F1 drivers to be fired out of giant cannon in shower of confetti before 2024 Miami GP

Here's TopGear.com's roving correspondent, Cory Spondent, with his mostly incorrect exclusives from the world of motoring

Formula One bosses have unveiled draft plans to ramp up the spectacle at next year’s Miami Grand Prix through a series of increasingly audacious pre-race events which includes shooting drivers out of a giant cannon.

The new proposals - aimed at a growing American audience - will see each driver catapulted high above the Miami Dolphins stadium through a series of moving, flaming hoops suspended in the air.

Following a glowing response to the 2023 pre-race show - which saw noted F1 alumni LL Cool J and will.i.am spectacularly introduce each individual driver - turning each of the 20 fastest drivers on earth into a human cannonball is seen as the next natural step to ‘improve the show’.

“We got the idea from the Super Bowl. More than 100 million people watch that, but only if they get a concert after half an hour of actual sport," an F1 insider explained. “So we’re going to have five hours of pre-race build-up with the drivers performing all manner of circus stunts to keep our new US fanbase happy.

“They might be threading the needle at 200mph around a low-grip circuit in turbocharged go-karts, but really people want to see them walk tightropes, juggle flaming chainsaws and get fired high into the air in a shower of confetti.”

Red Bull Racing has already applied to use a separate, Adrian Newey-designed cannon projected to shoot Verstappen and Perez out at least nine tenths quicker than the rest of the field.