Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore has revealed US President Donald Trump's failed plans to stage a Formula 1 grand prix in New Jersey.
The sport has boomed in the United States since the introduction of the Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive, to the extent that three races are now held in the country every year.
The Circuit of the Americas in Austin has featured on the calendar since 2012, while Miami has been on it since 2022 and Las Vegas since 2024.
With the arrival this year of American F1 outfit Cadillac, the championship has never been in a stronger position in North America.
That has not always been the case, with F1 having gone through a period of struggle. Despite that, Briatore still put Trump in front of then-F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone over a new race in the US following the axing of the US Grand Prix in 2007.
Initially, it was New York that people wanted, although Trump explained that New Jersey was more suitable and easier. In the end, the race never materialised.
"Sure, Donald had no idea as well about Formula 1 - but he's a great promoter," said Briatore, on The Race Business’s ‘In Conversation With…" series.
"At the time, he promoted boxing, he promoted everything in Vegas, etc, etc…"
"And I made Donald talk with Bernie. I was in the office of Donald. We put in [a] video with Bernie to [find], what was the best place in New York to do the race.
"And Donald [told] us New York is very difficult for a million reasons, but Jersey was the place. So Bernie started negotiating Jersey with two or three different people.
"But we never succeeded, because Formula 1 was not… considered something special. You talk about… NASCAR, you talk about Indy[Car], completely different business. And Formula 1 was not [valued] at all."
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
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