MARCH 22, 2005

Crowds, TV and VIPs

The organizers of the Malaysian Grand Prix announced that the race attracted a crowd of 100,000 people. This seemed to be a rather larger number than appeared to be present although the track can hide spectators because of its unique back-to-back grandstands. The Sepang authorities said that the crowd was 8,000 on Friday and 40,000 on Saturday giving the race a total of 148,000 over three days. The VIP count was down in Sepang with the only stars of international note who turned up for the race being members of the rock band Status Quo who were performing at a concert on the circuit after the Grand Prix. The line up included Indonesian singer Shanty and Thailand's pop sensation Tata Young. There were a number of local sultans and princes but the Hollywood A List was untroubled by the action in Kuala Lumpur.

Judging by the quality of the TV coverage available in the race, it is quite possible that Leonardo di Caprio was there holding hands with Brad Pitt.