This weekend’s British grand prix debacle could cost Silverstone millions, track boss Richard Phillips has admitted after organisers vowed to refund spectators who stayed away from the circuit during qualifying on Saturday after plea’s from the circuit.
“It’s going to cost us a lot of money,” he told the Guardian. “I honestly don’t know the figure, but it could be a lot more than hundreds of thousands (of pounds).”
Phillips did, however, hail the patience and perseverance of the Silverstone crowd, after an ordeal that was recognised even from within the F1 paddock.
“I saw fathers with their sons and daughters, old ladies with backpacks and teenagers, all covered in mud and wearing their coats and hats,” said O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio. “I have never seen anything like this country. They are the best fans,” said the Brazilian correspondent.
Mercedes’ Norbert Haug agreed.
“They are the best fans in the world,” said the German. “They have taken everything – the rain, the cold – and they still came in their thousands.”
Source:GMM
