F1 rejects bid for New York City race and 2 big factors suggest it won't happen anytime soon
- F1 confirmed that New York City's mayor submitted a bid for a future race.
- While F1 wants races in signature cities, the proposed Randall's Island race was rejected.
Formula One's surge in popularity in the United States might make a New York City race seem like the next logical step, but the formula series' ownership group, Liberty Media, made it clear that F1 won't be coming to the Big Apple anytime soon.
In the wake of the spectacle that was the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, Liberty President and CEO Greg Maffei announced that they had rejected a bid from mayor Eric Adams proposing a race on Randall's Island in New York City.
"The Eric Adams administration has reached out asking for [a race]," said Maffei during an event in New York this week, according to Autosport. "I think that's very difficult."
Unfortunately for Adams and New York, there are two huge obstacles standing in the way, and it doesn't feel like either will be cleared soon.
Liberty Media would want the race in Central Park
While Liberty Media has pushed F1 races into destination cities like Miami and Las Vegas, putting a race on the rather barren Randall's Island to the northeast of Manhattan is a no-go. Instead, F1 would prefer to have a race, at least in part, in Central Park, and Maffei made it sound like Adams is not open to that idea.
"Their proposal, Randall's Island, is probably not our perfect venue," Maffei said, later adding: "New York is a wonderful venue, but it's hard to see that they're going to shut Central Park for us."
The other option would be a street race in one of the boroughs. However, Maffei doesn't think New York streets would work for F1 cars.
"I think the reality is street races in a place like New York are just very, very, very hard," Maffei said. "Las Vegas is one of the few places in the United States you could probably get a street race done. It has a different mentality."
Austin's race is too good to abandon
Much has been made about F1's American invasion as it seeks to expand into an untapped market with the help of the wildly popular Netflix series, "Drive to Survive." With the addition of Miami this year and Las Vegas in 2023 to the already established US Grand Prix in Austin, adding a fourth race this soon might be too much.
While Miami and Vegas fit Liberty Media's expansion plan, New York's bigger obstacle is Austin. If the Austin race didn't exist, Liberty Media would likely work harder to make an NYC race work.
However, in Austin, organizers built a world-class track that most drivers love and host an event that appeals to diehard fans that want their F1 races to be more about racing and less about glitz and glamour. And let's face it, while Austin is not like the rest of Texas, having a race in the Lone Star State appeals to the rest of the world's love of all things "old west" and cowboys.
This was seen in 2021 as organizers announced that more than 400,000 people attended during the weekend. And in February, F1 and the Circuit of the Americas agreed to an extension that will keep the race in Austin through at least 2026.
Austin may not fit the expansion model, but the race at COTA works and is not going away.
In other words, New York City could be waiting for a while.