‘Having a packed Albert Park, into a full MCG, is a pretty good day,’ Australian Grand Prix boss Travis Auld says

Sports fans will be forced to choose between round one of the footy and the F1 event, which is tipped to be “the biggest Australian Grand Prix in history”.

Australian Grand Prix boss Travis Auld has denied a clash between the season-opening Formula One event and the start of the AFL year in Melbourne will keep crowds away from Albert Park.

The traditional Richmond-Carlton season opener at the MCG will come on the same day the F1 event roars in Melbourne on Thursday, March 13.

Arch rivals Hawthorn and Essendon, Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne, Collingwood and Melbourne will also play round 1 matches in Melbourne while the four-day F1 blockbuster returns to global season-opener status for the first times since 2019.

It means sports fans will be forced to choose between footy or cheering the likes of Aussies Oscar Piastri and Jack Doohan on the starting grid, and seeing Lewis Hamilton race for Ferrari for the first time.

Lewis Hamilton in his Ferrari kit. Picture: Getty

But Mr Auld told the Herald Sun ticket sales suggested Melbourne was “on track for the biggest Australian Grand Prix in history”, with record crowds tipped for the March 13-16 showpiece.

“For Melbourne, having a packed Albert Park, into a full MCG, is a pretty good day,” he said.

“I’m really confident that both will do really well.

“Our sales tell us the Thursday is going to be well attended and I’m sure the AFL will say the same about the season opener.”

Mr Auld, a former AFL senior executive who worked in footy for more than 20 years before becoming Grand Prix chief in 2023, said the league and Australian Grand Prix Corporation “try and work together”.

Travis Auld says the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and AFL try and work together. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

With tickets to this year’s event exhausted for Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the first time, Mr Auld also revealed more passes could be made available in coming weeks.

“We have invested in some infrastructure within the circuit which we think will help people get around the circuit easier,” he said.

“But I think it will also make it possible to increase the capacity.

“To the extent we can do that, we’re just not sure yet and we’re working through that.

More Grand Prix passes could be made available in coming weeks. Picture: Chris Graythen

“But we have sold more tickets than last year and so we are on track for a record crowd.”

After Richmond and Carlton get the footy party started, Hawthorn and Essendon will play at the MCG on Friday, March 14 – the first day the F1 speed machines appear on track.

Geelong will host Fremantle on Saturday afternoon, when F1 qualifying takes place, and Collingwood-Port Adelaide and Bulldogs-Kangaroos play in Melbourne that night.

Melbourne will host GWS at the MCG while the main race is staged.

Mr Auld said round 1 of the footy and the F1 happening in Melbourne at the same time could be a blessing for fans.

‘‘Sunday is obviously our biggest day and sells out pretty quickly and so we want to make sure we complement one another,” he said.

“And then I think Thursday will work quite well.

“Thursday is obviously opening day for us, into a big game at the MCG.

“We just want to make sure that we are sharing all the resources that are necessary to put on a big major event.”

He said there could be “a marginal” ticket and attendance capacity increase, to meet demand for sold-out sessions.

Last year’s major days at the Grand Prix were capped at crowds of between 120-130,000.

Originally published as ‘Having a packed Albert Park, into a full MCG, is a pretty good day,’ Australian Grand Prix boss Travis Auld says