Grapevine: F1 blasts through Hyde Park

Jacques Villeneuve's blast in Hyde Park in front of the Albert Memorial had to be kept fairly quiet beforehand - there just wasn't room for another throng. But still, if you happened to be strolling around the park or you worked in Kensington, you could witness it for free.

There was no circuit as such, nor even so much as a corner on the up-and-down run along the stretch of road just inside the park gates. In fact, there wasn't much room for the 1997 World Champion to get above pitlane speed.

But the noise was more than enough to almost cause a few accidents as everyone from bus drivers to cyclists craned their necks to see where the rasp was coming from.

Although the day was primarily aimed at sponsors, it was a fun experiment to see what happens when people stumble across F1 action on a quiet Tuesday morning. The fundamental allure of the sport remains; hardly anybody could resist coming to take a look.

Mums with prams and Chinese tourists alike seemed to enjoy their stroke of luck. As did the idle businessfolk, all standing in a row and squinting as they held aloft their mobile phone cameras or gabbled away about their discovery to people in the office.

It was an impressive cross-section of first-time visitors - and it'll be quite something if even a few of them turn up to Silverstone (or Shanghai) next time there's a Grand Prix on.

Villeneuve's part was over before noon, but as word spread about town and lunch hour approached, the crowd only grew bigger. World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx was next to run, though things didn't quite go as smoothly as one of his title campaigns.

Andy had his problems in the confined space, having to pull off a three-point turn each time he reached the top end of the narrow road.

Clearly he's not used to going so slow, as a couple of stalls in reverse sparked good-natured cheers from the gallery.

But it got worse. The Guernseyman had to bail out before the end of his play session, smoke pouring out of the front of the car. Probably not in the BMW PR script, that...

As he surveyed the embarassing scene, a bashful Priaulx said: "That was the driver's fault, really. These things aren't designed for such low speed. I've been driving for BMW for four years and this is the first time one's let me down...

"Anyway, it's really good fun to drive here in central London, and add a little more smoke and fire into the atmosphere!"

Michael Patrizi rounded off proceedings with a gentle show-off of a Formula BMW racer. He's next in action at Croft in July.

But the busy Villeneuve returns to the cockpit much sooner, with Monza testing on the cards later this week. And then he's off to his home Grand Prix in Canada.

The Hyde Park run will do nothing for his chances across the water, but the man with the baggy overalls has still left his mark on a leafy corner of London.