Formula 1 | The Barcelona circuit apologizes for the chaos experienced by its spectators
Barcelona circuit boss Jose Luis Santamaria has apologized to spectators for the chaos that unfolded during the 2022 Spanish GP.
One Twitter user summed up the chaos by saying: « I have never seen such poor organization in a Formula 1 race. »
« People were shaking and fainting, waiting an hour for a bottle of water. »
Indeed, in sunny Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunya organizers struggled to cope with the high number of spectators – around 100,000 a day.
On social media, fans have complained about long travel times of up to 5 hours for the 30km journey from town, insufficient food and drink supplies and other general frustrations (little entertainment, few toilets, horribly expensive shops, etc…).
In an official note to the circuit, from F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, Barcelona were told there was « things to improve » for 2023 and beyond.
« Our team and yours need to work through some traffic management incidents and other minor issues to prepare a plan that will make the 2023 event more successful, » Domenicali added.
Track boss Santamaria admitted there were unforeseen problems due to higher than expected attendance numbers, particularly on Friday and Saturday.
He said those numbers were « well above normal ».
« Normally on a Friday 18,000 people come. We thought it might be 25,000 this time, but it was double that. »
He said organizers made some changes after Friday night, including more food and drink outlets and an additional order of 130,000 bottles of water.
Santamaria admitted that the public transport chaos was the worst aspect but insisted: « It is inevitable that there will be a bit of chaos when a sporting event mobilizes so many people. But I put myself in the shoes of the fans who suffered from these problems and I offer them my apologies. »
