Every GP should learn from Melbourne

As Malaysia ponders the future of its Formula 1 grand prix - the fixture's current contract expires after Sunday's race, with extension negotiations so far having proven unfruitful on account of that old sticking point, hosting fees - the promoters could do well to take a leaf out of Melbourne's book.

A fortnight ago the Australian GP boasted a footfall of no fewer than 315,000 fans over the event's four days.

True, many were quadruple counted, but the fact is they bought tickets for the entire period - and, what is more, received excellent value for money given the weekend's full programme.

Race day attendance was stellar - 103,000 fans packed the place - in stark contrast to the German Grand Prix, whose cancellation for this season was confirmed after Melbourne. Last year Hockenheim had failed to host that Melbourne Sunday figure over a full weekend.

Sepang, too, battles to fill its stands, rows of empty seats over the past few years doing an event whose debut race (in 1999) attracted almost 200,000 spectators a major disservice.

Attendances at Sepang have plummeted since its popular debut in 1999 © LAT

Even Abu Dhabi last November failed to attract a full-house (50,000) despite its race being a title showdown boasting gimmicky double points. What, then, makes the Australian Grand Prix sustainable, and has done so for 20 straight years?

"It's because we're in a competitive environment in Melbourne, and we've got to make sure we raise the bar every year," says Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott.

"We literally benchmark ourselves operationally against all other F1s around the world. In Australia, for motorsport fans, we stack up and see what we're doing and picking great ideas and stealing ideas - from Bathurst and Clipsal [Adelaide] and [other V8 Supercar] events in Sydney and the Gold Coast, or the Philip Island historic event last weekend. Or MotoGP at Philip Island.

"In Melbourne, because there are so many things to do, everything's getting bigger and better, and we're a temporary circuit, so we've just got to ensure we win over the fans every year, we refresh it, and we've got to do things to keep raising the bar.

"That's on-track, it's off-track, it's entertainment, it's pricing, it's single-day ticketing, it's flexibility of purchasing, and it's the whole experience."

Too right: the circuit offers last-minute grandstand upgrades similar to those offered by airlines to sell empty stock, while Melbourne's support programme is eye-watering, including historic demonstrations featuring everything from the Maybach Special raced by 1980 F1 world champion Alan Jones's father through a Maserati 250F to a dozen Brabham derivatives.

Then there are Bathurst-type historic saloons, ranging from Ford Mustangs, Falcons and Sierra RS500s to shrieking Mazda RX7s and rumbling Holdens. That it? Nope: Porsche Carrera Cup and V8 Supercar rounds keep fans awake, as do events such as the Renault Challenge and Ultimate Speed Comparison, the latter featuring a Mercedes AMG C63 vs V8 Supercar vs Red Bull F1 car, driven by luminaries such as Mick Doohan and David Coulthard.

"We've got track activity from 11am to 7pm," explains Westacott. "Gates open 10.30 in the morning 'til eight at night, and across that we have a combination of family entertainment, automotive entertainment, sponsor activations, and off-track motorsport.

"If we deal with the entertainment stuff first, there's F1 Central, which is about dining,
a nice beer garden and merchandise. We've got the Action Zone, which is the illusionist, the music stage, the wood chopping, stunt mania."

The RAAF Roulettes are part of the Melbourne entertainment © LAT

In fact, a family father could bring his entire brood to Albert Park Thursday through Sunday secure in the knowledge that only the most hyper of active kids would get anywhere near bored, and even then find further distractions within metres.

It helps, of course, that AGPC's contract with Formula One Management permits the promoters to stage various side-attractions - most European organisers are restricted to
Porsche races, GP2/3 (championships owned by FOM's parent company CVC Capital Partners) - with AGPC even having its own hospitality set-up a step down from FOM's Paddock Club. But, in this business if you don't push, you don't get.

Other promoters would do well to study AGPC's ticketing structure, which is among the most flexible on the trail, with tickets starting at AUS $79 (£50).

"The first year, everything was four-day: four-day grandstand, four-day corporate, four-day GA [general admission] but you could also have single-day GA," Westacott adds.

"It was taboo to do anything else. No one wants to do that all the time. Clearly they get a benefit if they do, but now we've even got single-day Paddock [Club].

"So, if you're paying 4,300 we might get an improved yield, because it might be 70 per cent on Sunday, it might be 60 per cent on Saturday and 40 per cent, so we're getting collectively 170 per cent if we sell all three days versus 100 per cent if you know what I mean."

V8 Supercars head a varied Australian Grand Prix support bill © LAT

Friday and Saturday, are though, slightly cheaper...

"They are, but we might sell Friday at 30 per cent of the total cost, but at least he's there. Another thing we've had to do is look at upgrades. That's the big thing where we're getting growth in revenues, and that's why, when you look at our annual report, it will be up this year, probably five to eight per cent, depending on final purchases.

"But if you see it was five to eight per cent up on revenue, one of the reasons we're able to do that is because we said 'GA wants a better experience.'

"Younger event-goers, which form a big core of our emerging market, want to drink boutique beers, they want better burgers, they want to sit down and have better dining experiences.

"They can do that in GA Premium by paying 50 dollar upgrades. Grandstands, we've got undercover seating now. Again, that's an upgrade cost, and people love it.

"And then we've got a few corporate suites, like the GH Morgan Suite in the paddock, which is a premium suite. That's sold at 4500 (AUS $). Now that particular suite sold out."

The teams wholeheartedly embrace AGPC's initiatives - Westacott was, for example, the only promoter on the newly-formed Promotional Working Group's initial email list - and the benefits were clear to see throughout the weekend.

The Melbourne paddock layout encourages drivers to interact with fans © LAT

"We had a catch-up with Claire [Williams, head of the PWG] the other day," says 'Westie', as he is universally known. "What I would say collectively is that the teams have a bit more resolve to try and do something.

"They always loved to help, but when it came to putting names on dotted lines at 12 noon, 'Oh no, very busy...', whereas this year they've sort of said 'OK, let's support it.' I think they're enjoying it."

Perfect examples of team co-operation are provided by the 'Melbourne Walk', which forces drivers and team personnel to walk past hordes of fans lined up behind a barrier on their collective ways to/from car parks, and Q&A sessions held on the main stage.

"When the players come out for the Australian Open they all sign the tennis balls and the programmes and everything and the caps. We haven't seen that as much because the Formula 1 guys used to go straight into the paddock," explains Westacott.

"They do a great job the AGPC, don't they?" says Claire Williams. "I think it's as much about what they do as it is about Australian society and Australians' mentality about sport, the way they embrace sport and how they feel about it and engage with it. I think that's been a big part of why Australia still generates such enormous crowds.

"They're very proud of their grand prix; Australians are very proud about their sport, and [AGPC] do a really great job promotionally ahead of the race and working with teams to generate accessibility for the fans, to encourage ticket sales and encourage a great experience for the fans over the course of a race weekend.

"I think you have to work really hard when you are running an event like this, because there's so much competition for people's time these days, and people's dollars. So I think what the AGPC do, constantly innovating year-on-year what they're offering, has been hugely instrumental to their success."

Melbourne surprised F1 when it snatched the Australian GP from Adelaide in 1996 © LAT

All this has paid massive dividends - as evidenced by the bottom line: crucial given that Melbournians and state funds annually underwrite the race, which has cost taxpayers a cumulative AUS $400million over 20 years.

That Victoria continues to support the event proves its cost-effectiveness as a tourism/awareness tool, but it remains Westacott's responsibility to deliver on budget - this year in the face of stiff competition from the concurrently staged Cricket World Cup.

"We had our strongest Thursday crowd by a couple of thousand since 2005; Friday equalled what it's been for the last six or seven years, but we're probably getting some up-trading, so I'm pleased with that - we're on our budgets," says Westacott.

"We had 314,900 across the event - it was 103,000 in 2013 and 100,500 last year [on Sundays]. And, Daniel [Ricciardo] is making lots of Melbournians pay attention to Formula 1."

All this despite a soft Aussie dollar and F1's hybrid engines, which last year caused so much noise about no noise?

"In fact I reckon they're louder this year [true, mainly due to shorter exhaust systems], and we had some local discussion about the noise post-event last year. It has been very, very well received by our corporates and families and kids."

However, not only the locals are appreciative of AGPC's overall efforts. This year it staged its last event under Ron Walker, former Lord Mayor of Melbourne, devoted friend of F1 tsar Bernie Ecclestone (who was again absent), and father of Melbourne's race - having snatched it away from Adelaide in 1996 in what amounted to a political coup.

"Because our country is so far from Europe and the United States, when we manage to secure a major international event it does wonderful things for the community," believes Garry Connelly, Australia's representative on the FIA World Motor Sport Council and an F1 steward.

Old F1 car vs road car vs V8 shootouts are a Melbourne support bill staple © LAT

"This is something that I don't think we concentrate enough on: what motorsport does to communities to which it goes, because in Australia it is the focus point for a whole lot of other organisations getting involved.

"You get a lot of corporate hospitality support here. The Paddock Club is sold out. All the corporate facilities are sold out, and you get lots of local sponsors coming in. People want to be associated because they're proud to have this event.

"Look at the restaurants and hotels, people are embracing the grand prix. They do the same with tennis, with football, the [equestrian] Melbourne Cup, with everything, because as a community we take pride in our sporting events."

Paul Hembery, Pirelli's motorsport director and a man who has overseen the company's varied motorsport activities on every inhabited continent, expressed equal praise: "I think you've just got to wander around and see how much effort goes into creating it as an event.

"It's not just a race - if you walk around the paddock it's the one event that goes in to give the fans a feature-led weekend.

"If you come here it's not just about sitting in the stands, it's about going out and seeing displays of historic or road cars. There are V8 Supercars, all those activities for children, and a lot of work goes on for the schools.

"I did an event on Friday for the schools and the children coming here as students to try and connect with them. A lot of effort goes in to make sure people coming here get a full-value weekend."

Westacott's closing words sum up AGPC's philosophy: "I think the key thing is we've got to keep re-inventing and refreshing things, and we're all suckers for it because when we're having a cold beer or a champagne afterwards we'll be all talking about bits and pieces that we can do better for next year."

Malaysia and Germany: take heed...