Bernie Ecclestone reckons a £100m F1 race could hit London’s streets next year
Could London’s streets be ringing to the sound of Formula 1 cars as soon as next year? The sport’s boss, Bernie Ecclestone, reckons so.
Ecclestone has told ITV News there’s only one “small technical issue” is preventing the capital from hosting its own version of the Monaco Grand Prix, in which F1 cars use the City’s streets as a track: “who is going to pay for it”.
“[But] if it can be done, then yes, we’d love to do it,” he added. “Apart from [deciding who pays] I can’t see any dramas.”
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Plans for a race following a route around London landmarks including Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square were unveiled by Santander back in June 2012. At the time, the lender suggested a race could raise as much as £100m for the capital.
Starting on The Mall, the route winds through St James’s, before hitting Piccadilly, turning down Constitution Hill, heading down Birdcage Walk and going along the Embankment.
The idea moved one step closer in July 2014, when the government introduced new legislation giving powers to councils to allow motor racing on public roads. But were a race to go ahead, an Act of Parliament would still be required to lift 30mph speed limits enforced on roads in built-up areas.
Formula E
It wouldn’t be the first time fast cars have hit the streets of London: last summer a Formula E race – F1’s greener, quieter cousin (which is backed by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio) – was held on a 1.5-mile circuit around Battersea Park, with cars hitting up to 140mph.
The race will be held again this year, with organisers expecting the crowd to grow from 60,000 people last year to 70,000-odd this year – despite a petition signed by some 2,800 people after 2015’s race.
Here’s how the race could look
Santander has come up with a snazzy vision of what F1 would look like in London’s streets. Check it out below…