at the summit, which is only accessible by invitation Top gun: Maverick filmmakers Jerry Bruckheimer and Joseph Kosinski are set to talk about their upcoming F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which will go into production this summer and be distributed by Apple.
In addition, Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden and Managing Director of F1 Academy Susie Wolff will discuss the importance of female storytelling; F1 star Lewis Hamilton will discuss how to use his platform to drive change; and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei will discuss the future of the sport, while other participants from the entertainment world are expected.
“Formula 1 is a sport built on innovation, so to use the platform of the Miami Grand Prix to bring together such a range of talent from sports, entertainment and business to discuss how we can all drive positive change in our industries and beyond, is hugely exciting,” said Brandon Snow, Managing Director of Commercial, Formula 1. “We hope this is the first of many Accelerate Summits and look forward to welcoming everyone to Miami next month.”
WSJ Custom Events produces live events in collaboration with corporate partners (the WSJ newsroom is not involved), leveraging the company’s experience in producing engaging summits like WSJ Tech Live to bring engaging conversations to live experiences.
“We are delighted to be working with Formula 1 on this exciting and innovative event,” said Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of the log. “This is a testament to the power of Dow Jones brands to create space for decision makers in business, sports and entertainment to address some of the world’s most important issues.”
The Accelerate Summit also comes as F1 is in the middle of a bigger upswing in the US. While the sport has long been popular around the world, Liberty Media has made it a priority to expand its presence in North America.
That meant expanding the number of races to complement the US Grand Prix (mostly held at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas for the past decade) with the Miami Grand Prix (which made its debut last year) and the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix, which debuts in November.
The F1 Accelerate Summit further expands the push of the sport in the US by bringing together leaders from the entertainment, commercial and business worlds and making the event a must.
