a) "Ecclestone said: ‘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.
In total, the race could generate a minimum of £100million, dwarfing the £35m it would cost to stage (Ecclestone would have to pay for costs of granstands, road closures and waiving a £25m licence fee) across the three days of the grand prix weekend.
'Maybe it would be two or three times that £100million,' said Nigel Currie, director of leading sports marketing agency Brand Rapport speaking to The Times.
'It could be a commercial bonanza for Formula One and London.'
b) The money that goes to A would help ensure the funds for the event
c) Valencia is nothing like London
d) What the Arabs get out of Abu Dhabi? What do they get out of buying £20M penthouses in One Hyde Park and never frequenting them? What do they get out of buying Lamborghinis and revving them up in Knightsbridge on a Saturday night?
A) Believe it when I see it
B) No, it's just an advertising expense. It doesn't go towards putting on the event at all. When was the last time Bernie/CVC *spent* money on F1?
C) Exactly. Even with lower costs and less disruption it still didn't work. For London to work you'd need 100,000 paying £500 each. That will never happen.
D) Uhm, it's their own country? Uhm, it's their property/asset? Uhm, they're buying a single Lamborghini not the country? If you want to convince me of wealthy Arabs underwriting a street race in their own country sure. And even then it'd only be the royal family.
It's financially completely unrealistic.
Even without that though, the logistics are crazy. Monaco gets away with it because it's Monaco. Other street races are more remote or less-used locations. You people are talking about having major, major road works for up to a week in the center of a global city. Sure it's only hotels nearby, but you're not considering the knock-on traffic effect. And there's already enough problems with the amount of commercial traffic that needs to go through London.
It's never been the law that made this a hilarious PR dream.