It is the Silly Season for more than just the drivers in Formula 1 at the moment, with much excitement about the idea that a Formula 1 circuit could run in and out of the Olympic Stadium in London. It may not be a bad idea to jump on the publicity bandwagon as the Games gear up, but the key question is whether or not anyone has actually looked at the stadium.
The idea is being championed by a company called Intelligent Transport Solutions Ltd, which is headquartered in a residential building in the London suburb of Wanstead. It does not smack of vast sums of money. The plan is to some extent logical. The Olympic infrastructure is brilliant, but it would have been a great deal easier to turn it into a race track after the Games had someone considered designing the roads with this in mind about five years ago. This is what is happening on the Olympic site in Sochi. This means that any circuit would need to be reverse-engineered, or perhaps one might say “botched”.
The Olympic Park has some potential for a circuit. The venue would be great for transportation, because of all the rail links built into it for the Olympics. There are existing roads that flow around the site but the rivers would pose some problems as some of the bridges are unsuitable for F1 cars. The International Media Building is an obvious pit facility.
The stadium is not very useful. It is set into the earth on an island, which means that the circuit would have to cross at least two bridges. It would have to enter the stadium below ground level. There are four tunnels that disappear into the stands, each is 10 metres wide. The average F1 track is 30 percent wider than that. Two of the four tunnels simply link with one another under the grandstands and go nowhere. The main tunnel in the north east of the stadium emerges with a small river right in front of it. To the right there is a narrow road then climbs up to reach the main public level. This would need to substantially widened if it was to be used by F1 cars.
One entrance however is not enough as the cars need to both enter AND leave the stadium. The only possibility is therefore the central tunnel in the south of the stadium which does emerge about 80 metres from the stadium floor. That would require the drivers going through a 10 metre wide corridor the whole way, as there are important supporting columns that make it impossible to widen the track until it is completely clear of the stadium. That means that while it is possible to go in and out of the stadium, there is very little point in doing so. In order to sell seats in the grandstands there would need to be something to look at and there is precious little space inside. The cars would be arriving slowly and spread out because of the access problems and that would mean there would be no room to create an overtaking places. While the whole building covers an area of 314 metres by 250 metres, the actual playing area is much smaller, being around 170 metres in length and a maximum of 100 metres wide.There would be no room for the pits and no possibility of any serious overtaking, the best option probably being a hairpin, a kind of flat version of the Station Hairpin at Monaco.
But would 60,000 people be happy to buy tickets to see just that?
Even if all the conversion work could be done relatively cheaply, there is still the question of who would pay for the annual conversion of the site into a race track and also who would pay the race fees.
It is not impossible for there to be a race track on the Olympic site, but it is improbable, although the people in Wanstead – whoever they may be – may have high hopes.
joeblogsf1 
It is certanly more plausible then racing through the Admirality Arch like the Santander imagined in their commerical.
Ok, so why not have a track around the Olympic site, but not through the stadium? Therefore it wouldn’t impact on the football pitch which will inevitably be installed when West Ham win the bidding process. You still get a London race, with excellent transport links and some Ok views in the distance and an amazing setting. The infrastructure is already in place with, as you mentioned, the media centre and rail links. It’s not a terrible idea.
Joe, am I correct in thinking that an F1 race on the streets of London could not take place without a change in the law to allow motor racing on the UK’s road network? Given the current position by the UK government, I’d suggest there is little to no chance of this happening.
“the play’s the thing” especially in the silly season. Here’s a fun link to a 3d visualisation done by an Australian company who have recently formed an alliance with Tilke GmbH http://iedm.com.au/visual-design/
I like the look of that track and think that it could be a hit. Much like the V8 race around the Sydney Olympic area. Of course it doesn’t use the stadium which would cut down on the seating but that allows more free flowing around the circut by the crowd.
The V8 race is relatively boring as there is no room for the taxis to pass. At F1 speeds it would be even more difficult. Valencia would be exciting in comparison.
It already looks boring with one car…
new circuits, mmmm okay, another Tilke-Streetcircuit … Please not.
Really let the guy and his firm do everything, design all buildings, seatings, parkings, let them build the whole thing, but please let other people design the tracks.
Excellent analysis Joe.
I merely established that if you put the starting grid in there, with the 8 metres regulatory distance between each row and the cars having a max regulatory lenth of 4.655 metres, it would be just possible to squeeze the 24 starters in.
Has Bernie partially left us for the things beyond this mortal realm already?
You sure this isn’t just Bernie and his mate Sylt up to their usual tricks?
I believe you’re on to something. This company sounds very much like one from Australia headed by a Mr. Johnston.
Joe, does the aforementioned Mr. Johnston have any history with eccle$tone or any of his Aussie business buds?
No idea what you are talking about!
Joe, a number of prominent & reliable sites have the company listed as “Intelligent Transport Services (ITS)” vice “Intelligent Transport Solutions Ltd”, as you’ve reported.
A quick web search will show they are based out of Australia with a Mr. Johnston (photo included) on the home page. Here’s the link
http://its.net.au/
I know eccle$tone has business connections in the Antipodes re: F1. It takes very little money up-front to put forth a business proposal. Perhaps eccle$tone used a third party to engineer this proposal as a way to validate his London GP comments. I still think this London GP is a snow-job to distract from his legal situation. Maybe I’m way off base, but nowadays, “who can ya trust”?
I was refering to media diversions not that.
Agreed,
that was my point also. A snow-job to change the subject.
There’s also the problem that even if you had only 3 or 4 cars in the stadium at one time there is the possiblity of a lawsuit from 60,000 people rendered deaf by the noise.
Fear not the noise factor JJ, by the time this fantasy comes to fruition the engines will be all electric running off photovoltaics.
Fantasy : Wait for the Thames Estuary Airport to go ahead – a purpose-built F1 circuit could be incorporated in the master plan, taking advantage of the latter’s proposed transport infrastructure. The SS Richard Montgomery could provide an additional attraction for those seeking an exciting day out.
Reality : Silverstone. Optimum venue – once all the car-parks are hard-surfaced.
The Boris Island London GP, maybe? The “Richard Montgomery” could be part of the podium celebration, ‘going up’ at the same time as the champagne cork popping.
I gauge that Bernie was quite serious about a London GP. Though that bit about him underwriting it with his own money was truly hysterical.
Perhaps it will be in Olympic park, perhaps in some other region of the city that also features lots of non-public roads – industrial areas, parks, docklands, airports.
Bernie’s way is to find at least two groups wishing to fill a given slot and pit them against one another. After a bit of public cajoling, he’ll accept a bid from the group willing to write the largest cheque.
Bernie now has one suitor, add another and the likelihood of London GP will become all too real.
I know that is an ambition he has, but the practical and financial issues remain the key.
Joe, I think you’re spot on with your analysis and that is completely ridiculous to try and shoe horn in a section through the stadium. plus, half of it is a temporary structure which will be removed once the Olympics is finished. And then either West Ham (they won the bid before it was torn up) or Leyton Orient will move there permanently and I don’t think theyd want the structure to be tampered with. Plus, the only time a track temporary track could be constructed is during the close season which is just at the same time at the British Grand Prix. You;re right in saying that the logistics of travel for spectators is perfect as it’s already there. Anything else would be, in my opinion (and it’s just mine) a botch job.
Peter
Obviously, we all love the idea. Equally obvious it’s an enormous pile of totally silly b*llocks.
However, in keeping with the spirit of the proposal, I’d suggest the teams who could most benefit from this track would be as follows:
Mastercard Lola
Orange Arrows
USF1
Andrea Moda
Fondmetal
Life F1
Pacific
EuroBrun
Coloni
Jaguar F1
and those folks who were going to buy Toyota F1 and build a car in Lituhania or somewhere.
And some random Russians, like Chelsea F1.
There you go, a grid fit for the F1 GP GB of the former Olympics area type thing.
To ensure it goes well, I’d suggest issuing NO tickets at all, then put G4S in charge of security…. the stadium would be packed to capacity.
That’s a fantastic idea!!! An F1 race composed only of losers and failures from throughout the years. A vintage look at F1 disasters! Now that would be entertainment, especially coupled with a botched circuit through London.
Joe
“a company called Intelligent Transport Solutions Ltd”
Actually there is no such active company according to the Companies House website. A identically named company, based near Bristol, was disolved in March 2010 ((http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/24d7f3fc60190a490363f05438e7df95/compdetails). ).
Systems…
No Joe, not systems just the wrong name.
See: http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/intelligent-transport-services
Formed in May 2011 and have filed first years accounts.
Yes, I did look them up. Hence I knew about Wanstead. These things don’t just get made up.
It seems like its made up!
Solutions; systems; services – who needs silly details like the correct company name in an article anyway…
“The venue would be great for transportation, because of all the rail links built into it for the Olympics.”
As someone who lives close to the Olympic village and who uses the Tube and rail links daily, I must disagree with this statement. The transport services in this area couldn’t be more unprepared or shoddy if they tried — and trust me, they do try.
Agree with you there, Leigh. Downright sucks under normal capacity not even rush hour.
Little history, in the early 90s, they ripped out the perfectly good signalling computer, a DEC VAX cluster and replaced it with some SUN SPARCstations. Bad move. That’s like thinking a souped up station wagon is going to haul like a Mack truck. Not to mention writing all the software from scratch. The entire Indian rail system runs on a pair of DEC origin boxes I could put under my desk.
Bad move number two: a few years later they decommissioned all the backup generators and off grid substations which provided redundant power to the tube.
Knock on effects happened because of that latter move.
The City of London – apart from the new prestige buildings, which get special concessions, is turning into a ghost town, because there is not enough on grid supply for the typically 4 to 6 workstations per person used on a trading floor.
Even new builds I’d love to lease (some very pretty ones, and garden balconies are suddenly in vogue) are specced at just a few hundred watts per meter, when you need more like a kilowatt per meter, to start.
Now that may sound like a extravagant lot of kit, but all the Tier 1 computer makers are offering compact workstations to fit more of them under a typical trading desk*, and those desks come designed for cooling (more power required) and so on. Then add air con and all that . . . At some point this year, I intend to relocate my registered office to the City, and see if I can get anyone to listen. But another fun fact, I couldn’t be Mayor of London, and in fact they have very few choices, because even having a parking ticket bars you according to their by-laws! That and the fact I am baptised RC, means I can never hold any real power, so you’re all safe 🙂
*There is no commercial Comes With Nice Box And Same Day Support offering on a par with it, but you can shove 768GB of RAM on a Supermicro board, and so our plan, is to see if one big box can do the job of three or four, stripping 60 or 70% off the ‘leccy bill. If too many beers are had, we get all excited valuing our wealth in 1991 compute terms, and we most certainly are centi-millionaires 🙂
There are of course other reasons why the City is looking a bit empty, occupancy wise. One good one is the 60s and 70s builds were designed like brick shh houses, and are expensive to demolish. I brokered for a pal a let in the building next to the Heron Tower, scheduled for demolition, so dirt cheap. Years passed before they worked up the plan to take it down. I mean, this is Gerald Ronson, not a bloke known to fanny about . . Another is their planning regs, which are not insane, just their offices are packed with young talent who are proving themselves, a nice route to a plusher job, but can be a proper headache.
– – –
However, since this is _supposed to be about F1 (sorry, Joe) I should note that The City of London Corporation is a power answerable only unto itself. If they genuinely wanted, they can flip the finger to Westminster, and maybe we’d see cars racing around St. Paul’s. Problem being, they succumbed to the novel idea of pedestrian pavement widening in some parts also. Just where you have the sights, and because of new retail developments. But that aside, many streets are wide enough, if you lift some flag stones.
Ahh the Vax! many hours of SPC fun on one of them! loved the ‘Irish re-boot’ facility
The track in Canada was reverse engineered around an existing park, it has always been praised for its transport links and usually provides a good race. The simulation I saw was a very interesting layout avoiding the actual stadium and using the park fully. I take your points about access to the stadium, but would point out that the millennium stadium in Cardiff has a system of large pallets with grass on that can be taken out to provide a solid floor, in this way they can host Speedway or Rally GB.
The track simulation was nothing to do with the current company.
It might make a decent venue for the FIA’s Formula E series though, wouldn’t you think? After all, the FIA is committed to making its all-electric series happen at places where the population actually is, rather than traditional tracks which have to be built and staffed and maintained all year round before you’ve enticed a single person across the hearth.
If you take away FOM’s fees for a more realistic structure and provide a product that might well encourage political support such as zero tailpipe emissions motor sport in urban areas it all starts to look rather reasonable.
Doubtless all the many and varied ideas for city circuits in Paris and those in Rome might even look attainable. Might even encourage New York into the fray – they’re rather big on electric and have a 100-year history of experimenting with low emissions vehicles over the years. It’s certainly a series with a lot of potential.
If there is a workable Formula E then it would be a possible venue. However what is not needed is a Formula E with the same ethos as F1…
Very true, and I guess we’ll know whatever the ethos of Formula E is going to be when they announce the promoter. Conjecture until then but well worth keeping an eye on, methinks…
formula ecclestone-couldnt make it up!
“The cars would be arriving slowly and spread out because of the access problems”
They will probably still be trying to get into the Olympics, since London has more or less been brought to a halt by the stupid olympic traffic lanes which in addition to the bus lanes mean that normal business is being sacrificed on the altar of massive sponsorship. (these lanes are so successful that it took a US team 4 hours to do the 45 minute trip from Heathrow.)
Every aspect of the olympics has been sold, even the companies who built the village are not allowed to say so in case they detract from the mega lawyered sponsors a shameful sell-out by our government. All tad far from the amateur games they are supposed to be. We wait now to see the results of the £70m spent on training the security staff, (original budget £6m) a good portion of whom have decided that cannot be arsed to turn up for work, but that’s ok us tax payers will foot the bill.
Come on chaps this is just Bernie heaving another load of oily rags on the fire to keep the smokescreen going, I am surprised that Joe wrote so much about it.
A further thought on the 60,000 seat stadium.
If the search of each person entering takes an average only 5 seconds and there are ten entrances open then the guy at the back will wait 8 hours 20 mins to get in. [6000*15/(60*60)] How many gates were open at Silverstone?
Whats going on under the radar that this story is covering up?
The Old Devil is pulling the media strings…. whats the real story?
G
Im not that familiar with Hyde Park, but is there any possibility of an F1 race a la Canada happening there?
I imagine the potential for a London GP would be huge in terms of revenue generation and I am sure you could expect maybe 150,000-200,000 or more in attendance if it was possible to fit them in. Transport services would already be in place to support, so I suppose the underlying question is not IF but WHERE.
I have no doubt the race would be met with a lot of opposition, but if it were posible to build a temporary venue (with a degree of permanent feature) that ran either exclusively in the park, or with some spillage onto main streets, I am sure that the event could be huge for London, F1, and for some ambitious entrepreneur.
what a load of poppycock leave it to siverstone