Melbourne Grand Prix 2025 ticket sales suspended by Ticketmaster after ‘third-party outage’
Public ticket sales to the Melbourne Grand Prix have been suspended amid technical difficulties by Ticketmaster, the snafu coming as Formula One fans were hit with higher prices.
Victoria
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Public ticket sales to the Melbourne Grand Prix have been suspended after a Ticketmaster bungle.
General admission passes for the public were meant to go on sale from noon Tuesday, with the Albert Park race expected to sell out within hours.
But moments before they were set to go live, the event’s official ticket seller reported a glitch that meant sales would have crashed its site.
Tickets will now go on sale from noon Wednesday.
In a social media post for fans queuing online for tickets, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation said the bungle was a Ticketmaster issue.
“Due to a global third-party outage, the FORMULA 1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2025 general public on sale will be delayed until tomorrow, Wednesday 9 October 12pm (AEDT),” it said.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.”
Due to a global third-party outage, the FORMULA 1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2025 general public onsale will be delayed until tomorrow, Wednesday 9 October 12pm (AEDT).
— F1 Australian Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) October 8, 2024
We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. #AusGPpic.twitter.com/iEHXpI9i1c
The technical glitch follows revelations that fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Formula One stars at next year’s Melbourne Grand Prix will be forced to pay extra with ticket prices hiked across the board.
The cheapest general admission ticket to the 2025 season opening Albert Park race will rise at least $20 compared to this year, when they officially go on sale on Tuesday.
Event organisers anticipate record crowds, with Aussie young gun Oscar Piastri a genuine contender, compatriot Jack Doohan making his F1 debut on home soil and Lewis Hamilton racing for Ferrari for the first time.
But, in the midst of a cost of living crisis, fans logging on to score a ticket will pay at least $169 for the cheapest GA pass, compared to $149 this year, and $211.25 for the top tier of basic entry, compared to $186.25.
Grandstand seats for the race will rise in price between $25 and $115.25, with the cheapest $375, up from $350, and the most expensive $1015, compared to $900 this year.
Australian Grand Prix chief executive Travis Auld told the Herald Sun said the price rises were “not something we have done flippantly”.
“What we’ve tried to do year-on-year is limit the increase of the base price but the realities are the cost of holding a Formula One event is increasing, I think the cost of holding global major events is increasing,” Mr Auld said.
“We are seeing unprecedented demand and we have got to try and balance that with keeping the event as accessible as possible and we’ve had a lot of conversations around that.
“People have different views around that but that is certainly the intention.”
The last two Melbourne Grands Prix sold out in record time, with tickets to this year’s event exhausted for Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the first time.
An unprecedented 120,000 people took part in a pre-sale ballot on Monday, where the lion’s share of race tickets were expected to be sold.
Race tickets were held over to go on public sale from noon Tuesday but were expected to sell out in a matter of hours, with daily crowds capped at between 120,000 and 130,000.
Mr Auld said: “There won’t be enough, based on the demand.”
“I think we are in a position now where we are seeing record levels each year and it appears it will be the same this year going into the on-sale,” he said.
“Unfortunately we can’t satisfy the demand but what has been really pleasing ... is we are continuing to get greater interest from international and interstate fans, which is really good in terms of the economic impact on Victoria.”
A record estimated crowd of 452,055 attended this year’s event, 43 per cent of them female and 44 per cent aged 16-34.
General admission passes to Thursday and Friday will be fixed at $45 and $90 but Saturday and Sunday admission will be variably priced.
It means fans logging on at different times could pay $42.25 more for the same entry level GA ticket to race day or anywhere between $655 and $1015.25 for the most expensive grandstand seat.
“We’ve been really clear and transparent about the range at which you will pay, which not all events do,” Mr Auld said.
He said prices paid were based on demand, similar to airfares.
“It depends on the level of demand for that product, at the time you are buying it,” he said.
“But we have put a cap or a limit to the extent to which that can increase, which is not a practice applied by all events.”
The event will run from March 13-16.
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