Lighting up the streets of London: Zak O’Sullivan’s dream home F3 race

While he may already have Silverstone on the Formula 3 calendar, Zak O’Sullivan’s been dreaming of a second home race to pair up with the historic circuit.

Taking inspiration from another iconic street track, the British driver was all about soaking up London’s sights and creating a city spectacle as he envisioned his perfect F3 weekend.

__WHERE WOULD THE RACE BE HELD? __

“It’s got to be in the UK, obviously as a British driver. If it was possible to do a London street race that’d be really cool, somewhere in the centre of London would be a pretty cool location I think.”

__WHEN WOULD YOU HOLD THE RACE? __

“Obviously you can’t replace Silverstone, so we could do a double header that’s the weekend after. A double header in the UK – one round in Silverstone and the other in London. Also, it would be in the summer so the weather should be a bit better.”

__DAY OR NIGHT? __

“Dusk, so going into night like Abu Dhabi because I think it gets a bit cold in the UK at night, even in the summer. So, I think sunset into night would be cool.”

__STREET TRACK OR PERMANENT CIRCUIT? __

“Street track – anywhere around Buckingham Palace and probably use the Mall as well. In terms of corners and layout, I think you could probably base the track a bit more off Macau. I think it seems to provide the best kind of street racing with some long straights and tight sector as well."

__WET OR DRY RACE? __

“Dry, especially if it is at night, I think being in the dry is a bit better.”

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__HOW WOULD THE TRACK BE LAID OUT? __

“Obviously being a street track, you’re pretty limited with 90-degree corners. I think you could start with some fast-flowing stuff around Marble Arch. I’d have Sectors 1 and 3 quite high speed and then Sector 2 being pretty slow speed and tight.”

__WHAT TYRES WOULD YOU PICK? __

“I’d go for the softs. For a street track, you need good Quali grip over one lap and also, I think tyre degradation in the race would be pretty cool and with having fast Sectors 1 and 3, you can overtake someone.”

__WHICH CELEBRITIES WOULD YOU INVITE TO THE RACE? __

“Being British, I would be cool if you could get some of The Beatles together to play. For celebrities, in the UK there’s luckily quite a few – David Beckham seems to be a big fan of F1 at the moment, so I’m sure he’d make an appearance. Also, the Mayor of London would be a good person to wave the chequered flag.”

__WHAT WOULD THE PODIUM AND TROPHIES LOOK LIKE? __

“For the trophy, you could probably do something with the London Eye, but there’s a lot of Ferris wheels around the world. Something with the London skyline I think would be the best, some sort of glass trophy.

“The podium would be wherever the pit straight is, I’d have to try and find as space, but London is pretty compact so it might be quite tricky.”

__ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD INCLUDE? __

“Some sort of bridge over the Thames for them to drive over. It might not be logistically possible, but it would be a cool spectacle.”