Formula one fans given second shot to score tickets to Grand Prix

Fans left disappointed by a sold out 2023 Melbourne Grand Prix are being offered another shot at the big event.

Thousands more fans given opportunity to attend the 2023 Melbourne Grand Prix. Photo: Con Chronis / AFP

Sports fans who missed out on a ticket to this year’s sold out Melbourne Grand Prix are to be given a second chance with thousands more seats to go on sale next week.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation will on Tuesday announce several thousand more general admission tickets to the previously sold out race day and qualifying Saturday of the event.

Grand Prix chief executive Andrew Westacott said a reconfiguration of general admission areas at Albert Park had allowed the creation of the new batch of tickets.

“After finalising the venue configurations, finalising and reviewing all the designs of the venue and looking at all the tickets we’ve got, there is an opportunity to release a few more,’’ he said.

Australian Grand Prix CEO Andrew Westacott confirms more tickets for Melbourne’s 2023 Grand Prix. Photo: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images for AGPC

It will be music to the ears of race fans after the two most popular days of the event sold out in record time, with race tickets selling out in three and a half hours of going on sale.

Friday of the four day event is also expected to sell out in coming weeks, with Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri to make his home Formula One debut and F2, F3 and Supercar categories all contested for the first time.

Mr Westacott said “a few thousand’’ tickets to Saturday and Sunday of the March 30-April 2 event would go on sale from 10am on February 8 through Ticketmaster.

“It is good news,’’ he said.

He said the last batch of tickets only became available one final lay out and logistics planning was completed and it was deemed there was space for more fans.

“There was that degree of conservatism, we’ve been able to do a lot more planning, we’ve been able to finalise lay outs of particular support categories and know how much space we’ve got,’’ he said.

Last year’s Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit drew in record crowds. Photo: Con Chronis / AFP

“And that means we can release a few more tickets in a temporary venue.’’

A record crowd estimated at 419,114 attended the four days of last year’s Grand Prix.

Crowd numbers will be capped at 130,000 for each day of this year’s event, as organisers try to strike a balance between big crowds and atmosphere and comfort and safety.

Mr Westacott said the new tickets – the final general admission passes expected to be sold – were likely to be snapped up in a manner of minutes.

“We know how quickly the tickets went on sale and how quickly they got snapped up,’’ he said.

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