London GrandPrix could be on the cards

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has announced plans for a London GrandPrix. The announcement comes on the back of confirmation last week that one of the bids for the Olympic stadium in London was from a company who are looking to stage the London GrandPrix at the the site. When asked about the bid Ecclestone said that he was not involved in the bid but that he would back the plan.

However to the Times newspaper is reporting that Bernie plans to run a GrandPrix on the street's of London. The reports says that Mr Ecclestone is looking to spend £35 million on the project.

On Thursday Santander, the title sponsor of the British GrandPrix are hosting an event in London to promote the idea of a London GrandPrix. The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver's Jenson Button will demonstrate McLaren F1 cars around the proposed circuit map.

The proposed circuit would start at Charing Cross and head down the Mall, turning right onto St James Street where there would be a chicane and then it would fly past the Ritz before heading down Picadilly then turning left onto Wellington Street and flying past Buckingham Palace with a chicane by the Wellington Barracks, heading down towards Birdcage Walk, heading past Big Ben and back to the star finish line at Charing Cross.

I think that it is a fantastic idea to host a full blown GrandPrix in London because previously the like's of Dublin and London have only ever had demonstration's and I think that it would be great to have a fully blown Formula One race on the street's of London.

I also think that it would be great for tourism in London. Formula One is no stranger to the street's of London as in the build up to the 2004 British GrandPrix Regent Street played host to a Formula One demonstration.

In 2009, following on from his horrific crash in Valencia RedBull's Mark Webber and his mechanics performed a pitstop demo i front of Big Ben so I think that it would be a MASSIVE success if a GrandPrix was held in the centre of London.

When asked about the project the mayor of London, Boris Johnson was positive about the event provided that noise impact and air quality issues were addressed. He also stated that he wanted to make sure that any race would be economically viable.

No date has been set for any prospective event so watch this space....