One thing is certain: the crowds arrived. There were thousands of people lining Lower Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street. People were on the roof, on the balcony, or hanging out of a window. People were climbing lamp posts and traffic lights. People perched on almost any structure that didn’t move and on top of many that were plainly unsafe. We waited until almost seven o’clock for the great roar of the F1 race cars to be heard. Mansell, Button, Montoya, Coulthard and Brundle – to name but a few. The noise, the smell: it was fantastic F1. To be honest, I eventually moved to the big screen on Piccadilly as they passed so quickly that you missed a great deal and I wasn’t at the front of a crowd. The atmosphere was pretty good-humoured – apart from some lunatics climbing on top of a newspaper seller’s wagon – and everybody seemed to enjoy it. After an hour, it was, more or less, finished, but the crowds seemed to hang around central London for a good while. Perhaps one day a race will really take place in London.
See also: Formula One Comes To Regent Street
BBC Sport: What price a London GP?
This is London:Eddie supports London Grand Prix