The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix could host its biggest crowd ever, following its return to the calendar after the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a report from Sky News Australia, the Melbourne motorsport race is set to sell out for the first time in its history, which spans 26 years. Before its switch to the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne in the 1990’s, the race was staged in Adelaide.
Crowds of around 130,000 spectators are expected to attend the race on Sunday, April 10, with 100,000 fans set to watch qualifying the day before. Race weekends span three days, with practice sessions making up the schedule.
The Formula 1 race will also see the biggest crowd at a major Australian sporting event since the pandemic hit in March 2020. The race was one of the first events to be cancelled and was also absent in 2021.
In early February, Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief executive Andrew Westacott, told AutoAction: “We’re going to build a venue here for April 7-10 that is going to be able to cater for 120,000 to 140,000 people.”
At the time, Westacott did not feel the event would surpass the 150,000 mark that was set by the first Melbourne Grand Prix in 1996, but said: “I will say that we will probably get the strongest crowds in two decades. We really do have strong ticket sales.
“It does promise one of the biggest crowds that we’ve seen in Melbourne for a live sporting event in many a year.”
Formula 1 announced on Friday that the Russian Grand Prix would not be held in September, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.