The scale of change at the British Grand Prix in recent years will be writ large come July when the meeting is poised to become the biggest in Formula One history.
This year’s race is expected to sell out its new capacity of 570,000 over four days, which will be a record-breaking 50,000 increase on the previous highest attendance of 520,000 at the Australian GP in 1995. Only Wimbledon, across two weeks, will boast more numbers in the UK summer with Silverstone the largest event on F1’s calendar.
This is a turnaround of demographics as well as size that was almost impossible to imagine a little under a decade ago when the race was in danger of disappearing from the calendar all together.
The resurgence of F1 and indeed the fortunes of the old airfield have gone to an extent hand in hand. In Silverstone’s case, adaptation and innovation has put the track at the vanguard of dragging what had been a creaking part of the sport into catering to a demanding, sophisticated and younger audience.
Female attendance now makes up for 43% of sales at the British GP. In the area at Silverstone dedicated to the British defending world champion, Lando Norris – the “Landostand” which has been expanded to accommodate 20,000 this year – women make up more than half of the audience.
Stuart Pringle, Silverstone’s chief executive, is proud of how they have embraced and encouraged F1’s new followers. “Ten years ago people would have scoffed at the concept of nearly a 50-50 male-female split. Unimaginable,” he says. “This concept of value for the weekend and a blend of different types of fans is working for us.
“This diversification has been powered so successfully by the unexpected growth in popularity in Formula One. That’s raising awareness, bringing the new crowd and once they find Silverstone they love the vibe of the grand prix and we’re loving these new friends.”
Hard as it is to imagine now amid the huge, smiling crowds at Silverstone, in 2017 the circuit activated the break clause on its contract with F1, allowing it to pull out in 2019, with a very real danger that the British GP which has been on the F1 calendar since the inaugural season in 1950 would cease to exist.
In 2015 and 2016 it was attracting race-day audiences of 139,000 but losing money to the tune of £2.8m in 2015 and £4.8m in 2016. The key issue was the escalator clause in the contract done with the then F1 chief executive, Bernie Ecclestone, under which the fee rose from £11.5m in 2010 to £16.2m in 2017. It would have been due to reach £25m by 2026.
Silverstone felt it was unsustainable and two years of negotiations with F1’s new rights owners Liberty Media followed. A new deal was signed at the very last minute, on the Wednesday before the British GP of 2019. It gave the circuit a new lease of life since when it has thrived.
“Pulling the break clause wasn’t scary because what would have been scary was to stay on that contract,” recalls Pringle. “Yes, there was uncertainty but it didn’t feel like it was going to be any worse where we were.”
“I inked the [new contract] signature on the Wednesday afternoon before the event started on Friday morning. It went right to the wire and that was nerve-racking.”
Pringle was given an OBE this year for his work, an award he insists belongs to the whole organisation and since 2019, freed form the shackles of a financially crippling deal, they were able to take the event to the next level. As Liberty pursued its new agenda of making F1 meetings destination, entertainment events, Silverstone was on board. It saw out Covid, just, and as F1 rode the wave of popularity of Drive to Survive, adapted to this new, growing audience.
The days of three blokes stood on a grassy knoll and a burger van were long gone. The British GP is now almost a motorsport Glastonbury, with a host of music, entertainment (Ally Pally-style darts on Sunday with Luke Littler included), food and facilities to ensure an overall experience that goes beyond the 90-minute race itself. All of which may be derided by traditionalists but the numbers demonstrate unequivocally it is popular and has worked.
The range of entertainment is broad indeed. Music highlights from a wide-ranging bill this year include David Guetta, Richard Ashcroft, Chase and Status and James Arthur; with late night DJ sets from John Newman, Rudimental, Pendulum and MK. The night at the darts has Luke Humphries, Michael Van Gerwen and Fallon Sherrock alongside Littler; there is dedicated comedy tent featuring Lou Sanders and Paul Chowdhry and a big top stage aimed at a family audience.
They have also attempted to address every area. The traffic, once arguably the most torturously bad on the entire calendar has been extensively reorganised. The track hires 600 double-decker buses as part of its park-and-ride and rail-and-ride scheme to shift an expected 167,000 people, while camping facilities now extend to accommodate 60,000 around the circuit.
These are the unglamorous logistics, like how to address the queues for the loos when everyone wants to go pre- and post-race, that don’t garner headlines but which are very much part of making the experience worthwhile and worth the price.
The latter has of course caused controversy. Popularity has led to soaring demand and there has been pushback over the cost to attend, notably because prices are far from where they were a decade ago.
Pringle, however, robustly defends their position. Having been part of the government’s dynamic pricing inquiry he notes that 60% of customers who buy early tickets pay less than the average and less than if it was legislated to have a flat ticket price. His point is illustrated in that when first on sale a three-day general admission ticket was £269 and is now £419.
That prices have been rising over time is undeniable but that is the case at every popular GP on the calendar and very few are putting on quite the show Silverstone is now managing and expect to present once more come July.
“We’re committed to putting value into the ticket for the fans,” says Pringle. “We’re doing pretty well at getting the right sort of thing so that there’s something in it for everybody.”
