{"id":8,"date":"2025-05-19T13:19:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/?p=8"},"modified":"2025-05-19T13:19:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:19:54","slug":"fans-are-being-let-into-the-inner-sanctum-of-f1-for-a-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/2025\/05\/19\/fans-are-being-let-into-the-inner-sanctum-of-f1-for-a-price\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans are being let into \u2018the inner sanctum\u2019 of F1 \u2013 for a price"},"content":{"rendered":"

With just 20 driving spots up for grabs, the vast majority of motorsport enthusiasts will never know what it\u2019s like to sit behind the wheel of a Formula One car. Yet, for a price, the public can get closer than ever before.<\/p>\n

F1 Experiences \u2013 the sport\u2019s official experience, hospitality and travel program \u2013 vows to bring both new and seasoned fans as close as possible to the action via a range of race week offerings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want people to come to Formula One \u2013 that\u2019s our job,\u201d F1 Experiences president Keith Bruce told CNN ahead of the\u00a0Qatar Grand Prix<\/a>\u00a0in December.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"LUSAIL<\/picture><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Related article<\/span>Inside the \u2018brutal\u2019 logistical challenge of staging a Formula One Grand Prix<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to watch it on television or streaming on your phone, but ultimately, our goal is to make you want to get on a plane, get in a car, get on a train and come to a Formula One race anywhere around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Australia in March through to Abu Dhabi in December, packages are offered for all 24 races that will span 21 countries across the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

A ticket to the Grand Prix itself is the cornerstone for most of them, but the activities that accompany it can vary widely, with more than 20 experiences offered across race week.<\/p>\n

Many are focused on bringing fans behind the curtain: Pit Lane Walks, typically run on the Thursday or Friday of a standard race week, offer guests the opportunity to walk past all 10 team garages and peer in at mechanics \u2013 and sometimes team principals and drivers \u2013 as they scuttle to ready the cars.<\/p>\n

As a result, garage crews have grown accustomed to working in front of a crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a real eye-opener for them (the fans),\u201d Aston Martin Team race coordinator Joe Micklewright told CNN.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they come behind the doors and have a look at the Formula One car for themselves up close, they love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The walk is often accompanied by a photo opportunity with the championship trophy and a guided track tour, which sees as many as 60 fans board a flatbed truck to take a lap of the circuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of my favorite experiences, because it gives you a pure perspective of what it\u2019s like to be on the Formula One track,\u201d Bruce explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get to see the chicanes, you understand the curvature of the track, you really get an appreciation for the elevation and also the technicality that goes into managing 60 to 70 laps around a Formula One circuit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"The<\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
The track tour takes guests on a guided lap of circuits like the Red Bull Ring, host of the Austrian Grand Prix.<\/span><\/div>\n

Joe Klamar \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Backstage pass<\/h2>\n

The more expensive packages can secure passage into what Bruce dubs the \u201cinner sanctum\u201d of F1: the paddock.<\/p>\n

Guided Paddock Access sees groups of up to 12 fans escorted on a 30-minute journey around the truck trailers and hospitality suites which dot the area behind the garages that is strictly restricted to teams, sponsors, media, F1 staff and invited celebrity guests. The most premium packages include full-day paddock passes, allowing guests to come and go as they please.<\/p>\n

It marks a stark change from the more guarded approach adopted before US media giants Liberty Media assumed ownership of F1 in 2017, says PA Media\u2019s F1 correspondent Phil Duncan.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps in the\u00a0Bernie Ecclestone<\/a>\u00a0era, the idea was you wanted to keep that shield around the paddock,\u201d Duncan told CNN. \u201cIt was that mysterious element \u2013 \u2018What\u2019s going on in there? We want to go in but we can\u2019t.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cLiberty Media have opened that up, so you have a lot more of not just VIPs, but fans in there \u2013 taking pictures with drivers, selfies, all that sort of stuff that we didn\u2019t really have in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With just 20 driving spots up for grabs, the vast majority of motorsport enthusiasts will never know what it\u2019s like to sit behind the wheel of a Formula One car. Yet, for a price, the public can get closer than ever before. F1 Experiences \u2013 the sport\u2019s official experience, hospitality and travel program \u2013 vows … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9,"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gadgetglow.click\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}