Ecclestone Willing to Fund London F1 Grand Prix

June 28, 2012

F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone has offered to pay for a London Grand Prix according to reports.

According to The Times, billionaire Ecclestone, who has long harboured hopes of holding a race in the capital, is prepared to promote the event. It is reported that the route would pass some of London’s most famous landmarks, including Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square.

The newspaper, who put the cost of staging the grand prix at £35million, claims marketing experts predict that the race could generate at least £100million for the London economy from spectators and tourists.

Ecclestone told The Times: “With the way things are, maybe we would front it and put the money up for it. If we got the okay and everything was fine, I think we could do that…It would be fantastic, good for London, good for England – a lot better than the Olympics.”

“Think what it would do for tourism. It would be fantastic — good for London, good for England — a lot better than the Olympics.”

Ecclestone believes the race would be even more impressive than the Monaco Grand Prix, currently the most famous and glamorous of motor racing’s street circuits.

The event could become the richest race in the road with around 120,000 fans filling the grandstands around the capital’s most famous landmarks along a 3.2 mile route with a potential global TV audience of a billion.

 

Plans for a London Grand Prix are set to be unveiled at the Royal Automobile Club on Pall Mall on Thursday night.

Ecclestone is scheduled to attend, along with F1 stars Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

A four-minute video will highlight the proposed route.

Button and Hamilton are then scheduled to go head to head around the track in a 3D CGI simulator.