With sky high ticket and merchandise prices, F1 risks alienating its most loyal fanbase

In the build up to this year’s British Grand Prix and following lacklustre ticket sales, managing director of Silverstone, Stuart Pringle, suggested that one of the causes was Max Verstappen’s then-stranglehold on the title.

“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,” Pringle told Autosport.

“Also, as a promoter, you have to get your ticket pricing strategy correct. You could make these things go quicker if you reduce price.

“But we have got expensive bills to pay, not less the promoter fee, so it’s about hitting a strategy and making sure it works, which we’re pretty comfortable with.”

Pringle’s suggestion was rightly met with derision but the statement was a good example of promoters and those within the sport becoming more and more disconnected from the traditional F1 fanbase.

What Pringle failed to mention in his interview was the British GP’s decision to introduce ‘dynamic pricing’. This is the concept of tickets rising and (rarely) lowering in line with demand and for 2024, some prices for Silverstone went up by almost £200.

Factor this into expensive starting points and the costs add up quickly. The cheapest ticket for Silverstone was the £99 that got you general admission on Friday. To be there on race day, you were looking at £199 and up.

Just looking at the ticket price also ignores the logistical costs of being at a GP. Travel, for example, given the track is in a remote part of Northamptonshire can be very costly. Once you are in the venue then unless you bring food from home, you are looking at £20 a meal for one and if you want a drink, you are looking at cups north of £7.

This is not a uniquely Silverstone problem either as it seems F1 in general is determined to milk its most loyal fanbase for all its worth.

When Las Vegas arrived on the schedule, F1 reassured fans that there would be an affordable option but the average price was $1,622 on release. It took what CNN reported to be a dramatic price drop in the days leading up to the race before the price fell below the $1,000 mark.

Even when you get to the track, there is no guarantee you will be treated fairly. After a loose water cover delayed FP2 in Vegas, the fans were kicked out with only the offer of a gift voucher as compensation. At this year’s Canadian Grand Prix, local authorities told groups of fans to leave the track, when there was no need to, so they missed out on sessions they had paid for the right to see.

F1 promoters will argue that the price of admission gets you a full day of entertainment in comparison to the likes of football which is less expensive and only grants 90 minutes of on-pitch action – but, if we are to be brutally honest, the support races are often not what people are there to see.

Speaking to the BBC, Pringle argued that with the concerts and other entertainment it is good value but that argument does not really stack up when looking at other offerings.

Attending all three days of Glastonbury this year would have cost you £335. A season ticket for Premier League champions Manchester City is £425 or £22 a game. A day at Lord’s will cost you £125 for a full day of cricket.

Another argument from promoters is that they have fees to pay F1 to host a race. Silverstone’s new 10-year deal saw them tied into a reported £30 million a year cost to host the race and with no government support, it is the promoter that has to foot that particular bill.

But why should that cost be passed onto the consumer? Freemans, Gulf, JCT600, Ducati and Skoda are all listed as partners of the circuit and the official title of the F1 race was Formula 1 Qatar Airways British Grand Prix 2024. Surely between them there is enough to cover that fee rather than asking fans to pay more?

It is not just ticket prices either. To watch an F1 race in the UK (aside from the British GP which is free to air), fans will have to pay £29.99 a month for NOW TV or a day pass for £14.99. If you have a particular favourite team and want a cap, it’s going to cost you around £40.

The FA was rightly crucified for the £84.99 cost of a England men’s football team shirt for this summer’s Euros but a Max Verstappen polo will cost you £74.95. Lewis Hamilton’s equivalent is £74.50. Lando Norris’ is £75.

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All of this smacks of greed from an already wealthy sport at a time when many fans cannot afford it. Since 2021, UK citizens alone have been experiencing a cost of living crisis but in the last 12 months that has grown significantly worse, meaning the idea of spending around £200 for one day’s entertainment is not palatable.

In 2023, F1 itself made a revenue of at $3.2 billion, up 25% from $2.57 billion in 2022, and of course while the promoters do not get a cut of that, it signals that the sport does have the ability to do more for the fans but is opting to instead charge them as much as they think they can get away with.

It is F1, after all, that decides where we go racing. The £30 million fee for Silverstone is rather cheap considering the price that some of the Middle Eastern venues pay to host a race.

Of course, no one is saying F1 should be cheap. It does not have the working class roots of a sport like football and its tag of a ‘Billionaire Boys’ Club’ is also part of the appeal – but is it not time for some long-term thinking rather than a focus on the immediate future?

A sport cannot hope to drive forward if the only people who can afford to consume it are the wealthy and, in the age of technology, there is a fight stronger than ever for attention.

Yes, Verstappen’s dominance over the last few years may not have helped drum up interest to take the plunge and attend races but far more detrimental to that is how much F1 promoters expect fans to pay to see their favourite stars.

It is not a long-term strategy and F1 must soon choose if it favours cash over its most loyal fanbase.

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