Thought I'd post my observations on the Formula One parade of Tuesday and the prospects of an F1 Grand prix in central London.
I got myself down to Regent Street to see the F1 cars on Tuesday the 6th. I arrived a good hour and a half before the advertised start time of 6.00pm. The crowds were 3 or 4 deep between Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus. There was no chance of getting a prime viewing spot at the barrier. Only those with strong bladders and sharp elbows could have attempted that. Moving up and down the pavement was becoming increasingly difficult. Tempers were beginning to fray and those passers-by who were just trying to get somewhere were increasingly bewildered and distressed.
I resigned myself to standing in front of a shop window in the hope I'd see some of the action. In the half hour before 6.00pm the pavement in front of me was filled with people who were increasingly agitated. Many sharp words were being exchanged. I stuck it out in the hope of seeing something of the cars. I could hear safety cars driving past and on one occasion caught a glimpse of flashing yellow lights. Great! Something interesting must have driven past because all of a sudden there was a sea of kiddies on parents shoulders and arms extended with cameras of various sorts. I could see absolutely nothing!
At this point I decided to abandon this fiasco and attempted to get out of the area. Easier said than done. After finding dead ends and police officers blocking alley ways I ended up in Hanover Square. This was a nightmare as there was a huge crowd reduced to watching events on a screen.
Fighting my through this with others trying to escape was not fun. Behaviour was deteriorating and there were elderly people and kiddies in great danger of being squashed or pushed over. I eventually escaped to the relative sanity of a busy Oxford Street.
This event should not be repeated. While it shows the huge popularity of F1 the organisers were very lucky there were not serious injuries or indeed fatalities amongst the huge crowd. Short of cordoning off a huge area military style there is no practical way crowds can be restricted and controlled adequately in an area like this. The police officer I spoke to during my escape said the police didn't plan it and he didn't like it either.
The prospect of a Formula One race being held in central London is completely bonkers. I could leave it at that but here are some reasons.
The big picture. There is hardly a day goes by when the issue of global warming isn't aired or referred to. I detect a wakening up to the seriousness of this issue. To plan for F1 cars to race through the streets of London is giving all the wrong messages. F1 needs to scale down it's activities and spending and allow the most important feature of the sport to dominate. That is; letting fantastically skilled human beings do their stuff in racing cars in front of an informed and appreciative audience at a dedicated race track with state of the art safety features.
At a local level the cost of staging a Grand Prix in London would be phenomenal. The TV shots of yesterday's fiasco showed the cars bouncing over drain covers, ruts and all sorts of assorted bumps. Wholesale resurfacing would have to take place. The forest of street furniture needing removed would employ more angle grinders and oxyacetylene cutters than exist. The preparation and lengthy three or four day street closures for the race itself would entail major disruption and severe dislocation. We only narrowly avoid gridlock now. From the scenes yesterday at the parade crowd control methods would have to be unacceptably draconian. If the route outlined in today's Evening Standard were to be used the cars could easily be reaching speeds of 180mph. The danger to spectators doesn't bear thinking about. And where are they going to build the pits? And where are they going to put the toilets? And how do get about if public transport is suspended and re-routed? And who compensates the business who lose out financially? And so on .....
Some of those in favour of a London F1 race refer to Monaco as a precedent for a street race. This just plain does not follow. Many informed commentators concur that at one level the race round the streets of Monaco is a bizarre anachronism. It's only happens because of the momentum of history and the money. The population profile of central London and Monaco differ markedly. London is a workaday place for many people whereas Monaco by and large hosts the leisure class.
No, I think influential people, and that includes F1 fans, need to speak up and say stop this nonsense before too many powerful economic interests get a whiff of the lolly and get us into a ridiculous situation.
No F1 in London. Put the money into Silverstone.
Douglas
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Douglas, agree whole heartedly with your comments.
My only contribution would be that if the money came from F1 to do all the remedial works, resurface roads etc then maybe consider it but don't think this would ever outweigh the inconvenience that it would cause.
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A totally ill-conceived gimmick.
Meanwhile, Silverstone gets turned into a housing estate?
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Will the F1 cars be be liable for the congestion charge? If not where can I get one cheap?
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Excelent post - well said.
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Disagree completely. Couldn't think of a more exciting spectacle on the streets of London than 20 or so F1 cars screaming round for a couple of hours. All the concerns about crowd safety and facilities would be well addressed before any such event took place, F1 is one of the most safety concious sports in the world out of sheer nescessity.
Business would indeed be disrupted, as it is for the Marathon, Gay Pride, The Notting Hill Carnival and scores of other activities which go on every year. But F1 brings in serious money and prestige, the gains would outway any losses.
If you want something useful to complain about, how about the plan to put London in debt for possibly a decade or more by "winning" that four yearly collection of non-events that mostly make up the Olympic Games, flooding an already crime ridden area of the capital with even more drug dealers, prostitutes, muggers and rip off merchants than it already has. All for a bronze in the underwater knitting event and a velodrome that hardly anybody will use again.
And the roads get resurfaced too, eh? Come on Ken, do something useful for once.
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I remember when they had racing in Birmingham - can't remember which classes, but I was down there on a course and it was an awsome spectacle. Like Goodwood you can see the cars rather than need binoculars from the stands. Thumbs up from me.
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I am so gutted to have missed this - I remember talking about it on here months ago so how did I miss that it was going to happen?
Pout sulk pout...
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Birmingham had Formula 5000 for a few years. I seem to recall that the plan was to eventually have F1 there, but it never came about.
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I remember when they had racing in Birmingham - can't remember which classes
>that was F3.
why are all the big cheeses including 'i hate cars Ken' all for it? what's the hidden agenda?
I was down the southern end of Regent Street last night couldn't get anywhere near the front so i gave up and tried to leave area about 18:50 only to go to Piccadilly Circus station to find it was shut along with Oxford Circus and Leicester Square due to overcrowding so i'm told..
The whole event seemed totally overwhelmed by the numbers of people involved.
As much as i'd like to see a F1 race in London, what i saw last night i really don't think it's a sensible or practical idea.
At least though the cynics have been proved wrong, the interest in F1 is very much alive and kicking.
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Tom maybe it would put us in Debt for a bit longer than that.streets of london arent designed for any type of racing.I doubt will ever be.the cost of safety would be more than any one in london would accept.if you look at safety on track.it is far away divided by safety on londons roads.apart from greed of the odd few I cannot see it being a viable option not here anyway.I really cannot see ken doing anything.will be interesting to hear otherwise.??
--
Was mech1
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I had planned to go to the F1 in London event but couldn't make it at the last moment.
What I didn't want to see was doughnuts and practice starts, so by not going I wasn't disappointed. If you want to see F1 cars without paying the stupid prices to get into the GP weekend at Silverstone, keep an eye on the test days. I remember going to a test day a couple of years ago where all the teams were there (apart from Minardi) and they all wore their "Smoke Fags" liveries - not something you'd see at the British GP!
The best bit was sitting in the grandstand opposite the pits (after paying nothing to get in and nothing to sit in the grandstand...) when Michael Schumacher jumped up onto the pitwall and waved at us all. The cheering drowned out the noise of DC going by...
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The organisation of F1 in London appears to have been a total shambles. They even managed to miss their allocated TV slot because they weren't ready.
Should never be repeated, and I'm actually an F1 fan!
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The disapointment of not seeing Coulthard and co was compensated by the huge cheer and clapping that went up for the City of Westminster road sweepers as they done their duties on the track!
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The chaos of the other night would not be repeated should the GP proper come to the capital. For all our faults we Brits are actually quite good at organising events, and Bernie knows exactly what it takes to make the race weekend run smoothly.
Short of the world cup, there probably isn't another sporting event that could generate the interest of a GP in the centre of London. I even feel a bit ashamed for voting against Ken in '97 when I lived there, and I deeply apologise for refering to him as a Commie Faggot.
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Well I think it could be done and having attended the Millenium New Years Eve and Rugby Union World Cup celebrations (during which there were far bigger crowds than those for the F1 display) I have no doubt about that. These were all one off events and as such could never be as well planned as something which would be done on a regular basis. I see no reason why a city like London couldn't or shouldn't put on a Grand Prix. Although I'm no longer a fan of F1, the spectacle in London would be amazing and large parts of the capital are already either closed to traffic at weekends or relatively free from it. I recall watching the likes of Graham Hill racing at Crystal Palace circuit in my youth on a Bank Holiday Monday. It was great and the buzz generated fantastic. You could hear the cars miles away! Let's stop knocking ourselves all the time - we can do things like this and other nations like the French don't seem to be so willing to push the self destruct button when it comes to judging their ablity to host events like the Olympics. Not so many weeks ago part of the Charles De Gaulle Airport tragically collapsed killing several people. Had it happened here the papers would have been full of headlines like - Olympic Bid in Tatters After Airport Tragedy ! Did that happen in France? No. We're just so good at knocking ourselves. As a Londoner, I hope it'll come about sooner rather than later.
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I agree with the idea. If Monaco can do it round the streets , why not Central London. I too am sure that if Bernie and Ken want it then it could be organised safely and well.
V man - - I too used to go to Crystal Palace and it was a great little circuit, - I certainly remember seeing Jackie Stewart and other F1 drivers - I seem to recall Jochen Rindt racing there not long before he died. I'm not saying how long ago but that was in the days when the motor cycle racers without exception wore black leather race gear and the barriers were railway sleepers protected by straw bales .... slightly more nasty if you crashed in those days.
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I too used to go to Crystal Palace and it was a great little circuit, -
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I raced there but with pedal power the opposite way to the cars.
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On the back of the Telegraph sport section today is a map of a possible track route. It involves Hyde Park, that glorious, precious haven of rest and peacefulness. How stupid can people be? This old git's blood is ready to boil.
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IIRC David Coulthard claimed that Monaco is actualy smaller than Hyde Park and he saw no reason why London could not host a GP.
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Hmmm wonderful memories Helicopter - yes it was great and I think you're right about Jochen Rindt. Although I was very small at the time he and Hill were my heroes of the day. Of course things have moved on a lot and we're far more safety conscious now so it wouldn't be easy to do a Grand Prix in London it would be great IMO. I'm a big critic of Red Ken but also prepared to give credit where it's due and if anyone can make it happen he can.
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I think the reason that Crystal Palace was closed as a circuit was because of the noise.It was in the middle of a fairly large park with the athletics stadium and the international swimming pool - Do you remember the concrete dinosaurs and the Anerley ramp up to the start / finish straight V'man?
I remember a great punch up after a four car pile up between four Formula Ford drivers at the final bend last lap when the guy in fourth decided to go for it and took the first three with him....
I remember four mechanics trying to push start a recalcitrant large American Monster of the type beloved of our far eastern correspondent in the pit lane - it finally decided to start and go and went so quickly that four mechanics head butted the rosd simultaneously...
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Remember them well H - spent many a nice day there - I wonder if the track could be reinstated and used for stuff like go karts, motorbikes even.
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I've literally just had an invite from the London Chamber of Commerce to a business Q&A session with Mayor on September 9th - The newt lover is not normally my cup of tea but I may just be tempted..
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I've literally just had an invite from the London Chamber of Commerce to a business Q&A session with Mayor on September 9th - The newt lover is not normally my cup of tea but I may just be tempted..
Go along with an open mind, helicopter and find out what he's really like instead of what the press say he's like.
BTW, someone said earlier that he's a car-hater. I don't think he hates cars per se, just cars in a congested city with alternative transport on offer. I wouldn't dream of driving in central london unless I was a masochist.
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Remeber going to crystal palace as a kid, it was a touring car race of some kind, if i recall it was mostly ford falcons and lotus cortinas? I have a memory of the Cotinas (whie and green of course) going round bends cocked on three wheels.
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I thought that I would put my experience of Tuesday on here - to show that it was not all bad!
I got to Regent Street at 1530, and the crowd was already big. We found a spot near the barrier, and stuck there.
There was no pushing from behind, we were kept informed of what was going on by the 'marshalls' (read uninterested roadies)
Sure it wasn't as good as it could have been, but having Martin Brundle in the Jag stopping within almost touching distance from myself, reving the engine, and lighting up the rear tyres, made the wait all worth it.
had no problems leaving the area - straight to China Town for a good meal, then on to the train back to Brighton.
I understand that it wasn't all like this, but I seriously hope that the whole thing is repeated again next year.
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No thanks. Long live Silverstone!
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Ah, but think of the fun you'd have on the Monday going up and down Oxford Street with a metal detector looking for bits of Sato's engine. Can't do that at Silverston.
The ABD are rumoured to be offering a prize for the first driver to wrap his car round a speed camera on the Embankment.
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"The ABD are rumoured to be offering a prize for the first driver to wrap his car round a speed camera on the Embankment."
I hope they remember to turn them off, being flashed at 150mph could be very distracting.
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I'm not against closing the streets for a special annual motor racing event in London (specially as I don't live there). But maybe Formula 1 isn't the thing. How about a taxi race for black cabs of all colours? !!!.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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Or minicabs & white vans perhaps. Then there'll be some real racing - not like F1
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I'm not against closing the streets for a special annual motor racing event in London (specially as I don't live there). But maybe Formula 1 isn't the thing. How about a taxi race for black cabs of all colours? !!!. Cheers, Sofa Spud
No, that'd be no good. The speeds would be too high for safety ;)
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Taxi racing could even involve picking up fares who reveal the secret destination to the driver! The event could be run as a timed sprint, one vehicle at a time, over the same route! Maybe it wouldn't be very exciting for spectators. Less exciting than watching a normal street full of mixed traffic, even!
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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Ooops --
Would the white vans be required to stop on double yellow lines outside every newsagents to buy a packet of fags?
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Ford built a 'Supervan' years ago as a publicity stunt, based on a Transit shell, but with race car mechanicals underneath, with a big mid-mounted V8 engine. What's more I think it was white. Would this be eligible for white van racing?
cheers, Sofa Spud
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"metal detector looking for bits of Sato's engine. Can't do that at Silverston."
Can so, monday morning is good. Seem to recall a small boy wandering off with a large bit of F1 bodywork last year or the year before? - what a trophy.
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Some interesting posts in response to my comments. I thought I'd get us back to the subject. Tony Jardine during the F1 show at the weekend on ITV said there would not be an F1 race in central London. Stirling Moss was quoted on Teletext or Ceefax as saying there would be no F1 in central London as the police wouldn't be able to guarantee crowd control (surprise, surprise!!) Michael and Rubens were quoted a saying yeah great idea and then immediately raised the issue of safety. So a sceptical response from the Ferrari drivers?
No I'm beginning to wonder if there's not an element of the leg pull about this. Bernie E went to talk to people in New York after the US Grand Prix about the prospects of a NY GP. Who floated the idea of a GP in central London? Anyone out there know?
There is some knee jerk support for the idea from those susceptible to "group think" but after thinking it through I suspect minds will change and the idea will quietly fade away.
And for those who insist on referring to Monte Carlo as a precedent for London - where are the super rich going to moor their motor yachts?
Douglas
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Chelsea Harbour and St Katherines Dock.
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Why on earth do we want another boring non-overtaking procession like Monaco in London?
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