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" To many people, Britain is the home of Formula One racing. The British Grand Prix was the first Grand Prix to hold a F1 World Championship round in 1950 and it, along with the Italian Grand Prix, is the longest continuously running F1 race on the calendar. Despite that, the British Grand Prix has never attained the glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix. It&amp;#039;s not surprising that the dream of many is to have the British Grand Prix run through the streets of London. The real British GP takes place this coming weekend at Silverstone. It is sponsored by Santander, the global Spanish banking giant, that also sponsors the Ferrari and McLaren teams. Santander has gone and dreamed up a street race in London that&amp;#039;s called the London Grand Prix by Santander. It got together with Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button as well as Populous, the British company that designed the rejuvenated Silverstone circuit, to produce an incredibly detailed CGI movie that shows what a street circuit would look like. The lifelike quality of the CGI includes a driver perspective from the cockpit of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27 F1 car as it races through the streets of London at night. It&amp;#039;s worth watching, but make sure you crank up the volume on your computer to listen to the sounds, as the McLaren reaches 192 mph as it races down the Mall towards Buckingham Palace.  Could such an event ever become real? Well here&amp;#039;s what Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One group, said: &amp;quot;The idea of an F1 street-race in London is something I have had for many years. It would be magnificent. A couple of years ago we came very close to an agreement with the City of Westminster and The Mayor&amp;#039;s office but we ran into the small problem of cost. A few years back over half a million people turned-up to watch F1 cars parading through the streets of the capital. The public&amp;#039;s appetite for a London Grand Prix is huge as I am sure it is with the F1 teams and sponsors.&amp;quot;  Lewis Hamilton, the winner of the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix, agrees: &amp;quot;Having been immersed in this project, having helped to shape this track, it feels as real to me as anywhere I&amp;#039;ve raced. Jenson and I have worked in the simulator to provide some useful feedback to inform the circuit design, so this is far more than whimsical thinking out loud. The film that encapsulates all of this work is massively detailed as well as logistically achievable. And I have to say, this is an utterly epic track and would produce the most stunning and compelling Formula 1 race. If you add an event of this complexion to London&amp;#039;s staggering roster of world-class sporting events, it surely would have to own the title of the ultimate sporting metropolis?&amp;quot;          Related posts:  F1 Aces Hamilton and Button Take a Road Trip in a VW Bus Video: Conor Daly Crash \u2013 2012 Monaco Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes-Benz  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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