Australian Grand Prix breaks attendance records, Melbourne sets historic milestone!

Formula 1 returned to the Australian circuit in Melbourne after two years, with this year’s Australian Grand Prix dominated by Monaco’s Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari. Either way, the third race of the 2022 season broke the attendance record and the historic milestone was also recorded by the city of Melbourne!

The 2022 Australian Grand Prix broke the attendance benchmark set last year. Last season’s best attendance was recorded at the US Grand Prix in Austin, when 400,000 spectators visited the circuit during the race weekend.

The race weekend in Australia, however, saw 20,000 more spectators! For the third race of the season, Formula 1 already surpassed last year’s best attendance.

From Thursday to Sunday, 420,000 fans passed through the gates of Albert Park, an average of 105,000 per day! Meanwhile, the Queen of Motorsport returned to Australia after two years, with the last race held in Melbourne in 2019.

Hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 season meant a break from the Australian Grand Prix, with the Melbourne circuit not even fitting into the World Championship calendar last year.

However, the two-year hiatus appears to have been healthy for both Formula 1 and the fans. In fact, a record attendance was set by the city of Melbourne itself!

The 2022 Australian Grand Prix has set a new record in the very sense that this has become the most attended sporting event ever held in Melbourne. Even so, it is not an overall record.

The highest attendance was achieved by the Australian Grand Prix in 1995, when 520,000 spectators watched the last race in Adelaide! After that, Formula 1 moved to Melbourne to host the grand prix.

Australian Grand Prix Corporation boss Andrew Westacott believes that the spectator numbers for this year’s event could have been even higher if they had been allowed to sell more tickets. In fact, it is estimated that around 25,000 fans, despite their interest, were unable to purchase tickets on site, hence only for the day of the race.

Formula One sold out this year’s race months before it was due to take place. The darling of the Australian public, Daniel Ricciardo, said that in any case he had never seen a more lively atmosphere in Australia.

His fans can be quite happy with the result. McLaren struggled in the opening two races of the season and it was in Melbourne that they saw some improvement.

Particularly in terms of downforce and the performance of their cars. But they finished the Australian Grand Prix in a respectable fifth and sixth place.

F1, ESPN