(Motorsport-Total.com) – It is no secret that Formula 1 already tried to establish itself in the USA under Bernie Ecclestone. Long before Liberty Media brought the premier class to Miami and Las Vegas, Ecclestone tried, among other things, to bring Formula 1 to New York – with a prominent helper.
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In an interview with The Race, Flavio Briatore revealed more than a decade later how he once wanted to get today’s US President Donald Trump to support then Formula 1 boss Ecclestone at a Grand Prix in New York.
Trump supposedly “had no idea about Formula 1,” said Briatore. “But he is a great promoter. Back then, he organized boxing matches, he organized all sorts of things in Las Vegas and so on,” explains the 76-year-old.
“And I got Donald to talk to Bernie,” he reveals, recalling: “I was in Donald’s office. We had a video call with Bernie to find out where in New York the best place for the race would be.”
“Donald told us that New York was very difficult for a million reasons, but New Jersey would be the right place,” says Briatore. Ecclestone then negotiated “with two or three different people,” but ultimately the plan was never implemented, “because the guy who wanted to build the racetrack went bankrupt.”
What connects Briatore and Trump?
But how did the contact between Trump and Briatore come about in the first place? Years ago, Briatore himself revealed in the podcast Beyond the Grid that he first met Trump in the early 1990s – and even almost worked for him.
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In the mid-2010s, their paths crossed again because Briatore took the lead role in the Italian version of the reality TV show “The Apprentice,” while Trump played the same role in the American original.
“The Apprentice” only lasted two seasons in Italy in 2012 and 2014, and during this period, according to Briatore, the mentioned meeting with Trump and Ecclestone took place. Briatore had to leave Formula 1 in 2009 after the “Crashgate” scandal.
In 2024, he returned to the premier class as an Alpine advisor, but a Grand Prix in New York or New Jersey never happened. “Before Liberty came, Formula 1 was actually not considered anything special in America,” explains Briatore.
“People talked about NASCAR, about Indy[Car], about completely different business models. And Formula 1 was not discussed at all. When Liberty then came on the scene, everything changed,” says Briatore.
Donald Trump later only had a very small connection with Formula 1. At the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, he was a guest of McLaren at the racetrack.
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