But Maffei quickly downplayed the chances of adding a fourth American event alongside Austin, Miami and Las Vegas, saying that trying to put on a race in the Big Apple was a “fight we don’t need to have”.
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone tried for years to get a race either in, or close, to New York. In 2011 a site at Port Imperial in New Jersey, with the city skyline as a backdrop, was earmarked by promoter Leo Hindery.
The race was included on the 2013 F1 calendar and work had started on readying the venue before the project collapsed due to lack of funding.
Since taking over the F1 business in 2017, Liberty has prioritised adding races in “destination” US venues. While the company was always interested in New York, and even took another look at New Jersey, the Miami and Las Vegas projects reached fruition first.
PLUS: How Vegas went from byword for F1 indifference to grand Liberty coup
Speaking at a financial event in New York on Thursday, Maffei was asked by the moderator if a grand prix in the city was on the cards.
Maffei revealed that Mayor Adams, who was sworn in on 1 January, has proposed a site on Randalls and Wards Island, an area of largely parkland and sports fields across the Harlem River to the north-east of Manhattan. However, he made it clear that the site wasn’t seen by Liberty as suitable.
“The Eric Adams administration has reached out asking for one,” said Maffei “I think that’s very difficult. Their proposal, Randalls Island, is probably not our perfect venue.
“You know, a lot of time and money was spent here 15-20 years ago [sic], including by Leo Hindery, one of my predecessors, trying to build one out over in Hoboken.
Red Bull Racing RB7 in New York
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“I think the reality is street races in a place like New York are just very, very, very hard. 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.
“New York is a wonderful venue, but it’s hard to see that they’re going to shut Central Park for us!”
When the moderator said he would like to see a New York race, Maffei replied: “I suspect there are a few other groups which might not, so probably a fight we don’t need to have.”
Maffei insisted that the inaugural Miami GP had been a great success, while conceding that there were issues that the organisation has to address for 2023.
ANALYSIS: Why the Miami Grand Prix weekend will be a game changer for F1
“I think overall a great success, demand was crazy,” he said. “Were there logistics issues around a first time race? [For example] drivers don’t love everything about the track, which is not unusual, or the Paddock Club hospitality and security. We’ll see. There are things to be worked through.
“I think the [Miami] Dolphins, our partners there, did a great job overall. I think they’re very aware of the problems or issues that arose, but are very fixable.
“But the TV experience, the excitement, the overall tone in Miami was wildly positive. I mean, crazy good. And I don’t think that’s going away. So I think you work through the first year issues, and it’s going to be a great event.”
Sainz: 2022 F1 cars could trigger long-term back and neck issues
Sainz “in two minds” over risk of driving classic F1 cars
How F1 budget cap is reining in one-off developments
Horner: Red Bull happy for either Verstappen or Perez to be champion
The highs and lows of being F1’s latest supersub
Is F1 barking up the wrong tree with its anti-jewellery stance?
Binotto: Leclerc enhances ‘myth’ of Ferrari like Gilles Villeneuve
Russell: Albon has done “exceptional job” as Williams F1 replacement
The contrasting temperaments that could prove key in F1 2022’s title fight
Is F1 barking up the wrong tree with its anti-jewellery stance?
In a new regular column, MAURICE HAMILTON draws on his decades of grand prix experience to give an alternative take on the news. First up, he ponders the ongoing brouhaha over jewellery…
The contrasting temperaments that could prove key in F1 2022’s title fight
For the first time in a decade, Red Bull and Ferrari are properly fighting it out for the world championship – and, as STUART CODLING reveals, the duelling drivers are children of the 1990s who are picking up a similarly old grudge match from where they left off…
How star-studded Miami Grand Prix reveals F1’s direction of travel
Home to many a cinematic car chase, Miami has made a visually dramatic impact on the F1 calendar too – as one wag put it, they paved a parking lot and put up a paradise. GP Racing’s STUART CODLING was on the scene to sample a world of celebrities, fake marinas and imperilled six-foot iguanas
Porpoising: A lesson from history and one of F1’s greatest teams
Although the 2022 Formula 1 season is destined to be forever linked to the word ‘porpoising’, this is not a new phenomenon. In fact, it’s a problem that was identified at the start of the first ground-effects era and has returned with a change in the rules that once more allow downforce-generating floors
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
His day of days in Formula 1 came at Indianapolis in 2005, a day grand prix racing strives to forget. But Patrick Friesacher, the long-serving Red Bull lieutenant, remains active today driving a two-seater that provides ordinary people with a glimpse of an F1 car’s savage potential, including this writer…
The mistakes putting Ferrari’s bid to end its F1 title drought in jeopardy
OPINION: After taking an early lead in the 2022 Formula 1 title race, Ferrari and Charles Leclerc have together made a series of high-profile mistakes to give Red Bull an advantage after the opening seven races. Here’s why Ferrari cannot afford to make any more errors this season
How Perez has been better for Red Bull in 2022
OPINION: One week on from getting a ruthless Red Bull team orders call at Barcelona, Sergio Perez delivered the team’s sixth Monaco Grand Prix victory and earned a two-year contract extension. This success backs up discernible improvements the team has noticed in driver who is now his country’s most successful Formula 1 racer
Monaco Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2022
Accuracy is more important than ever on a street circuit, and on Monte Carlo’s sodden streets, several drivers stepped up to produce superb performances in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. But on a track where overtaking is famously difficult, many were already resigned to a difficult afternoon by their qualifying performances
