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Drive To Survive Fever Strikes Silverstone as F1 Braces for Record-Breaking Impact
F1 is penetrating the global market almost as fast as the cars driven in the competition. Some recording-breaking numbers are coming to light. And it will astound most Formula 1 fans to know how well the sport is doing globally. Silverstone has been on the F1 racing calendar since 1950. And they sold all the race tickets for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. In the shortest time in the sport’s history, that too!
This is just the beginning. F1 is expecting a full house in all of the coming 20 races. Such is the surge in the popularity of the sport on a global platform.
F1 popularity is skyrocketing
Formula 1 is touching new heights in terms of its marketability, popularity, and global acceptance. Which is translating to rapid ticket sales. They completely sold out the British Grand Prix at Silverstone for the race day. But the organizers feel such a demand for Friday and Saturday as well, they think they will sell the entire race weekend.
If this highly likely situation comes to fruition, the weekend at Silverstone will break the attendance record of 356,000 set in 2021. And this will be the first time in history they will sell all three days out, since 1950.
Formula One F1 – British Grand Prix – Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Britain – July 18, 2021 Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the race REUTERS/Peter Cziborra
“We have never reached a position of sellout so early in the year. We have increased capacity slightly by adding extra grandstand seats and anticipate our race day crowd to reach 142,000 this year. If sales continue at this pace, we expect to be sold out across all three days.” As informed by Stuart Pringle, Silverstone’s MD. So if you are planning to attend the British Grand Prix, I’d advice you to hurry up!
However, the craze does not end at Silverstone alone. According to F1’s chief executive, Stefano Domenicali, the interest is hosting races is at a high as well. So much so that F1 could hold up to 30 races in a year, a nightmarish though for the drivers but exciting stuff for a fan. Although the calendar has 24 races for now.
The stats behind the resurgence
The resurgence’s part credit can go to the success of the Netflix series Drive to survive. Equally, however, F1 ownership is reaping the benefits of its joint efforts with Liberty media. The two entities poured and pooled resources to attract a new and younger audience. As well as capture new markets, which is exactly why the US will host three races in 2023. Across all platforms, the sport has amassed 49.1 million followers.
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Last year’s finale at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix attracted 108.7 million TV viewers globally. While the cumulative audience for 2021 was 1.55 billion, a 4% increase from the previous season.
The Australian GP attracted a massive 420,000 fans. The telecast of the race was at 6 am in the UK. An average of 1.01 million viewers watched the race on Sky alone. A 41% increase from the previous edition. The F1 YouTube channel recorded 7.1m views in a day for the Australian GP highlights compared to 3.8m views from 2017.
This time last week; race day
Can we do it all over again, please? #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/nT9qEQiZoZ
— F1 Australian Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) April 17, 2022
The stats are proof F1 is will touch new heights in the coming years. Nice to see fresh interest develop around a sport you love. However, just a PSA being an old fan, I’m always right!
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