Inside Carbone Beach: The most exclusive event on the F1 calendar

Hours after clinching his first-ever Formula 1 victory, Lando Norris found himself exactly where any newly-minted race winner might hope to be: flanked by the likes of Travis Kelce while partying beneath the glittering chandeliers at Carbone Beach. The McLaren driver made a beeline for the velvet-roped supper club after the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, celebrating amongst a crowd that felt plucked from a Forbes rich list cover shoot. It was the kind of night that cemented a new chapter in his career — and what better place to toast to it than at the most exclusive table in town?

In a sport defined by speed, spectacle, and staggering displays of wealth, one party stands out as the hottest ticket on the Formula 1 calendar. Set on the sands of Miami Beach during the city’s Grand Prix weekend, Carbone Beach has emerged as the crown jewel of the F1 social scene. Over the past four years, it has attracted a guest list that includes Patrick Mahomes, David Beckham, LeBron James, Serena Williams, and Tom Brady – who’ve all dined under the luxe canopy while watching performances by icons like Andrea Bocelli, Diana Ross, and Lauryn Hill.

For the uninitiated, Carbone is a New York dining institution. The spicy rigatoni has a cult following, and reservations are so hard to come by that the city’s elite have been known to buy tables on the underground market for hundreds of dollars. So how did an intimate Italian joint in Manhattan’s West Village become the epicenter of one of America’s most exclusive events? The answer, according to Carbone Beach mastermind Marissa Brooks, is a “perfect storm” that coincided with Formula 1’s arrival in South Florida in 2022.

Major Food Group (MFG} – the hospitality company behind Carbone – had recently opened a Miami outpost of the restaurant. The problem? During the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, they didn’t have nearly enough tables to meet demand. “[MFG co-owner] Jeff Zalaznick called me six weeks out and said ‘My restaurant’s 100% booked, so I have this idea for a supper club in the sand,’” Brooks recalls. “It was was fortuitous … because I also had an idea for a big event on the beach that would serve the high-end clientele that travels for Formula 1. He was like ‘this is great, now make it look like Carbone.’ They were the new kid in town, and wanted to do something exciting and fresh – so we did.”

The first edition of the four-night supper club, presented by American Express, came together in just six weeks, and Brooks was uniquely equipped for the challenge. After a decade with the Miami Heat, she joined the LVMH-owned watch brand, Hublot, and led their global F1 partnerships, which took her from yachts in Monaco to rooftops in Singapore. She had seen her fair share of F1 events and parties. “The initial mood board was really about creating something magical. The idea was to bring together an incredible dining experience that nobody can provide like Major Food Group, coupled with all the bells and whistles of the extravagance [of F1],” she went on. That meant chandeliers, ballerinas, a Ferrari F1 car, live entertainment, gold palm trees and a grand dining room inside a 50,000-square-foot tent designed to evoke Carbone’s signature ambiance.

“We want to keep people coming back to a place that feels familiar and feels like they’re coming home. Mario [Carbone] has always talked about how his food is supposed to feel like family and friends. So instead of your table of eight, it’s a table of 500,” she says. While the experience has evolved each year, the structure is now well-established: guests arrive around sunset, sip cocktails over seafood towers and caviar, and then move into the dining room for a multi-course feast, capped off with a surprise performance. At $3,000 per head, you would expect nothing less.

If a celebrity is in town for the race, there’s a high likelihood you’ll find them at Carbone Beach. “We always get the who’s who. We’re the destination at F1,” Brooks explains. “The room is a mirror of what’s going on in the market in business, entertainment, and sports. What I love is that I’ve had people tell me, ‘I can afford it, but I’ve never had access like this.’ There are no ropes between tables, so if LeBron James is there, and you bought a ticket and he bought a ticket – you’re just in the room together,” she says. Indeed, the guest list can feel surreal. Just days before the 2025 race, Carbone’s Miami location hosted James, Elon Musk, Stephen Ross, and Kevin Durant – each a regular at Major Food Group venues.

“Last year, someone I’ve known forever – an owner of a professional sports team – finally came for the first time. She looked at me and said, ‘We had to come. This has become not just the biggest F1 party, but the ‘it’ party in the country,’” Brooks recalls. Carbone Beach, she adds, now gets talked about in the same breath as the Vanity Fair Oscars party or the Met Gala. “It’s really humbling.”

Part of its allure is the nightly surprise performances, which remain under wraps until showtime. Acts have ranged from Ludacris and T-Pain to Pitbull and Jelly Roll. “In the first year we opened with Andrea Bocelli, which was such a feat to get organized in six weeks,” Brooks said, noting people in the audience were crying. “Diana Ross was phenomenal in year two and getting Lauryn Hill in year three was amazing.” But don’t buy a ticket expecting to see Taylor Swift or Beyonce. “We don’t lean into the most expensive act, we lean into the entire experience,” Brooks says. “We’re not dropping zillions of dollars on bringing Bruce Springsteen. We’re getting incredible performers who energize our guests and become part of the Carbone Beach story.”

The success of the project has even led to expansion beyond Miami. “We launched Carbone Beach in Doha, so I lead that project as well with the Qatari Government,” Brooks says. The event, which takes place during the Qatar Grand Prix, mirrors the Miami experience while adapting to the local market. “[In Miami] it’s all about being communal on the floor but in Doha we have these VIP boxes and we host the Prime Minister … you have to change the design to fit the audience,” she explains.

Of course, producing a temporary venue for 500 people on a beach is a logistical feat in itself. “You’re always striving to make it perfect but when you have no power and no water … the logistics are so key to making us successful. From building air conditioning units to coordinating power and AV partners, to ensuring eight capacities [for the chandeliers] – it’s a massive operation.”

Still, Brooks knows exactly how to measure success. “If every guest walks away with a ‘wow’ moment … we’ve done our job,” she says. “Whether it’s phenomenal service, incredible food, the people they met, or maybe it’s seeing Lando Norris or Travis Kelce – everyone’s ‘wow’ comes from a different place.”