Formula 1 almost had a GP in New Jersey initiated by Donald Trump, according to Flavio Briatore. The Alpine executive consultant stated that the current president of the United States participated in talks with the then F1 owner, Bernie Ecclestone, to try to make the event viable, but the project never got off the ground.
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This revelation shows an attempt to expand the category in the USA at a very different time from the current one. At the time, F1 was still struggling to gain ground in the North American market, a scenario that, according to Briatore, directly contributed to the failure of the initiative.
Speaking to the In Conversation With… series from The Race Business, Briatore explained that he introduced Trump to the then CEO of Formula 1, Bernie Ecclestone, after the end of the US GP in 2007. The initial intention was to find a location in the New York area to host a race, but Trump assessed that New Jersey would be a more viable alternative.
“Donald also didn’t know much about Formula 1, but he was a great promoter. I put him in touch with Bernie via video. We were at Donald’s office trying to find the best place in New York to hold the race,” Briatore said.
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According to the Italian executive, Trump argued that New York presented obstacles for several reasons and suggested New Jersey as a better option: “Donald told us that New York was very difficult, but that New Jersey would be the right place. So Bernie started negotiating with two or three different people in New Jersey,” he added.
Despite the negotiations, the project did not advance. Briatore attributed the failure to the low interest that Formula 1 sparked in the country at that time: “We never succeeded because Formula 1 was not seen as something special. People talked about NASCAR, IndyCar, it was a completely different market. Formula 1 was simply not valued,” concluded the executive.
Today, the scenario is quite different. The category competes in three GPs in the United States, in Austin, Miami, and Las Vegas, in addition to having Cadillac on the grid from this season, consolidating a much stronger presence in the North American market.
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