Formula 1 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Records Highest Attendance Increase

Azerbaijan recorded the highest increase in fan attendance at Formula 1 races this year, according to the latest report issued on December 8 by F1 organizers.

Among 13 total races that recorded a jump in attendance this year, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix held in Baku was dubbed “the year’s most exciting race” by F1 owners. That race, held from June 23-25, saw a 58 percent increase in attendance in comparison to the 2016 race.

A total of 71,000 spectators attended the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, according to Baku City Circuit, a state-run organization that has been organizing the event annually since 2016. Foreigners from 65 different countries accounted for 35 percent of the overall attendance.

F1 races in 20 different locations across the globe attracted more than four million spectators, an eight percent increase from 2016 attendance figures. The global average attendance per event was 203,570. The average fan influx for races each day was 76,722, which outpaces average attendance at UEFA Champions League football (soccer) match, the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga in 2016/17, the National Football League in 2016, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

"The 2017 season was a great spectacle, on and off track, thanks to drivers, teams and, most of all, fans – the beating heart of our sport,” said Sean Bratches, Managing Director, Commercial Operations at Formula 1 said, according to Formula1.com.

“An attendance of more than 200,000 per event means that for 20 weekends per year, the population of a medium-sized city visits a racetrack to watch to a Formula 1 GP. Our duty is to make each of these events even more entertaining to unleash what is the greatest racing spectacle on the planet,” Bratches said.

Grand Prix races in Canada and Austria each saw about 360,000, or 60,000 more spectators compared to the 2016 races held in those countries. The Mexican Grand Prix, with an overall attendance of 337,043, was named the best race of the season for the third year in a row. Japan saw a decrease in race attendance, dropping to 137,000 from 145,000 in 2016.

The 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, to be held on April 26-29, marks the third consecutive year that Baku, located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, will host a Formula One World Championship race. It will be the fourth segment in the 2018 Grand Prix season.