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Next month\u2019s British Grand Prix will take place in front of a capacity 140,000 crowd, Silverstone has confirmed.<\/p>\nNext month\u2019s British Grand Prix will take place in front of a capacity 140,000 crowd, Silverstone has confirmed.<\/p>\n
The announcement \u2013 which follows months of tense discussions between the UK Government and Silverstone \u2014 paves the way for the biggest UK crowd since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
The grand prix takes place just one day before the mooted end of coronavirus restrictions in England on July 19th \u2014 and Silverstone bosses will be allowed to sell out for the entire July 16th-18th weekend.<\/p>\n
A full crowd is anticipated for one of the highlights of the British sporting summer as Lewis Hamilton\u2019s rivalry with Max Verstappen intensifies in the former\u2019s bid for a record-breaking eighth world championship.<\/p>\n
The news will come as a major boost to Silverstone chiefs, with managing director Stuart Pringle understood to have stressed to UK Government officials that the circuit \u2014 which staged the first ever Formula One world championship event in 1950 \u2014 would go bust if fans were not permitted.<\/p>\n
Both last year\u2019s British and 70th Anniversary Grands Prix at Silverstone took place behind closed doors.<\/p>\n
Silverstone made the case that their 70,000 grandstand seats at the former Royal Air Force base are scattered over 3.5 miles, while the event is not reliant on public transport with the large majority of spectators arriving in cars.<\/p>\n
Ticket holders will be asked for either proof of a negative lateral flow test, taken within 48 hours of arriving at Silverstone, or be fully vaccinated, with the second dose 14 days previously.<\/p>\n
F1\u2019s first-ever sprint race will also take place at Silverstone on the Saturday of the GP weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something we have all been working towards for months and I cannot wait to welcome a full capacity crowd back to Silverstone this July,\u201d said Pringle.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of our fans rolled their tickets over from 2020 but they are now well-placed to enjoy what is sure to be one of the highlights of the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thanks go to the Culture Secretary (Oliver Dowden) and his team at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for their tireless efforts on behalf of the sports sector, but also the Prime Minister (Boris Johnson), Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove and the teams in number 10 and the Cabinet Office for recognizing what an amazing, safe opportunity the British Grand Prix offers to show the world how Britain has dragged itself back on track following the fight against the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was announced earlier this week that more than 60,000 fans will be allowed to attend the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 at Wembley.<\/p>\n
Wimbledon\u2019s Centre Court is also set to be at its full 15,000 capacity for the women\u2019s and men\u2019s singles finals on July 10th and July 11th, while Royal St George\u2019s will admit up to 32,000 spectators a day for The Open.<\/p>\n