Australian Grand Prix organisers have been forced to redesign grandstands to hold more people, following the record crowd at the Formula 1 race earlier this year.
All grandstands at Albert Park, Melbourne, have been reshuffled to cater for more fans at next year’s race. The move comes after the 2022 Australian GP drew a record crowd of 419,114.
The attendance eclipsed the previous four-day record of 401,000 set in 1996, when the grand prix moved from Adelaide to Melbourne. The overall attendance record set in April included individual records for Friday and Saturday, while the race day attendance was the third-highest on record.
As a result, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation has announced that grandstand capacity has been increased for 2023.
According to Autosport, a redesign of the seated areas has resulted in an increase from 39,000 to 44,000 across all 16 grandstands within Albert Park.
Tickets for the new grandstand spaces are currently on sale as part of a phased release, with phase two set to start on December 6.
The 2023 Australian Grand Prix will take place from March 30 to April 2.