FORMULA ONE fans have been left raging after ticket sales for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next year were suspended.
The iconic venue is the regular host when F1 comes to Britain and staged its latest race in July.
The likes of British stars Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris will take to the famous track again in 2023 for what will be the 56th running of the Grand Prix at Silverstone.
But organisers have had to apologise to fans as ticket sales were suspended.
The official Silverstone Twitter account blamed “ongoing issues” with their ticket provider for the problems.
But they add that they are hoping to have things back up and running soon – but acknowledged the “frustrating experience” for fans.
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Their statement says: “We’ve decided to suspend the 2023 Formula 1 British Grand Prix ticket sale, as we’re acutely aware a lot of fans have experienced intermittent issues in securing their tickets.
“Due to ongoing issues with our ticketing provider, Secutix, we feel the fairest thing for us to do is to temporarily pause sales and freeze all ticket prices until these are resolved.
“We sincerely apologise for the frustrating experience that many of you have had today and thank you for your support throughout this time.”
The announcement did not seem to calm down many fans who had been left irritated by the process.
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Some have complained about payments failing to process and long online queue times while others now fear having to start waiting all over again to buy tickets.
Other fans were left fuming with the cost of the event in general, with tickets subject to dynamic pricing.
This sees ticket prices rise based on demand, with the huge clamour for a place at Silverstone next year leading to prices rising in a quicker timeframe than normal.
One F1 follower on Twitter said the experience has put them off attending again.
They said: “You need to freeze ticket prices full stop. What you’ve done today is obscene.
“I won’t be attending another event at Silverstone.”
Another furious racing enthusiast tweeted: “You’re an absolute joke of an organisation. I’ve already shelled out 4 x camping so am forced to try and do this again tomorrow.
“I’m seriously thinking of cutting my loses and not even bothering. I regularly watch MotoGP, BSB [British Superbike] & BTCC [British Touring Car Championship] at your circuit but never again.”
One person wrote: “We are literally in a COST OF LIVING CRISIS and you’re out here pricing people out of their home grand prix and it’s cheaper to go abroad??? It’s a JOKE.”
This year’s British Grand Prix sold out in the shortest time in the track’s history as a record 142,000 filled the grandstands.
In recent years Silverstone has often been the venue for outstanding races and big moments.
In July fans were treated to a chaotic race which was won by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and saw Hamilton and other frontrunners scrapping for podium places until the final laps.
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A year earlier the track was the venue for the extraordinary high-speed crash between title rivals Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
And in 2020, in front of empty grandstands due to Covid, one of Hamilton’s tyres gave way on the final lap and left the Mercedes driver limping to the finish line in heart-stopping scenes.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
