Donald Trump and Flavio Briatore’s forgotten Formula 1 plan that never happened

Flavio Briatore has recalled how he and Donald Trump tried to get a New Jersey Grand Prix off the ground, but it fell short as Formula 1 wasn’t “considered something special” in America in the early 2010s.

He believes Liberty Media’s acquisition of the sport in 2017 changed how America perceives Formula 1.

Donald Trump and Flavio Briatore discussed a New Jersey Formula 1 race

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America said farewell to Formula 1 in 2007 as its eight-year run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway drew to a close with a victory for Lewis Hamilton.

That led Briatore to contemplate a new venue for an American race, with the Italian teaming with now-United States President Trump to pitch the idea to then-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Although New York was initially the target, Trump steered Briatore towards New Jersey, with Ecclestone then taking over the negotiations.

The Port Imperial circuit was expected to debut in 2013, with drivers racing around a 5.1km street circuit. The race, though, never got off the ground.

Speaking to Darren Cox on The Race Business’s ‘In Conversation With…’, Briatore recalled: “Sure, Donald had no idea as well about Formula 1 – but he’s a great promoter.

“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.”

Today, Formula 1 has three Grands Prix in America.

The Circuit of the Americas joined the calendar in 2012, before adding Miami in 2022 and Las Vegas a year later.

Briatore believes Liberty Media Corporation, an American media company that acquired the commercial rights and controlling interest in Formula 1 in 2017, has changed America’s perception of the sport.

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“Now,” said the Alpine team principal, “you go to America, you go to Miami, 500,000 people [attend].

“You go to Austin, full, you go to Vegas. You see, Formula 1 is changing dramatically. You see, every race is sold out, sold out, [whether it’s] raining, not raining.

“And, what has changed is really the commercial side. Liberty is much more open. Bernie was very strong, very restrictive in the business.

“And, Liberty opened the commercial side, opened completely. Marketing opened completely. And, Liberty is working with the team in [a] very good partnership, if you want.”

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