MELBOURNE: Nearly 420,000 spectators poured into Albert Park over the Australian Grand Prix weekend, organisers mentioned Monday (Apr 11), to set a brand new attendance file on the circuit, and one of many highest within the sport’s historical past.
Melbourne was again on the calendar this yr after lacking out in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and journey restrictions.
It returned with a bang as followers flocked to the monitor to witness Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc win his second race of the yr to stretch his world championship lead.
Organisers mentioned 419,114 folks attended over the 4 days, eclipsing the earlier file of 401,000 set at Melbourne’s inaugural grand prix in 1996.
A bumper 128,294 watched Sunday’s race, with 55,107 turning up on Thursday simply to absorb the ambiance, regardless of it being a day when no Formula One vehicles took to the monitor.
The Melbourne numbers topped the 400,000 who attended final yr’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, which was Formula One’s highest attendance in 2021.
But they have been wanting the 520,000 who flooded the 1995 race weekend in Adelaide – the final time the Australian Grand Prix was held there earlier than switching to Melbourne.
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Race organisers put the large Melbourne crowd right down to a mixture of a brand new viewers to the game attracted by the Netflix sequence “Drive To Survive”, wonderful climate and followers determined for high-speed motion after lacking out for 2 years.
There was a sea of orange as followers donned the colors of McLaren in help of native hero Daniel Ricciardo, who completed sixth.
Ricciardo famous in the course of the weekend it had “always been pretty wild here” however that “it felt like it was turned up a notch, or two, or three”.
“It’s definitely a good crazy and there’s a lot of support and love. I think everyone’s just stoked to have the race back,” he mentioned.
Australian Grand Prix chief Andrew Westacott described the weekend as “the happiest sporting event” he had ever been to.
“We were instilling the mojo back into Melbourne,” he instructed native radio after the town went by robust years with lockdowns and different COVID-19 restrictions.
