07/05/2023
NEWS STORY
A pre-race ceremony in Miami today will see American rapper, LL Cool J introduce the drivers to the crowd.
The move follows the decision to have boxing announcer Michael Buffer introduce the drivers at the 2017 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, just months after Liberty Media bought the sport.
So well received was the ceremony that it was never tried again... until now.
At last week's Azerbaijan Grand Prix it was revealed that at certain races an extended ceremony would be held ahead of the national anthem which would be “used for the presentation of the drivers to the fans”.
It has now been confirmed that LL Cool J will introduce the drivers for today's race before singing the national anthem.
The drivers will be introduced in five groups of four:
Logan Sargeant, Nyck de Vries, Kevin Magnussen, Alexander Albon
Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon
Valtteri Bottas, Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg, Lando Norris
Lance Stroll, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz
Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen
"Failure to comply with these procedures will be reported to the stewards," the drivers are warned.
The news of LL Cool J's recruitment comes at a time Pitpass has been pondering who might sing the anthem at the much-hyped Vegas event.
Though she is British, our money is on Adelle, though Beyonce is a possibility.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Miami here.