IN CONVERSATION WITH

Silverstone’s managing director talks frankly about the challenges of making the British Grand Prix happen with a capacity crowd – and the growing excitement around the Sprint Qualifying trial

Silverstone’s Stuart Pringle

What’s it been like to be an event promoter over the past few months? Back in January the June 21 date was pencilled in as the end of lockdown, so that must have been very challenging to plan around given all the uncertainty.

It’s been the most intense period of my working life. Rollercoaster is a good description, because it’s been up, it’s been down, back up and down again. It’s been very, very challenging. We’ve taken it as our working assumption throughout that the country would open up on June 21, although of course the government was extremely clear this was going to be data not date-driven. And then on June 14 the Prime Minister stood up – having heavily trailed the fact beforehand – to say that lockdown was going to continue for a period longer… until about nine hours after the chequered flag fell on the British Grand Prix.

Our race and the Dutch Grand Prix are the only ones which don’t receive any public money towards the promoters’ fee. It’s widely understood that the money to pay for the circus to come to town comes from the people buying tickets for the circus. So when the alarm bells went off about the delay to the end of lockdown we were staring down the barrel of a very difficult financial situation.

What’s been great is that the fans have continued to back us because they’ve committed to buying tickets. We’ve unquestionably been the beneficiary of cancelled holidays, of frustration at not being able to go out and do things for a long period. And the fans have been piling in for tickets, which has been deeply encouraging.

You’ve now been included in the government’s Event Research Programme, which enables you to have a capacity crowd. How did that come about? Formula 1 is a Uk-domiciled business and they have, independently of us, been very bullish that the British Grand Prix would go ahead.

And they’ve been extremely supportive of our efforts to make it happen, working side by side every step of the way. Not just because it makes business sense for them as the commercial rights holder, but also because in their own fan surveys – which they’ve been doing since 2018 – Silverstone has ranked as the most popular venue in terms of fan satisfaction.

By being an Erp-designated event, we’re able to work with government and the Civil Service to disapply selected elements of the COVID legislation, such as social distancing and the maximum of six people in a hospitality setting. There are lots of complications which come with this, but our location has really worked in our favour. We’re not in the middle of a city and we’re not served by public transport, which have been the big hurdles for Wembley and Wimbledon. We are genuinely the most outdoor setting you can come across: our 75,000 grandstand seats are spread around 3.66 miles of track and our fiveand-a-half-mile perimeter fence has 19 access gates. Even if you’re in a covered grandstand the canvas is a long way above your head, and fresh air is constantly circulating thanks to the stiff breeze we usually experience here.

Ticket holders will be expected to produce proof of a negative lateral flow test taken within 48 hours of arriving, or proof of full vaccination with the second jab having been received at least a fortnight before. We’re expecting over 140,000 people on race day, 110,000 on Friday, and 120,000 or more on Saturday as people come to see what ‘Sprint Qualifying’ is all about. And we’re very pleased to be welcoming thousands of NHS and key workers who entered a ballot for free tickets as part of the Blue Light Tickets scheme.

Everyone who comes can expect the full range of off-track entertainment we usually arrange, including air displays and live music. This year we’ve got a Rudimental DJ set, Anne Marie and Becky Hill performing during the weekend.

How much of an effect has the experimental Sprint Qualifying format had on ticket sales for the Saturday of the GP?

I think that with circumstances being as they are – we’re almost sold out on race day at the time of speaking and many of those tickets are rolled over from last year – Saturday was going to be busy anyway. But I’m very pleased it’s happening for the first time here at Silverstone. We’re in front of 80million eyeballs globally and I reckon Sprint Qualifying will make that 100million. F1 are keen to have a big crowd at the British Grand Prix and the current ownership recognise it as one of the cornerstones of the world championship, which is why they’ve pushed so hard for it to happen and to be a success. You wouldn’t have got that from the previous owner!

How valuable is it to have British stars in the field in terms of box office appeal?

Home heroes really count. I think during that period when Michael Schumacher was winning all the time there was a bit of a lull. It’s a knowledgeable crowd but also passionate and a bit partisan. They love Lewis [Hamilton] but we’ve got Lando [Norris ] and George [Russell] coming through as well. It’s going to be a great atmosphere and I know F1 are expecting us to really kick-start the second half of the season.

WHAT’S BEEN GREAT IS THAT THE FANS HAVE CONTINUED TO BACK US BECAUSE THEY’VE COMMITTED TO BUYING TICKETS