Flavio Briatore revealed that he and Donald Trump spearheaded the failed attempt to bring a Formula 1 Grand Prix to New Jersey in the early 2010s, credited Liberty Media with transforming F1's popularity in the US after purchasing the sport in 2017, and proposed expanding the Spr

Here are the key details on all three topics from Flavio Briatore's recent interview with The Race Business.

The Abandoned New Jersey Grand Prix

After F1's partnership with Indianapolis ended in 2007, Briatore joined forces with Donald Trump to try to bring a street-circuit Grand Prix to New Jersey in the early 2010s . The project was conceived as a race in the New York/New Jersey area with Trump acting as a "great promoter," even though Trump "had no idea about F1" at the time . Briatore recounted sitting in Trump's office setting up a video call with then-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to pitch the idea . The plan ultimately fell through — the race was officially announced in 2011 but abandoned four years later . Briatore has now publicly revealed for the first time that he was the instigator alongside Trump .

Assessment of F1's American Growth Under Liberty Media

Briatore credited Liberty Media with completely transforming F1's popularity in the United States after purchasing the sport in 2017 . He noted that before Liberty, F1 had essentially no meaningful US presence after the Indianapolis deal ended . Under Liberty Media, F1 has grown to host three US races (Austin, Miami, Las Vegas), attracted American manufacturers like Ford and Cadillac, and seen a dramatic surge in viewership driven in part by the Drive to Survive Netflix series . Briatore specifically praised his fellow Italian, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, for making F1 "much stronger" during this period .

Sprint Race Expansion Proposal

Briatore has proposed expanding the Sprint format from the current six events per season to all 24 rounds on the calendar: "24 races, 24 sprint races" . His rationale is that Friday practice sessions are "useless" for fans — "people who come to watch the races don't come to see engineers testing setups" . He argues that if F1 won't put a Sprint in every weekend, it should abolish Friday running entirely . He has also floated an even more ambitious idea of a 48-race season (24 Grands Prix + 24 Sprints) to give drivers "something to drive for" . Liberty Media is known to favour expanding Sprints to 12 events in the longer term, though no change is planned for the 2026 season .