British GP director hits back after criticism of Verstappen and Hamilton
F1 News
- Tygo Bekkema
The organisers of the British Grand Prix recently faced hefty criticism from Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Both drivers consider ticket prices for the race at the Silverstone circuit "far too expensive". Stuart Pringle, managing director of the race, responded to the criticism from the multiple world champions.
Hamilton recently said that sporting event organisers should take into account the rising cost of living worldwide, and therefore ticket prices should remain low. Pringle agrees with those words. "We fully support Lewis’s comments. We have a greater number of our lowest price general admission tickets available this year compared to 2023."
Pringle argues why more expensive prices are permissible
Still, a weekend ticket for the British Grand Prix in 2024 costs £309. But the director of the Silverstone circuit defends the ticket prices by arguing that the majority share of profits will be invested back into making improvements to the circuit. "When we made an operating loss on a grand prix year after year you can’t invest in the infrastructure, you can’t move forward. There was a prolonged period of under-investment when we made no meaningful money out of our major events. It introduces a degree of paralysis to the decision making, because the risk is so great," explained Pringle.