Moiami

¡Ay, caramba!

I am pleased to inform you that the F1 Cookbook is back on track (so to speak)! And the credit goes to, of all places, Miami!

We went simple with this race’s menu. Some intense research revealed that Miami’s representative dish (aside from ceviche, Stone Crabs, and Burger King) is the cubano sandwich, with Key Lime pie a close second. As for drinks? Mojitos and daiquiris!

So our 2024 Miami race menu* consisted of:

• Cubano sandwich with potato chips
• Key Lime pie
• a fairly endless supply of Mojitos (and a lone daiquiri for research purposes)

The sandwich was tasty with the marinated mojo pork** layered with ham, salami, sliced dill pickle, and Swiss cheese. The only disappointment was that even doing the ‘cast iron pan press technique’ to mimic the panini-style preparation, the bread roll was too soft (and the pork too juicy) to sustain any sort of structure. But the flavors were excellent!

I made the pie*** with a slight cheat of a premade crust****, and it came out a perfect combination of lime tangy and sweet.

And the mojitos! While not entirely traditional (we used the rum we had on hand: Koloa dark rum, and lime-flavored soda water), it was SO GOOD with the fresh lime juice and muddled fresh mint. Absolutely delightful.

Just like the race!

This was the second time this season F1 held a sprint race in addition to the regular (longer) race*****, and while the drivers generally don’t like sprint races (too short, not enough practice time, they’re whiny tired professionals), they can be fun. This time around, Daniel Ricciardo finished 4th, which got him his first points for the season (whew!).

And Danish bad boy Kevin Magnussen started his Drive of Terror by earning a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, then he received two MORE 10-second penalties for the same infraction AND a 5-second penalty for “exceeding track limits” (i.e. driving all four wheels over the white border line of the track)—which took him from a 10th place finish to 18th (and it probably would have been 20th if Stroll and Norris hadn’t been taken out of the race due to collision damage).

Then there was the actual Grand Prix race.

Due to Max Verstappen (the Dutch robot who wins all of the races) making—wait for it—A MISTAKE by driving over a bollard (and damaging the floor of his car), ever-a-bridesmaid never-a-winner Lando Norris took the lead and managed to keep Verstappen behind him for the rest of the race, and ended up winning his first Grand Prix (after 110 races). And everyone was happy for him, including Verstappen (who looked happier than any other time he has been on the podium, even as winner).

The Drive of Terror continued for Kevin Magnussen. Playing supreme martyr for Team Haas, Magnussen assisted Logan Sargeant with finding the wall, and Sargeant had to retire his car****** This earned KMag another 10-second penalty, and then AFTER THE RACE he received a 20-second penalty (converted from a drive-through penalty that he couldn’t serve because the race was already over) for not serving his pit lane penalty correctly.

What I learned from this race was that each penalty a driver receives may also become penalty points, and the FIA has a a 12-point cutoff: if a driver accumulates 12 penalty points over 12 months, then the driver is banned from racing until the individual points expire (which is one year after receiving that particular point). The idea is to reduce “unsporting behavior” by drivers (in some cases, this would be called “racing”), hence this penalty points system.

So KMag is currently at 10 points, which isn’t great for him for the next 11 months. How will this play out? We shall see.

Next race: Imola (Italy) and then Monaco!

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*At a considerably lower cost than the prices for food trackside. Nachos that cost $180 should come with stellar margaritas, enough for me and my ten best friends, and be served by Antonio Banderas in a tuxedo. And a bandalero.

**How could it not be, when marinated overnight in fresh orange and lime juices, garlic, red onions, and spices?

***Loosely based on this recipe.

****Hey, I was fighting a head cold, so give me a little leeway here.

*****And the first time a sprint race was held at Miami, which apparently was a big deal that commentators kept harping on.

******Yes, it was a bummer for the Florida native at his home race, but honestly: it’s Logan Sargeant. It just doesn’t matter.

And as a complete aside, I can’t help but pronounce “Miami” with Fiona’s accent from the intro sequence in the fantastic TV series “Burn Notice”. Hence the title of this post.