Chris Pook: “Leeway for 2015”

The New Jersey Grand Prix is ​​one of those races that has been removed from the FIA ​​calendar F1 for 2014 with Mexico and Korea. Obvious financial difficulties then appeared.

“It’s a complicated project to set up and therefore very complicated to finance. But now, this project is possible to finance. We are in a more comfortable situation for 2015. This deadline gives us room to maneuver to complete the financial restructuring which is the priority. And we can do all of this in a reasonable amount of time. » Pook explains. Without going into details of the current finances of the project, he believes that the current team is doing a good job, led by an internationally recognized banker, but that this aspect does not concern him.

On organizational issues, the consultant is more talkative, recalling the difficulty of organizing a Formula 1 race on a non-permanent circuit. A challenge that Hermann Tilke, architect of the latest circuits visited by the discipline, had to tackle.

“First of all, this is an extremely complicated temporary circuit, and by far the most complicated temporary circuit I have ever seen. » Pook continued. “And, rather than putting ourselves in a situation where we would have to rush everything to get the 2014 date, the sensible thing to do, keeping in mind the importance of this race, was to take step back and say, “Let’s do it in 2015.” Everyone agrees that it is a very important race for the Formula 1 calendar. It is the largest entertainment market in the world. It will be a huge success, but you have to do things perfectly because the standards and expectations of this market are very, very high. It's really stupid to rush.
This is the first temporary circuit Tilke has done. It's not rocket science, you have to be able to see what needs to be done. It is clear that this is not like building a permanent circuit. As you transfer streets from normal conditions to race circuit conditions, it must be recognized that if you do this people must be able to go about their normal daily activity. »

Remember that the New Jersey Grand Prix must be included on the 2015 calendar, after two successive postponements in 2013 and 2014.