The New York Grand Prix of F1 at an Impasse?

The saga of the Grand Prix held in the American state of New Jersey, with New York City in the background, could come to an end. Bernie Ecclestone explained to the magazine Forbes that the funding issues have still not been resolved.

Last December, the president of Formula One Management indicated that he was aiming for this race to be added to the 2015 calendar, despite numerous problems. Eight months later, the tone is less optimistic: « Honestly, I don’t think [the race will happen]. They still have the same problems they had at the beginning. Nothing has changed. »

Leo Hindery Jr. is the president of the PIRA (Port Imperial Racing Associates) group, to whom the F1 Group loaned the sum of 10 million dollars in April 2013 to help with the project’s implementation. Hindery himself had personally invested more than 10 million dollars, which was not enough to ensure its completion. The Daily Telegraph revealed in June 2013 that PIRA had enlisted the Swiss bank UBS to seek the missing 100 million dollars.

If, at the time of the publication of the official calendar /f1/actualite/18184-officiel-retour-du-grand-prix-du-mexique-en-2015.html, where New York was no longer listed, it had been suggested that UBS had failed in its mission to secure the necessary funds, it later emerged that the major reason for the difficulties was actually the presence of investors who had not fulfilled their commitments.

« Two or three investors that Leo had confirmed to me that they had an agreement with him and that they were going to release the funds. » However, everything was not that simple: « If Leo had the money or if I had the funds, this race would take place. »

The great financier – who has never hidden his dream of seeing F1 evolve in New York – explained that the interest of the F1 world in the Big Apple was real. « I had nothing to lose with Leo. If someone had come and given the money and done the job, I would have been delighted. Leo does his best with what he has. He was trying to keep things alive, hoping someone would provide the money. That encouraged us to give him his chance. Everyone wanted a race in New York. The teams were eager to have a race in New York, so we were trying to make it happen, » he concluded on this topic.

Announced in October 2011 by Chris Christie, the governor of the State of New Jersey, the organization of the event was planned for 2013 on a circuit using the roads of Port Imperial, on the opposite shore of the Hudson with the famous “skyline,” with its famous skyscrapers, as a backdrop. However, the double postponement and Bernie Ecclestone’s comments do not inspire much optimism, especially as the 2015 season will be the return of the Grand Prix of Mexico.