APRIL 20, 2002

The FIA's London office

THE FIA is restructuring quietly at the moment following the establishment of the new FIA Foundation. The new organization, which has been entirely funded by the sale of the commercial rights to Formula 1 for the next 100 years, is to have a major new headquarters in London and real estate sources in London say that the Foundation has recently splashed out on the purchase of a four-storey building on Trafalgar Square. The exact location is not clear but as the National Gallery and the Canadian and South African embassies take up three sides of the square it is safe to assume it is on the southern side, close to the entrance to Whitehall. This will suit the FIA men well as it will mean easy access to the ministeries along Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament. We hear that the federation has bought an entire building but will rent out a lot of the space to make the investment more cost-effective.

There is work going on in Paris to complete the renovation of the federation's traditional offices in the Automobile Club de France on the Place de la Concorde. The Brussels office will continue the work at the European Commission and the Geneva office will be used as a point of contact with other international organizations based in the Swiss city.