Briatore says he and Trump instigated New Jersey F1 bid

August 2, 2026 - 21:32

Flavio Briatore, the former Formula 1 team boss, has made a bold claim about the origins of the abandoned New Jersey Grand Prix. According to Briatore, he and Donald Trump were the ones who first pushed the idea of bringing F1 to the streets of New Jersey. The project, which was officially announced back in 2011, was supposed to feature a race along the Hudson River waterfront with views of the Manhattan skyline. It never actually happened, but Briatore now says the whole thing started with a conversation between him and the former U.S. president.

Briatore, who was managing Fernando Alonso at the time, said the two men discussed the potential of a race in the New York area. He claims Trump was keen on the idea and helped get the ball rolling. The plan was to hold the race in Weehawken, New Jersey, with a layout that would have been fast and technical, running right next to the river. Bernie Ecclestone, then the boss of F1, also supported the concept and even put it on the calendar for 2013. But the race kept getting postponed, and eventually the whole thing fell apart.

Briatore's comments add a new layer to the story, suggesting that Trump's involvement went deeper than just being a local businessman who liked the idea. Whether that version of events is fully accurate is hard to say, but it does line up with the fact that Trump was publicly supportive of the race at the time. The New Jersey GP remains one of the great what-ifs in modern F1 history, a race that was close to happening but never quite made it to the starting line.