London Grand Prix back on the F1 rumour mill

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has re-ignited talks about an hypothetical London Grand Prix, while also immediately pouring cold water on any nascent hope by saying no one wants to foot the bill for the event.

The idea of seeing Formula One cars battle it out in the streets of the UK’s capital city has been raised countless times over the past decades, with recent legislation making it easier for local councils to hold high-speed sporting events.

A long-time supporter of a London Grand Prix, Ecclestone has often claimed that it would match the grandeur of Monaco, with proposed track layouts featuring iconic landmarks such as Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, or Trafalgar Square.

Speaking to ITV News after the mayoral election that saw Sadiq Khan succeed Boris Johnson last weekend, the F1 boss said: “If it can be done, then yes, we'd love to do it. There is a small technical issue, who is going to pay for it, but apart from that I can't see any dramas.

"[A race] in the middle of London would be fantastic. I mean we're having the same sort of thing in Baku now and like in Monaco. Street races have become very popular. We'd have a lot more viewers than they do in Monte Carlo."

The closest Londoners have come to witness F1 action came in the summer of 2004 when a demo show featured the likes of Nigel Mansell and Jenson Button taking eight grand prix cars for a spin around Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus. Attending the event, then city mayor Ken Livingstone said at that time that a London Grand Prix could happen by 2007.

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