RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesLong before Liberty Media turned F1 into must-watch television in the United States, Flavio Briatore was sitting in Donald Trump ‘s office, trying to make a New York-area Grand Prix happen via video call with Bernie Ecclestone. It didn’t work out – but until now, almost nobody knew Briatore was involved at all.
The Alpine executive advisor revealed the story in a new interview with The Race explaining that his connection to Trump came through a shared involvement in The Apprentice franchise. Briatore hosted the Italian version of the show while Trump was running the American, and the two crossed paths regularly as a result.
“Sure, Donald had no idea as well about Formula 1 , but he’s a great promoter,” Briatore said. “At the time, he promoted boxing, he promoted everything in Vegas, et cetera, et cetera.”
How Briatore Set Up the Trump-Ecclestone Meeting
With Trump present in the room, Briatore connected Ecclestone via video call to begin exploring which locations across the New York metropolitan area could feasibly host a race. Trump concluded that Manhattan posed too many logistical challenges, making New Jersey the better alternative.
“I made Donald talk with Bernie,” Briatore said. “I was in the office of Donald. We put in 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.”
The Grand Prix of America , the race Briatore had been working to support, was planned as a street circuit winding 3.2 miles through Weehawken and West New York along the Hudson River, with the iconic Manhattan skyline visible in the background. The circuit design drew comparisons to Monaco in terms of elevation changes, though with higher average lap speeds. It was officially added to the 2013 calendar, then deferred to 2014 on a provisional basis, and eventually abandoned altogether in 2015 after promoter Leo Hindery Jr.’s organisation ran into persistent financial difficulties. Briatore’s account is consistent with the record : the track was never built, and the money to build it never fully materialized.
Ecclestone had already confirmed he dealt with Trump during the New Jersey push, per a SportBible report from September 2025, so this is a story with corroboration from both sides. What’s new is Briatore placing himself at the centre of it – as the man who introduced the two.
Briatore connected the failed venture to the wider struggles Formula 1 was facing in the United States at the time. He pointed to the near-empty stands at the Phoenix race and the chaotic 2005 Indianapolis event, when the Bridgestone-Michelin tyre dispute reduced the grid to six cars , as evidence of how badly the sport was struggling to establish itself. “In America, before Liberty arrived, Formula 1 really was not considered something special,” he said. “You talk about NASCAR , you talk about Indy, completely different business.”
Given that Trump is now president and Briatore has become one of the most influential figures in the paddock again, the anecdote is seen differently in 2026 than it might have a decade ago. Two promoters with a shared taste for spectacle, trying to drag a European motorsport institution into the American market before the infrastructure – financial and cultural – was ready to support it. They weren’t wrong about New Jersey. They were just about ten years early.
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