Silverstone is considering “novel ideas” to fill the grandstands during the upcoming pair of Formula 1 races.
Due to the coronavirus, both the official British Grand Prix and the 70th Anniversary GP will be held behind closed doors in early August.
However, rather than simply leaving the seats empty, Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle reveals he’s been approached with multiple ideas to boost the atmosphere.
“We have looked at things and I’m certainly not short of people trying to sell me interesting novel ideas, particularly printing companies seeking to replicate the Bundesliga cardboard crowd thing, which actually is great and I’m up for,” Pringle told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“We’re in the entertainment business, we want to retain a relationship with the fans. We want to keep them as involved as possible, and, of course, that’s a lot easier in the digital age.
“We’ll be doing an awful lot on our website and social channels and things like that.
“But if there is a way that practically we could involve people, be it a video wall or the cardboard crowd on the seats, absolutely we’ll look at it. We are exploring all of those things.”
As it is, all the real fans will be watching from home, but after several years of often being overshadowed by other events like Wimbledon, The Open and the Cricket World Cup, the Silverstone boss hopes by standing alone, F1 can attract new casual viewers.
“Making an afternoon of sport is an amazing live event, being able to flick the giant screens over,” he said.
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“We have been central to some of the great sporting weekends of the summer in recent years, but I do think that by being top of the bill this summer, hopefully we may introduce some [new] people [to F1].
“We all love our own sport and sometimes we don’t try other sports. And actually, if you’re a sports fan, just getting stuck into something is a great experience.
“It’s great to get sport back up and running and I’m sure we will pick up some new people.”
