MARK WEBBER' Idea For Increasing F1 Spectators *SPOILER*

Mark Webber says Turkish fans should have been allowed into Sunday's grand prix for free after very poor attendance figures at the Istanbul circuit.

Official figures said just 36,000 three-day tickets were sold for the circuit with a capacity for 130,000 people.

Most of the grandstands were empty during the weekend, with some of then covered with giant black cloths.

Webber believes the tickets were just too expensive for the Turkish population.

"There was no one here," Webber was quoted as saying by Reuters after the race. "There were a lot of people that tried to come in today but obviously it's not that cheap and things like that but we should have let them in for free at the end.

"It would have been nice for the show to let people in. I'm sure there's a lot of people that would want to come to the Turkish Grand Prix but can't afford to because it's very expensive."

Ferrari's Felipe Massa echoed Webber's thoughts.

"I think when you come here and you see in the city that there are massive fans around, and you come here and see that there is nobody then you know that it is just too expensive," he said.

"So we have to make it cheaper. We prefer to race at a track with cheaper tickets but a lot of people inside, because if they put down the price of the tickets it would be full.

"That is also one of the issues we have, that it is too expensive. If you go in normal families, if you need to spend 1000 Euros for you and your two kids, you think about what to do. You say I prefer to watch on television, so for me it is clear."

The Istanbul circuit is already facing doubts about its future, with motorsport federation head Mumtaz Tahincioglu admitting on Friday it would be hard for the track to keep the GP.

"It won't be easy to come to an agreement," Tahincioglu was quoted as saying by the Today's Zaman newspaper. "There's tough competition, like when we started. Notification is given as a reminder that the contract will finish on January 12, 2012. The contract only provides for races through the 2011 season.

"It means if we want to continue we have to come to an agreement with Mr. Ecclestone before then, and of course he has serious candidates, some of whom have committed to expensive construction."

 

When you compare, F1 tickets, at least for the USGP when it was in Indianapolis, were not that bad. For the USGP, front straight, penthouse covered seat opposite pits at the S/F line, I think $125-$150. My race day ticket for the Indy 500, best seat, best stand, $150 for the last 4 years. My race day ticket for the Daytona 500, Sprint Tower approx S/F line, 50th row, something like $325!!!

I understand some European venues for similar seats are closer to $500. But general admission, should be really cheap, like $10.

Having said all of this, I wonder if even if it were free, would many more people have come, or is F1 not much important in Turkey as it is in the USA? As in there should never have been a race in Turkey as their are not enough fans.

 

Front straight, S/F line for Monza in September is $530 Euros per seat. Thats the most expensive Sunday seat available. As you go around the circuit, it goes down to around $125 Euros. When I went in 2000, those S/F seats were around $180 USD.

 

You are going to New Hampshire, don't forget my Sunday Datyona 500 seats are around $325, so I hope F1 does not learn from NASCAR, Ihope they learn from Tony George and the Indianapolis Speedway. But I unserstand your point, F1's pricing is not appropropriate for most places in the world.