Horner: F1 race in New York 'would be amazing'

Christian Horner can't get enough of Formula 1 racing in America, and suggests the sport should add a fourth race in the US, preferably on the streets of New York City.

For a decade, Austin was the exclusive venue for Formula 1 in America, but last year the Texas track was joined by a festive round of racing in Miami while next November, Las Vegas will welcome F1 back to Sin City.

Liberty Media has nicely capitalized on Grand Prix racing's exponential growth in America, a popularity spurred on in large part by the success of the Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive.

Last week, Red Bull opted to present its 2023 car and its future engine brand partner Ford at New York's famed Classic Car Club in Manhattan, and AlphaTauri will follow suit this Saturday with its own 2023 season launch.

Speaking last week, Horner said that he wouldn't mind seeing F1 expand its presence in the US to a fourth race, suggesting NYC as a potentially "amazing" venue for the sport.

"It would be amazing. Racing in big cities in the U.S. is really exciting," Horner said, quoted by the DailyMail.

"A race here in the Big Apple, for example, what a spectacle that would be.

"You can never say never. We’ve got other North American races as well, with Montreal, and there’s certainly demand for it, so why not? It’s great that there’s that much interest in Formula 1 in the U.S.

"We’re fortunate to race in great venues, whether it’s the street circuit of Miami, or the track in Austin… Vegas this year is going to be an absolutely insane event too."

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Unfortunately, Horner's vision of a colorful field of cars racing down 5th Avenue is likely to remain a pipe dream.

Over the years, multiple projects linking New York and Formula 1 were whipped up, but never came to fruition, in large part due to the near-impossible practical and logistical challenges of laying out a circuit in Manhattan.

Ten years ago, local promoters, supported by then F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, concocted a plan to organize a race right across the Hudson River at Port Imperial in New Jersey.

Media mogul Leo Hindery Jr. spearheaded the project at the time and even got as far as submitting all the necessary entry fees for inclusion on the 2014 calendar.

But long-term financial difficulties linked to his organization and a lack of investment nipped the race in the bud, even when a 2015 date had been agreed.

Last year, Liberty Media chief executive Greg Maffei revealed that New York City mayor Eric Adams had offered Randalls and Wards Island as a venue for a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

But Liberty politely declined the offer as it considered that the site was far from perfect and would not do justice to Formula 1.

"I think the reality is street races in a place like New York are just very, very, very hard," said Maffei at the time.

"New York is a wonderful venue, but it's hard to see that they're going to shut Central Park for us!"

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