12/07/2012
NEWS STORY
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There has been so much talk recently about plans for a Grand Prix in London that it makes you wonder whether there is any fire behind all the smoke.
First it came to light that a group is bidding to host a race on the Olympic park despite numerous obstacles not least of which being the fact that F1's boss Bernie Ecclestone has not endorsed the plan.
Then came the media storm when Ferrari sponsor Santander held a glitzy event to unveil a hypothetical route for a race through central London with F1 cars zipping past Big Ben and Nelson's Column and through Admiralty Arch (above).
It clearly stated in the press material that "the London Grand Prix by Santander is a fantasy" but much of the UK press was happy to overlook this. Although both of these plans are the stuff of dreams it doesn't mean that there won't be a race in London. As is often the case in F1, when you are told to look in one direction (or two in this case) then you would be best off looking in another as revealed in an article in today's Guardian by Pitpass' business editor Christian Sylt.
So far Ecclestone has given his support to a London Grand Prix and he told Santander that "the idea of an F1 street-race in London is something I have had for many years. It would be magnificent." He even agreed to cover the running costs and waive the estimated £35m hosting fee if a race takes place. However, he has never said that his team is actually at work on any plans for a race in London. Until now.
Sylt reveals that Ecclestone is indeed at work on plans for a race in London. "We are getting on with it. It is no joke. 100% completely no joke," he says.
It was widely seen that Ecclestone's support of a Grand Prix in London was a diversionary tactic to take media attention away from the recent conviction in Munich of F1's former chairman Gerhard Gribkowsky. He claims that Ecclestone and his family trust paid him a £27.5m bribe to wave through the sale of F1 to current owner, the private equity firm CVC, in 2006. It was reported that this allegation could open the door for prosecutors to charge Ecclestone although he denies Gribkowsky's version of events and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
After Gribkowsky was convicted his lawyers lodged an appeal and, as Pitpass has reported, the German court is not likely to come to a verdict until next year. This makes it much harder for the prosecutors to charge Ecclestone and there is no indication that they want to do this. In turn it makes it less likely that Ecclestone's talk of a London Grand Prix is a pretence.
Last week Ecclestone admitted that although Santander's plans began purely as promotion for the sponsor, his offer of covering the costs of a London Grand Prix is serious. "They showed me their idea two or three months ago and said, "It looks good. It looks exciting. It's good publicity for the British Grand Prix and Santander." I said "you're bloody right it is." And before I knew it I was apparently the one who was behind it. I didn't know about it to be honest, but I accepted the credit. I did say - not in relation to that [plan] - that if we could have a race in London, we would be prepared to pay £35m to make it happen."
So if Ecclestone is indeed "getting on with" a race in London, and he is prepared to pay £35m to make it happen then, where will the track be? According to Ecclestone's own words it isn't the route envisaged by Santander as he says his offer is "not in relation to that" and there is little doubt that pulling off such a daring track layout would need this financial investment.
The route around the London Olympic Park looks equally unlikely. It follows the model pioneered by the Russian government which has reportedly set aside £126m ($195.4m) to build a 3.6 mile (5.9km) circuit around the Sochi Olympic Park, scene of the 2014 winter Olympic Games. The race is on the 2014 calendar but it is likely to be a lot longer than that before a Grand Prix comes to London's Olympic site.
"This is a firm that happened to be bidding for use of the stadium, not to own it. They came up with a scheme whereby Formula One would race around the stadium, inside it, outside it. They wanted to make sure I would be interested," says Ecclestone adding that he has not put his name to it.
The bid was tabled by a company based in Wanstead, east London, called Intelligent Transport Services which has only been trading for just over a year and none of its directors appear to have been previously involved with sports-related businesses. Since its bid appears to be based on use, but not ownership, of the facilities, it seems to face a significant hurdle.
This is because the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) has not yet selected new owners to take over all the structures on the site once the Olympics is over so Intelligent Transport Services cannot be sure that they would be allowed to use the facilities in an F1 race. Without a guaranteed venue it is likely to be tough for Intelligent Transport Services to secure funding for a race and in turn it is hard to see how its race could be granted a slot on the F1 calendar.
Time will tell what location Ecclestone is looking at for a London Grand Prix but Pitpass is aware of at least one other plan, which has not yet come to light, for a race in a completely different part of the capital. When pressed further about his race plan Ecclestone simply says "we will see if we can make it happen."
As recently suggested by the renowned Mike Lawrence, the race plans may well be driven by Ecclestone's desire to leave a unique legacy and when Sylt put this to him he didn't deny it. It could well show that the 81 year-old has a soft side which may be almost as big a surprise as the London Grand Prix going ahead.