Spanish GP promises to work with F1 on better fan experience

After two lean years during the pandemic, the Spanish Grand Prix welcomed a sell-out crowd of roughly 300,000 fans flocking to the Montmelo venue across the weekend.

While the event was the shot in the arm that the local promoters needed after several years of declining attendance, the circuit and its surrounding facilities appeared to struggle to handle the masses of spectators, with reports of severe traffic congestion around the circuit, huge queues at concession stands and public transport services that were being overwhelmed.

When asked to comment on the situation on Sunday, F1 told Autosport that it had “made the promoter aware that this is not acceptable and must be fixed for next season”.

On Tuesday, the circuit’s CEO  Josep Lluis Santamaria said he had received a letter from F1 boss Stefano Domenicali urging it to improve its crowd management and acknowledged there’s a room for improvement.

“I received a letter from the President and CEO of Formula 1, in which he congratulates us on the weekend, stresses the importance of the Spanish GP in F1 history and celebrates the passion that has been experienced during the grand prix,” Santamaria told Autosport.

“In the letter, F1 also points out that there are things that we must work on together, both the circuit and F1, to continue to improve and make the experience even better for the fans.

“Domenicali said that Formula 1 and the circuit will discuss issues like traffic and other minor ones to make the whole weekend better.”

Santamaria admitted that the venue had underestimated the number of spectators that would turn up on Friday, as historically local fans often only turned up from Saturday onwards.

But on Saturday RENFE, which runs the commuter trains between Montmelo and Barcelona, also struggled to cope with the large throngs of people queueing to get back to the city centre.

“It is true that there have been mistakes that need to be worked on and modified,” Santamaria explained. “It has been a grand…