Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 5
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
This year some changes will be made to the sales of tickets for Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Nigar Arpadarai, head of marketing and communications at Baku City Circuit (BCC), told Trend Oct. 5.
“As you know, tickets are usually sold six months before the competitions. In 2016, we sold tickets for all three competition days at once, but this year tickets were sold for each competition day separately. There were a lot of ticket categories,” she said.
“In general, more than 71,000 people visited the 2017 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix,” Arpadarai said. “Therefore, we are very pleased with the ticket sales. However, we will disclose certain changes to be made in the ticket sales soon.”
“The number of tribunes and configuration of the circuit will not change,” she said. “The entertainment program will also be held in the same format.”
Arpadarai said that change of the name from the F1 Grand Prix of Europe to the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix caused the fans’ interest in the F1 races and the country as a whole.
“The F1 is an excellent opportunity from the point of view of promoting the country,” she said. “We wanted the first races to be called the European Grand Prix to attract more Europeans. But for the second time we decided to rename it into the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and I think that the change of the name was very successful.”
“The name F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been mentioned many times in the foreign press,” Arpadarai said. “As you know, the F1 is broadcast in 200 countries and more than 500 million people watch it.”
“So from this point of view, the name F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is lucky for us,” she said. “Tens of thousands of posts were devoted to the races in Baku every day. As a result #AzerbaijanGP was trending among about 10 million Twitter users. During the races, #AzerbaijanGP was leading on Twitter for three hours in a row.”
“According to estimations, the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was most interesting and memorable this season,” Arpadarai said. “Most fans called the races most entertaining and interesting for the last 5 and even 10 years.”
The 2017 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held in Baku June 23-25. The 2018 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled for Apr. 27-29.