London to make GP bid

Livingstone said that London has the capacity and resources to stage such an event and he would like to a race staged before his current term of office is up in 2008. His comments were backed with enthusiastic approval from F1 stars Jenson Button, Nigel Mansell and Juan Pablo Montoya, who all took part in today's event.

"We started talking to Bernie Ecclestone and his people about a year ago about the possibility of putting on a proper F1 race in London," said Livingstone. "There are hundreds of thousands of people here today, but the idea we could do what Monaco does and have a race in central London, would most probably bring two million tourists to London. It would be a huge money earner for the city and we are really up for it.

"It could absolutely happen. Not only ourselves but New York I think is actually looking at doing the same.

"Bear in mind that 85 percent of people that come into the centre of London come by public transport and we can manage that. We've just had a huge situation in which 40 percent of car drivers switched mainly to the bus when we introduced the congestion charges. These things can easily be managed so long as you plan properly. One thing nobody ever accused Bernie of was not planning."

Livingstone admitted that research into a race is further advanced than originally suspected. "We actually already walked the route with our tourism people," he said. "Primarily we are talking around Hyde Park and Park Lane. Not only are the roads big enough to take it, but you've got some amazing historic backdrops so I suspect it would be one of the most watched races in terms of world TV.

"Something like this takes a minimum of 18 months planning so you're most probably talking two years away. But we're up for it.

"If we were to get an early decision we could start doing the work and we would be ready to move on that. My mayoral term lasts until to 2008 so I have four years to make it happen."

Former athlete and politician Lord Sebastian Coe, who is responsible for London's bid to stage the Olympic Games, said the Regent Street demonstration had been a huge success: "It's another example of London really rising to the big occasion.

"Whether it's the London Marathon or a race through the streets in grand prix cars, or Wimbledon, or Party in the Park, or whatever, we know how to do it and this is the key message. This is a fantastic city and we are able to host big things and the Olympic Games is the biggest of them all."

Former world champion Nigel Mansell, who drove one of the Jordan team's EJ14s in today's demonstration believes that a London Grand Prix would make a fantastic addition to the calendar. "A lot of countries have two grands prix, why not England? If they wanted it in London, they could have it. I think all the drivers would say they are brilliant to race around Monaco like they do. To race around here would be a breeze.

"The streets around here are three times as wide as Monaco. If they wanted to build a street circuit together in London it would be the best in the world."