Judge rules Formula 1 race will go on despite attempts by Miami Gardens residents to stop it

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A South Florida judge ruled on Wednesday that he won’t block the Formula 1 race set to take place in Miami Gardens in just a few weeks.

The legal battle spearheaded by Miami Gardens residents will continue.

“My clients are doing nothing but living in their day to day lives in their homes that they’ve owned for decades and paid taxes on,” said attorney Samuel Dubbin. “It’s the defendants, particularly the stadium defendants, and the city as well, who are about to violate the law and cause them harm.”

Residents decided to take legal action over fear the noise generated by racing cars could cause them hearing loss.

And they say it’s against their city’s noise ordinance, which outlaws any noise which unreasonably disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort of its residents.

Attorneys for the stadium argue the ordinance does offer exceptions for events benefiting the city, adding there is no evidence racing will cause harm.

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“That is absolutely demonstratively false,” said attorney Melissa Pallet Vasquez. “Certainly, there is absolutely no basis whatsoever to suggest that there will be physical injury of any kind whatsoever.”

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Alan Fine said neither side offered evidence of what the noise levels will actually be and ordered sound monitoring during the race.

So for now, the show will go on.

“By deferring until after the first race a preliminary injunction hearing for future races, we will have the ability, or the parties will have the ability, to know exactly what the noise levels are in fact,” said Fine.