SEPTEMBER 20, 2003

Formula 1 has a problem...

All year we have been to races at which there were reports of the crowd figures being below previous years. This was particularly noticeable at Imola where the crowd was massively down but it was also true of the Italian GP at Monza a week ago. According to the official figure announced the crowd was 11,000 down over the whole weekend although there have been reports that the actual figure is more like 35,000. The problem appears to be that people are unwilling to pay the huge prices now being asked for grandstand seats because these have risen too much when one considers the spectacle being offered. Qualifying has been reduced to single laps and the time that the cars are running is much reduced.

The need for high prices is because the circuits generate their major income from ticket sales as most of the other revenue streams are signed away when they agree to host a race. Race fees are also rising and most of the races now have to rely on government monies to make ends meet.