This Wednesday sees the launch of the first conference in London's financial district about the business of Formula One. Named F1 and the City, the conference is being hosted by financial news service Bloomberg and held in its headquarters with the participants selected by Chris Sylt, Pitpass' business editor and the author of F1's trade guide Formula Money. It will be headlined by speeches from McLaren as well as UBS and Hublot, the two most recent additions to F1's global partner portfolio.

The purpose of the conference is to introduce the financial community to F1 and the investment opportunities in it. A key thread will be showing the impact that the sport has beyond the track so Geoff McGrath, the managing director of McLaren Applied Technologies, will be speaking about how developments in F1 are used in other industries. The marketing directors of UBS and Hublot will be talking about how their products are influenced by F1 and used in it. Likewise, Cosworth's F1 manager Mark Gallagher will be talking about the value F1 has brought to his company's overall business.

Covering a wide range of key areas, the conference will even feature Max Mosley's lawyer Dominic Crossley talking about how to avoid the most common disputes in motorsport. There will also be a book signing by Bernie Ecclestone's biographer Susan Watkins and the conference will be broadcast by Bloomberg TV.

As Pitpass recently reported, F1's boss Bernie Ecclestone has described as "clowns" event organisers who invite delegates already involved with F1. He added "the people who go there are people that say to the boss 'I've got to go.' It's a jolly." Some people are sure to disagree with his view however the Bloomberg event has taken note of Ecclestone' comments and its delegate list is full of brands which should partner with F1 but do not yet. They include Lagadere Sports, Deloitte and Thomas Cook Sport as well as numerous financial firms including Fortress Investment Group and Pembroke Capital Advisors which are the target audience of the event.

Following each of the speeches, delegates at the conference will get a chance to quiz the speakers and at the end of the event they will take part in a roundtable discussion about the business issues facing F1. There will also be the obligatory networking drinks, so delegates will be able to schmooze with the speakers, and it all comes at a cost of £195.

It isn't for your typical F1 fan but it is one of few F1 conferences due to take place this year. The opportunity to get the latest insight from F1's movers and shakers could save deal-makers a lot more money than the entrance price.