The Miami International Autodrome is never truly at rest. Between Formula 1 visits, it hosts Formula E, Ferrari Challenge, Porsche events and a range of club racing series – each requiring its own safety configuration.
That means the circuit’s barrier infrastructure must be dismantled, reconfigured and rebuilt multiple times a year. It is the defining challenge of the permanently temporary circuit, even before you consider removing the barriers completely for Miami Dolphins NFL fixtures at Hard Rock Stadium.
Few companies are better placed to meet that challenge than Tecpro. Founded nearly three decades ago by Rafael Galiana, a former karting driver, the company developed its modular barrier system at a moment when the FIA was fundamentally reassessing circuit safety standards.
The late 1990s and early 2000s had exposed the limitations of traditional tyre walls in high-speed impacts. Tecpro’s solution – modular, interlocking blocks constructed from high-density polyethylene and energy-absorbing foam – was homologated by the FIA in 2006 and debuted in F1 at the Monaco Grand Prix that year.
Since then the company has become the dominant force in F1 safety barrier provision.
Tecpro is present at 21 of the 24 races on the 2026 calendar, with its largest deployments coming at the MSC Cruises United States Grand Prix (approximately 5,000 blocks) and the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (7,000).
Today it remains one of only two systems carrying full FIA approval for Grade 1 circuits – and the only one that meets the complete specifications the FIA requires.
That standing has been built on consistency as much as innovation. Galiana is clear about what underpins the company’s relationship with the FIA and circuit promoters worldwide.
“Our reputation has been built over 28 years of unwavering service, reliability and punctuality,” he told Sector.
“If we fail to honour our contract, the Grand Prix simply cannot take place – and we have always upheld our word and the terms of every signed agreement, both in quality and in meeting deadlines.”
The permanently temporary circuit
Miami illustrates the complexity of modern barrier provision as well as any venue on the calendar.
As a circuit that alternates multiple times a year between Grade 1 F1 configuration and lower homologation levels for club and feeder series, the safety infrastructure is in near-constant transition.
Beyond supplying safety barriers, our role is to assist the circuit in reassembling the system, supervise its installation, and provide maintenance throughout the Grand Prix weekend.
Rafael Galiana
Tecpro’s involvement at Miami goes beyond simply supplying barriers. Drawing on its extensive experience with circuits worldwide and its close working relationship with the FIA, the company advises on barrier configurations at each turn – working alongside circuit architects and the governing body from the earliest stages of a venue’s development.
“Tecpro does not design circuit layouts – that responsibility lies with the architects contracted by the owners or developers,” Galiana said.
“However, drawing on our extensive experience and our close working relationship with the FIA, Tecpro advises on the various barrier configurations to be implemented at each turn, in close collaboration with both the architects and the FIA.”
That tailored approach is applied consistently across every non-permanent venue on the calendar.
“Every circuit is different,” Galiana added.
“We work closely with the FIA to tailor each corner’s barrier configuration to the speed of the cars, ensuring optimal safety. This applies equally to Miami and to every other non-permanent circuit on the calendar.”
Installation and dismantling crews face increasingly tight turnaround windows as venues seek to maximise usage and commercial returns throughout the year.
“Beyond supplying safety barriers, our role is to assist the circuit in reassembling the system, supervise its installation, and provide maintenance throughout the Grand Prix weekend,” said Galiana.
“We draw on the deep expertise of our technicians, many of whom have been with Tecpro since the company was founded nearly 28 years ago.”
The speed at which Tecpro can install and remove its barriers is fundamental to its value at venues like Miami. The same agility is on display at the sport’s most demanding street circuits.
At the Louis Vuitton Monaco Grand Prix, the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix and the Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix, Tecpro relocates hundreds of barriers every evening to reopen public roads, repositioning them each morning ahead of race sessions.
“One of the key advantages of Tecpro barriers is precisely their speed of installation and removal,” Galiana explained.
“We send experienced technicians to support the promoter’s teams and ensure the work is completed as efficiently as possible.”
Why Tecpro over tyres
Alongside tyre barriers, Tecpro is one of only two systems approved by the FIA for Grade 1 circuits.
The comparison between them has shifted considerably as circuit design and safety standards have evolved.
Tyre barriers require significantly more space – a critical disadvantage on the wall-lined sections of street circuits. They also need replacing after impacts, generating operational delays and material waste.
As F1 accelerates its sustainability commitments, the environmental cost of disposing of large volumes of used tyres following incidents is a growing consideration for promoters and the FIA alike.
Tecpro’s modular design allows individual damaged sections to be replaced without dismantling surrounding installations, keeping downtime and waste to a minimum.
“You do not build a modern, high-tech circuit using materials from a bygone era,” Galiana said.
“Just as the brakes on a 2026 car are vastly superior to those on a 2000 model, you would not fit your brand-new Mustang with wheels from a 1980s model.”
What comes next
Tecpro is in the advanced stages of developing connected barriers, with sensor-embedded modules capable of transmitting real-time data during incidents, giving race control and medical teams instant information on impact speed, force and point of contact.
“We are working on developing connected barriers, but we are not yet operational,” Galiana said. “It won’t be long now.”
It is a development that would bring Tecpro’s infrastructure fully into the data-driven era that defines modern F1 – and one that underlines why the barriers lining the Miami International Autodrome represent far more than a safety requirement.
