120 replies to this topic

[Sakae]

British Formula One Grand Prix organisers are counting on Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button producing the goods in the next few races to boost ticket sales dented by a 'Vettel effect'.

British GP organizers wary about sales...

[F1ultimate]

Forget the Vettel effect. It's the Glastonbury-esque sogginess of last year that is implicating this year's ticket sales. Last year was a managerial fiasco and the race organisers must to everything they can to assure visitors that parking and travel won't be a nightmare.

[Sakae]

Well, but blaming Vettel is so much easier...

[BRG]

There is also a massive recession so Silverstone's hefty prices are discouraging people. Silverstone used to sell out in the Schumacher years so I doubt if Vettel is a deterrent.

[pingu666]

i was gonna say price too
the price vs spectator facilities is terrible imo

[F1ultimate]

More could be done by British drivers to get the wider public interested in F1. Unlike olympic athletes, F1 driver's are very detached from Britain. They live in Monaco and don't offer many opportunities for the general public to get close up and personal. I live in London in hardly have there been public opportunities to meet Lewis, Button or Di Resta the past couple of years.

[Sakae]

There was a lot of hope invested into McLaren over the years, and perhaps little of weariness is creeping in. I do not really follow it so closely, but from top of may head, I surely would think about it for a minute or two. Media built up the team in every pre-season, drivers receive any benefit of doubt that exist, and then one can ask - where is the beef? But then, you have teams like that Toronto professional hockey team which didn't win Stanley Cup like what - 40 years? - and fans still hoping for miracle. Chicago Cubs are probably another such hopeless case, one never know. Maybe it is convenience of personal iPad and TV close to fridge at home, vs inconvenience of mud and high entry fee, but that's not Vettel's problem, methinks.

Edited by Sakae, 01 May 2013 - 20:27.

[MikeV1987]

[SpartanChas]

I agree about British drivers not engaging with their fans enough. They have the odd appearance on chatshows, Jenson is on Santander ads, and that's it. Non-motorsport fans probably wouldn't recognise Paul di Resta at all. I couldn't imagine ever getting a chance to see any of them even at the GP.

[f1fan1998]

Last year was a total disaster for the circuit and the management. I was at the first Indian GP and relatively speaking it was better organised than Silverstone last year. I went on the qualifying day last year and drove straight in and then parked my car on the central reservation on dad ford rd. it was such a free for all, that I then just walked in through the gates without having any passes. I was picking them up inside anyway.

As well - why would you spend £400 on a grand stand ticket in a cold wet field in Northampton, when you can buy a travel package to Barcelona or Milan for Spain and Italy respectively for about £500. The latter gives you return flights, hotels, tickets etc. the former gives you nightmares about traffic jams! I'm in Spain next week for meetings at the event and as if to prove a point, I have just booked my 4 day business travel through Discover Grand Prix for just under £500.

Silverstone is simply a rip off.

[Sakae]

Do you also pay $15 for a single and small cup of coffee at Silverstone as I paid in a London hotel? I have never been at Silverstone, but I imagine your 400 is not a final tally, if you take wife and kids, who do like to eat (sometimes), and want to buy a souvenir or two...

[BullHead]

As well - why would you spend £400 on a grand stand ticket in a cold wet field in Northampton, when you can buy a travel package to Barcelona or Milan for Spain and Italy respectively for about £500. The latter gives you return flights, hotels, tickets etc. the former gives you nightmares about traffic jams! I'm in Spain next week for meetings at the event and as if to prove a point, I have just booked my 4 day business travel through Discover Grand Prix for just under £500.

Silverstone is simply a rip off.

This is it.

Last year 7 day all in holiday inc Barcelona GA tickets for the weekend - roughly £500

Year before 3 nights at Stratford, f**king driving with it's associated nightmares, Becketts grandstand tickets... £1500 by the end of it!

[zepunishment]

I went in 2011 and as long as things stand I won't go again as now that I've been to silverstone in all honesty combining a holiday with a ticket for somewhere like Barcelona represents better value. The new wing is great - if you're a driver or have bought paddock club tickets. Otherwise the facilities are terrible for what you pay - a few burger vans and generic teamwear stands but othwerwise very little in entertainment at the circuit when there's nothing on track due to their extortionate rates for vendors. The toilets get a roll of paper put in them at the start of the day and then left. We bought tickets for Becketts last year and then sold them due to work commitments and couldn't have been happier with that once we saw the quagmire!

[fifi]

ticket prices are too expensive, for a general admission ticket price you can get a grandstand seat at some euro races

thats what puts me off going

[LookButDontStare]

I've been to the last five and the facilities seem to get worse, the toilet situation is a disgrace. I will carry on going to Silverstone because of the laughs we have every year,last year was one of the best!

[grandmastashi]

This will be the first year I've missed since 2001. Vettel's not the cause of bad sales, it's the hangover from last year and the economy making race fans hardcore and casual see the value of travelling to other Grand Prix over Silverstone's inflated prices.

What continues to concern me from last year was the fact that the organisers did nothing to improve the facilities for spectators around the new pit straight and the Club complex. My Dad and I have sat there throughout our visits to the British Grand Prix, and when it was just another part of the circuit the spectator access, toilets, catering, pathways and merchandise stalls were perfectly adequate for the amount of people sitting there. This was complimented by the old pit straight having masses of space behind it for the thousands of people who wished to base themselves around the old start/finish area and not venture further afield.

Fast forward to 2011 and the pit straight is now moved, so naturally the thousands of people who previously based themselves at the north of the circuit have now naturally gravitated to the new start finish line because that's 'the' place to be. The problem was, whilst Silverstone added the Wing, they did nothing to improve the infrastructure for fans who are now displaced to that area. Look over your shoulder from the Club Grandstand and you still have the same amount of space, food, toilets etc, but now dealing with a lot more people.

It was made worse last year by the gallons of water rolling off the spectator embankments creating a muddy river that halved the space for people to walk on the pathway, made smaller by queues for toilets and catering branching backwards into the paths too.

Whilst I know event planning is a difficult thing, shambles doesn't cover the organisation down at that end of the circuit last year, on top of the parking and travel stuff.

[chdphd]

I'm not going either for the first time in many years.

Mainly because I am now living 500 miles further away, but also because last year I was left feeling totally neglected as a fan in terms of simply leaving the circuit.

[JRizzle86]

The likelihood of a British driver getting to the top of the podium probably has some effect but i think the main thing denting sales is very high ticket prices and the fact we are in a recession.

[JRizzle86]

To be fair his post deserved your response.

[F1ultimate]

I agree about British drivers not engaging with their fans enough. They have the odd appearance on chatshows, Jenson is on Santander ads, and that's it. Non-motorsport fans probably wouldn't recognise Paul di Resta at all. I couldn't imagine ever getting a chance to see any of them even at the GP.

Not to mention that F1 drivers race for themselves and their team, not their country.

[robefc]

Just to add a counter point, I've never expected any entertainment apart from the cars, always found the toilet facilities fine and there's plenty of different types of food available. Plus I think you can just bring sarnies and a packed lunch if you don't want to pay.

Friday should have been rubbish last year because of lack of running but was actually great fun wth lots of chanting with the crowd in the pit straight stand (I still taking credit for starting the 'cheer up' chant to vettel that made him smile!) and the teams joining in the mexican waves - if there's one thing us brits do well it's cheerfulness at events in miserable weather.

Saturday's issues made it an adventure (got a taxi rather than drove and got there in no time) and the race was brilliantly exciting.

Can't wait for this year.

Edited by robefc, 02 May 2013 - 10:20.

[chdphd]

..Plus I think you can just bring sarnies and a packed lunch if you don't want to pay...

I saw a few people who I guess save up all year for the grand prix. White bread and bright orange cheese is hardly gourmet.

I took in juice boxes and cereals bars

I enjoyed the Friday itself. I was part of the Mexican wave down at club. Great fun.

[chrisblades85]

According to David Croft it's great value.

I'm going this year, didn't last year though. Glastonbury is also on the same weekend as some of the lads we meet up with are going to that instead. Not sure if that's an issue for Silverstone though.

I think people are fed up with spending up to and over £200 quid for a wet grass/gravel bank.

[pingu666]

when i was there a few years ago some of the paths where great big stoney gravel paths (horrible to walk on), and a emputy feeling.

feels like minimal effort was made for anything you wouldnt see on tv.

[olliek88]

As others have rightly pointed out, Silverstone's biggest problem is cost. Last year for the price of a 3 day grandstand ticket on the new pits straight i not only brought a 3 day grandstand ticket for Monza (by T1) but i also payed for my flights.

Hmmmmmm, a beautiful park in the middle (more or less) of one of the worlds coolest cities or a damp field in the middle of nowhere? Not really a tough one.

[ApexMouse]

According to David Croft it's great value.

There's your problem!

[Claudius]

How can there be a "Vettel effect" when his last and only victory in Silverstone was back in 09?

[stewie]

I'm going to go to Friday, which is £69 but that's it. Saturday there is too much of a risk of cars not going out for Qualy 3 to make it worth it and I'm working on the Sunday so that's my only option really!

[rhukkas]

The problem is that Bernie can go to governments around the world, and they are dumb enough to pay whatever price Bernie plucks from his head. This artificially puts the price up of holding a Grand Prix. the Silverstone GP organisers have to turn a decent profit, and because the market has been manipulated with states subsidised races then you the customer lose out.

[MikeV1987]

To be fair his post deserved your response.

I just thought it was funny. I remember reading about all the controversy over that GP weekend..

http://www.jamesalle...-company-fails/

http://www.dailymail...Grand-Prix.html


Yeah, it must be the Vettel affect alright. If fans are stubborn about that, then I'd hardly call them F1 fans to begin with.

Edited by MikeV1987, 02 May 2013 - 21:01.

[TimRTC]

I think a big problem are the awful views for GA. You cannot avoid the fencing and end up staring at a tiny section of track. To be honest I would not go for race day GA even if I got offered free tickets.

I will go down for FP since the tickets include grandstands. But not paying £600 for a pair of grandstand seats.

Edited by TimRTC, 02 May 2013 - 21:41.

[Maustinsj]

I think a big problem are the awful views for GA. You cannot avoid the fencing and end up staring at a tiny section of track. To be honest I would not go for race day GA even if I got offered free tickets.

I will go down for FP since the tickets include grandstands. But not paying £600 for a pair of grandstand seats.

Ditto on all counts

[Clatter]

whilst it's far from cheap to attend, and boy would I like to see the price come down I think you do need to put it into context with some other events. For the price you do get 3 days of entertainment. A top flight Football match is £60+ for just 90 minutes. Some concert tickets are around the same price as a grandstand seat, the cheapest are around £60 for just a couple of hours of music.

I've often priced up the European races as well to see if it would be cheaper and in general I've not found it workouts cheaper to travel.

[TimRTC]

whilst it's far from cheap to attend, and boy would I like to see the price come down I think you do need to put it into context with some other events. For the price you do get 3 days of entertainment. A top flight Football match is £60+ for just 90 minutes. Some concert tickets are around the same price as a grandstand seat, the cheapest are around £60 for just a couple of hours of music.

Good point, but it does bring up another issue that has not been raised yet, there is far from any guarantee that you will get three days of entertainment. With FOM's willingness to cancel running because of bad weather, if we have a weekend of heavy rain (far from unlikely in the UK no matter when you hold the race) then you might get to see very little and even if some of the race tickets were refunded, you would still have paid through the nose for hotel/camping etc. So I can see why some people are unwilling to spend so much on tickets when you might not actually get to see anything at all.

[fifi]

whilst it's far from cheap to attend, and boy would I like to see the price come down I think you do need to put it into context with some other events. For the price you do get 3 days of entertainment. A top flight Football match is £60+ for just 90 minutes. Some concert tickets are around the same price as a grandstand seat, the cheapest are around £60 for just a couple of hours of music.

I've often priced up the European races as well to see if it would be cheaper and in general I've not found it workouts cheaper to travel.

depends where you are travelling from tho - from edinburgh you are talking about a 6hr drive that could cost £200 for petrol - can get flights to say barcelona for that cost

[fullthrottle]

I don't really see any point of going to Silverstone especially after last years nighmare experience - the traffic jam going in and out of the circuit, parking (it took me 3 hours just to get out of the parking lot each day), even the most expensive covered grandstand ticket doesn't gurantee you a good view and you could still get wet if you sat at the edge of the grandstands, no pitlane walk unless you pay even more for the VIP packages... Why pay to suffer??

[Clatter]

Good point, but it does bring up another issue that has not been raised yet, there is far from any guarantee that you will get three days of entertainment. With FOM's willingness to cancel running because of bad weather, if we have a weekend of heavy rain (far from unlikely in the UK no matter when you hold the race) then you might get to see very little and even if some of the race tickets were refunded, you would still have paid through the nose for hotel/camping etc. So I can see why some people are unwilling to spend so much on tickets when you might not actually get to see anything at all.

I can fully understand why some would not go.

I don't use the camping grounds. We get a car park pass and the friend I go with has a people carrier, we sleep the back and BBQ in the evenings. There's quite a few of us that meet up in the same place each year. We take all our own food, drink etc. and don't spend anything on site during the weekend.

[Clatter]

depends where you are travelling from tho - from edinburgh you are talking about a 6hr drive that could cost £200 for petrol - can get flights to say barcelona for that cost

That's true. I'm less than an hour from Silverstone so it's easy access for me.

[Linus27]

I admit, I have stopped going to the British GP as it really is so expensive and very poor value for money. The off track entertainment is appauling and very dated and you really don't get a sense of being part of a motorsport weekend.

We last went two years ago. Jenson and Lewis were going to turn up and do a meet and greet at the Santandair stand. We all lined up along the barriers leading up to the stand expecting to see the two drivers walk up along the red carpet thay had laid out. Oh not, instead, they drove up, in a black Merc, with blacked out windows shielded by security Lets say there were a few boos and a lot of the young kids in the crowd who were at the front were pretty upset. They then did a very short interview on top of this stand and did not really engage the crowd. A lot just left part way through.

[Clatter]

I don't really see any point of going to Silverstone especially after last years nighmare experience - the traffic jam going in and out of the circuit, parking (it took me 3 hours just to get out of the parking lot each day), even the most expensive covered grandstand ticket doesn't gurantee you a good view and you could still get wet if you sat at the edge of the grandstands, no pitlane walk unless you pay even more for the VIP packages... Why pay to suffer??

Last year was an exception with the weather, but it would be difficult to get in and out if your going to do that each day. But that's the same at any large event in Britain. I arrive Friday Morning and leave a couple of hours after the race. Dead easy and rarely bothered by traffic.

[goingthedistance]

We were thinking of going this year, the track is only a bit over an hour up the road and we've never been to Silverstone. But this thread has put me off!

[Clatter]

We were thinking of going this year, the track is only a bit over an hour up the road and we've never been to Silverstone. But this thread has put me off!

Don't let it. There are plenty of us that go every year and have damned good time.

[goingthedistance]

The one thing I'm really concerned about is the amount you can actually see. From looking online the grandstands seem in general a lot further back from the track than other circuits I've been to. Are there stands that are exceptions to this?

[robefc]

Don't let it. There are plenty of us that go every year and have damned good time.

Whether it's affordable or good value for money is down to everyone's personal financial situation but I couldn't recommend going enough. Have stayed at hotels near oxford, northampton and MK and getting in and out has never been that bad, we get their early and leave pretty late.

First year was 2009 but even as a Lewis fan (given he was 16th or something) I loved it, the atmosphere when he pulled alongside alonso going into the old pit straight was electric, I can't imagine what the sat in 2007 or sun in 2008 was like.

Been every year since and loved it everytime, even last year the fri was great as I commented earlier in the thread and saturday wasn't a problem for us either.

I am wondering how to cope without a kangaroo tv this year mind.

[Clatter]

The one thing I'm really concerned about is the amount you can actually see. From looking online the grandstands seem in general a lot further back from the track than other circuits I've been to. Are there stands that are exceptions to this?

Most stands are away from the track, it's an increasing issue with the amount of runoff they now require, but you still get a good view. Best stand IMO is Becketts. Can't afford it for the race, but go there for qualifying. Need to get there early as it gets packed.

[Clatter]

Whether it's affordable or good value for money is down to everyone's personal financial situation but I couldn't recommend going enough. Have stayed at hotels near oxford, northampton and MK and getting in and out has never been that bad, we get their early and leave pretty late.

First year was 2009 but even as a Lewis fan (given he was 16th or something) I loved it, the atmosphere when he pulled alongside alonso going into the old pit straight was electric, I can't imagine what the sat in 2007 or sun in 2008 was like.

Been every year since and loved it everytime, even last year the fri was great as I commented earlier in the thread and saturday wasn't a problem for us either.

I am wondering how to cope without a kangaroo tv this year mind.

Sat 2007 was electric. When he crossed the line there was a hush as everyone waited for the time to come up and a huge cheer after.

[Massa_f1]

We stopped going in 2006 when prices started to get a bit to high. We went back for the first time in 2011, and although I have been an F1 fan all my life, and love the sport. I don't think I get value for the money it costs. Sadly unless the price lowers I doubt I will be returning.

[pingu666]

you could go see some random event at silverstone and see what you think, be much cheaper way to find out

[TimRTC]

you could go see some random event at silverstone and see what you think, be much cheaper way to find out

If you are going to do that, can I highly recommend the Blancpain Endurance Series on June 1st/2nd, Sunday tickets even on the gate are going to be less than £20 per head and last year they opened up most of the main grandstands (even though in the heavy rain there were less fans than marshalls) so a good chance to find your favourite viewpoints. Plus a 60+ car GT3 grid and a trio of interesting support races, including the AutoGP.

More info - http://www.silversto...durance-series/

[Juggles]

Whether it's affordable or good value for money is down to everyone's personal financial situation but I couldn't recommend going enough. Have stayed at hotels near oxford, northampton and MK and getting in and out has never been that bad, we get their early and leave pretty late.

First year was 2009 but even as a Lewis fan (given he was 16th or something) I loved it, the atmosphere when he pulled alongside alonso going into the old pit straight was electric, I can't imagine what the sat in 2007 or sun in 2008 was like.

Been every year since and loved it everytime, even last year the fri was great as I commented earlier in the thread and saturday wasn't a problem for us either.

I am wondering how to cope without a kangaroo tv this year mind.

I can't imagine what the "sun in 2008" was like either, it was bloody pouring!

My godfather and I got lost on the way to the track and we finally parked the car at about 1:45pm on race day. It was a complete ghost town because everyone was already inside so we ran for our grandstand (Abbey) and were climbing the stairs to our seats as the lights went out. We missed the parade lap, that's how close we cut it. So the first time I ever saw an F1 car in the flesh was amidst a roaring crowd as Kovalainen slammed on the brakes going into Abbey as late as he dared, but not as late as the silver piranha behind.

We got wetter and wetter and happier and happier.

In a way it's a shame it was my first race. I think there's very little chance I'll see a GP like Silverstone 08 again, particularly with modern F1 having such an aversion to rain.

If you're an F1 fan living in the UK and you haven't been to Silverstone don't let the naysayers put you off. It has a special atmosphere (I've now been to China and Korea and unsurprisingly they don't come close, though I'm sure some European tracks are comparable for buzz) and you never know; you might see something magic. Either way you'll have stories to tell, which is what it's all about really.