F1’S NEXT US VENUE? CHASE CAREY LETS SLIP DURING MARTIN BRUNDLE’S GRIDWALK
F1 non-executive chairman Chase Carey revealed that Liberty Media have been aiming to bring the sport to New York City, having ticked off its aims of Miami and Las Vegas.
Having established a presence in Austin in 2011, Liberty Media took over ownership of the sport in 2017 and Carey was chairman and CEO of F1 once the new ownership structure was in place.
He revealed that alongside targeting Las Vegas and Miami, he hoped to see the sport in New York City as well, stating that early talks were these three places were “the next cities we should be in”.
Las Vegas, Miami and New York in F1?
F1 has now gone from one race in the United States to three, with Miami joining the calendar last year and Las Vegas doing so over the weekend.
The hype surrounding both races was huge, and briefly speaking to Martin Brundle on his pre-race grid walk, Carey, who was replaced as CEO by Stefano Domenicali back in 2021, revealed that New York was also on the list of places Liberty Media was looking to expand into.
“This is what it should be all about,” Carey said to Brundle while on the grid in Las Vegas.
“We said early on, Vegas, Miami and New York, they’re the next cities we should be in, and Vegas delivered.”
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Carey was but one of more than a dozen names Brundle was able to speak to on his travels on a packed grid in Nevada, and the former F1 driver enjoyed the chance of taking in some flying laps around the newest street circuit in Formula 1.
“Despite being lined by walls, the second-longest circuit on the calendar would impressively have a pole position average speed of 150mph,” Brundle reflected in his post-race Sky Sports column.
“The track is super-fast, and the new surface remained shiny and slick.
“I drove a few laps in an Aston Martin DBX which made me realise that the layout wasn’t just a supporting act to a lot of lights and noise, but actually rather technical and challenging in parts.
“It certainly isn’t simply a series of ninety-degree block-change corners as we’ve seen in the distant past. Some of the straights feel rather too long but they would play out nicely in the race.
“Every one of the 20 drivers impressed me with how they powered through the challenges, strange timetable, and jet lag, to attack the track with a vengeance.
“The scheduling at this time of the year with cold nights and commencing qualifying at midnight and the race at 10pm, did feel like trying to force a square peg through a round hole.
“I’m not sure who that really works for other than allowing the public roads to close later, and hopefully that can be finessed for next year, although the event is a week later still.”
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