World Champions Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have weighed in on claims Red Bull dominance has negatively affected ticket sales for this years British Grand Prix.
This comes following comments made by Silverstone Managing Director Stuart Pringle who revealed that the circuit is struggling to sell out its stands for the British Grand Prix that is set to take place in a mere few weeks’ time.
Pringle laid the blame for the currently empty seats on the dominance shown by Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen over the past few seasons.
“But if there is a strong likelihood of the same winner, and the jeopardy is taken out of sport, it does take the edge off it. Last year was very repetitive in terms of one team dominated and they set off this season in the same vein.
“Things may be changing now, and I do recognise that we had several years of a British driver dominating the championship, and we didn’t mind that so much as a British promoter! But it’s certainly been a lot harder with Red Bull dominating.”
The man in question for this dominance has clapped back at the Silverstone promoters, as reigning World Champion Verstappen has failed to see Pringle’s point.
Verstappen stated the close competition that F1 has experienced over recent races, with multiple teams fighting and achieving victories, has only fuelled fans’ appetite for racing and believes the promoters should look at themselves before assuming blame to others.
“I don’t think it’s my fault, I mean the F1 season is very exciting, there are a lot of teams fighting for wins now.
“And if a promoter can’t fill the seats and they blame it on someone, then I think they first have to look at themselves what they’re doing wrong, because in other places it’s quite easy to fill.”
As a seven-time World Champion and the most successful driver at the British Grand Prix with eight wins, Lewis Hamilton has defended Verstappen over the issue and instead stated that the ticket prices were the issue behind Silverstone’s dilemma.
A weekend general admission ticket for this year’s British Grand Prix costs a whopping £349, with grandstand tickets ranging from £549 to an extortionate £839.
None of these prices even consider the others that race-goers will face as food, accommodation and parking are only a few costs that would see your typical family of four having to fork out thousands of pounds to attend the event.
Hamilton has addressed this issue claiming F1 is becoming less accessible for fans who are being consistently priced out of attending.
“The only thing I would ever say is that we have to watch ticket prices. I think they’re continuing to rise.
“The cost of living nowadays, I think it’s too high.
“The sport won’t like that I’m saying that, but I’m just thinking from the perspective of a fan, coming with family is hugely expensive.
“So I think it’s looking into ways we can make better accessibility for people.”
Pringle’s assumption is especially confusing considering F1 has just come from a race in Canada, where two British drivers Lando Norris and George Russell both stood on the podium and fought for race victory, with Hamilton also in the mix in P4.
Along with the rest of the Silverstone promoters, there will be a hope that more British success over the first two rounds of the first triple-header this season, in Spain and Austria, will only further interest and sell the remaining seats for a British Grand Prix that will take place on the 7th of July.
