Is 'CelebrityGP' the future for Formula One?

By Phil Huff (15/09/2003)
September 15 2003

International supermodel Jodie Kidd joined Lucky Strike BAR Honda yesterday as a VIP guest of the team, while regular fans had to pay over £50 to simply stand up and watch the race, while a seat cost as much as £350.

During her day with the team, Jodie spent some time with the BAR drivers; former World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve and British star, Jenson Button. She enjoyed a tour of the BAR team garage and motorhome, and the BAR Honda 005 car. Prior to the race start, Jodie also absorbed the atmosphere on the famous grid walk before settling down to watch all the action unfold in the team garage.

Thousands of fans who save their money for a week away to watch the race queued to get in the circuit, stood in the open for a number of hours, and watched 10 seconds of F1 action 53 times, every 1 minute and 20 seconds, eating overpriced and undercooked burgers. There was virtually no chance of even catching a glimpse of their favourite drivers, save for the now infamous drivers parade, and zero chance of getting near anything other than a mock up of an F1 car.

Our 'Man in Milan' returns on Thursday, and will give you all the low-down from the fans perspective. I'm unsure if he'll be impressed by the exploits of another celebrity circulating around the F1 paddock.

If Bernie Ecclestone gets his way, there'll be many more celebrities at Grands Prix in the future, in an attempt to raise the sports profile still further. We've had Liz Hurley "going up to the first corner for the take-off", and John Prescott supporting Damian Hill (whoever he is), and that's a trend set to continue.

It's become clear that the much disliked general public are beginning to get fed up with the prices and spectacle of Formula One, as each Grand Prix has seen swathes of empty grandstand seats, but Bernie's got the solution - one day soon Bernie's going to find himself wandering the grid surrounded by a galaxy of stars from music, the movies and just about every other field.

Trouble is, there'll be nobody there to watch them.

Thanks to pitpass.com.