18/04/2011
NEWS STORY
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Bosses of some of the biggest shops in London are in talks about getting Formula One cars to race down the city's renowned Regent Street in a demonstration which could take place before the British Grand Prix in late July.
Regent Street hosted a similar roadshow in 2004 when 500,000 spectators turned up to see Jenson Button, Nigel Mansell (above) and David Coulthard drive past world famous shops such as Hamley's and Liberty. It generated TV and news coverage for Regent Street estimated to be worth around £10m globally.
The talks about F1's return are being spearheaded by the Regent Street Association, a group which represents local businesses, and Motion Works, an event management company based at Silverstone. Writing in the Express, Pitpass' business editor Chris Sylt quotes Annie Walker, a director of the Regent Street Association, saying that it "has been working with Motion Works to explore options for a Formula 1 event in Regent Street during 2011."
However, contrary to speculation, the event is far from certain. False details about the event were disclosed on an internet forum by an author with the name F1fan1998 who wrote "Hugo boss and McLaren are putting on an event in the summer in regent street again." In contrast, Walker says that "nothing has yet been finally agreed. This is just one of a number of exciting opportunities being explored for the coming year that reflect the growing international appeal of Regent Street both to visitors and top brands." Sylt says there is likely to be some scurrying around going on behind the scenes now to locate the person who leaked the inaccurate details.
If the event does indeed take place it would probably yet again rev up interest in hosting a full Grand Prix on the streets of London. The plan was previously discussed in 2007 but F1's boss Bernie Ecclestone deemed it "too expensive" to organise. In short, the then mayor Ken Livingstone couldn't afford the fee. Ecclestone added that it would be very disruptive and said "the place would be upside down for six weeks. Nice as it'd be, I didn't think it was possible."