Officials at the Nürburgring have revealed that 13,500 spectators were present at the venue on Sunday for Formula 1’s return after a seven-year absence.
The Nürburgring was a surprise addition to the coronavirus-affected 2020 calendar on a weekend where Formula 1 should have been competing at Suzuka, Japan.
After seven events without fans a select group of doctors and nurses were invited to Monza while around 2,800 spectators were present each day at Mugello.
Organisers of the Russian Grand Prix allowed 30,000 spectators into the Sochi Autodrom.
The Rhineland-Palatinate state in which Nürburgring is located laid out that the circuit was permitted 20,000 spectators.
The circuit sold 15,000 tickets but of those 3,000 had to be blocked as the attendees were due to come from risk areas abroad or from areas in Germany with a seven-day incidence of more than 30.
Half of those 3,000 were ultimately able to attend, having returned negative Covid-19 tests, giving a Sunday figure of 13,500 fans.
All spectators underwent temperature checks upon entry and had designated seating areas separated from others to ensure maximum levels of hygiene.
“We are really very satisfied”, said Nürburgring CEO Mirco Markfort.
“When you consider that we only had 10 weeks to prepare the weekend and only about two weeks to sell the tickets, this is a great success.
“My thanks go out to all those involved who made this possible and especially to our entire Nürburgring team.
“But a concept is only as good as those who are willing to adhere to it. Our visitors deserve a big thank you.”
