My first blog wasn’t supposed to be my first blog. My (this) second blog was supposed to be my first blog. My future first blog will be, at some point a blog about why I’m blogging. My actual first blog came about as a reaction to someone saying something stupid and felt more timely for me to vent than to write something about it at a later date. It just irks me when people in positions of power lie. Spin, I mean spin (the word politicians gave us to make lying seem acceptable). Nor is my blogging going to be solely about F1, I will be writing about other subjects in the future… and already, I digress.

Let’s start by putting this into context – this post is a 1st world problem, moaning about the cost of a frivolity that we would go without if our financial situation changed – though I believe this is also a problem in and of itself, corporations are taking advantage in more ways than one. It has become very easy for companies to raise and raise and raise prices when it is something that is a luxury in these economic times and how there’s a level of discomfort in moaning about things when too many people’s financial situation is in such a state that we are a country that now relies too much on foodbanks.

However, we put a lot into our work and one of the main reasons we are driven to keep working hard is how much we enjoy our holidays and breaks away. I also think if we do not raise our voices across the board, it all contributes to the rich getting richer. And hey, if more vital companies, such as supermarkets are fine raking in the profits for their shareholders during a cost of living crisis, then the companies offering non-vital services/events/products are going to keep taking advantage of the situation until something gives.

I think I’ve given enough caveat to appease my internal karma.

Silverstone 2024…. Subdued is the only I can use to describe it. And it wasn’t just the weather as I felt it before the monsoon hit. I don’t know if it was the mood of the nation, whether it was me projecting, or maybe other people were having fun but alas I can’t see all the people all the time and assess their level of fun. A couple of examples would be comparing to previous years, the crowds have been noisy, singing, chanting, with plenty of LAANNDOOOOS and OHHH YUUKII TSUNNOODA’s into the early hours. I’d envisaged the volume of the audience yelling ‘woah my sex is on fire’ when Kings of Leon came on to make an atmosphere to remember… but even that was subdued. There was an odd amount of thanks from whoever was on the stage at any given time thanking the crowd for ‘bringing the energy’, I kept looking around and thinking ‘what energy?’ Silverstone have sapped the energy out of us all. The most energy I saw (Stormzy aside) was the boos that echoed when they tried talking over England’s penalty shootout. KNOW. YOUR. AUDIENCE.

I can’t help but think that we were all tired, the stress of constantly thinking about money, attending an event that has sky rocketed in price over the past 5 years that felt like you were being asked to part with your money at every corner with killjoy, money grabbing dents along the way to just erode a bit more of the fun you are supposed to be having.

My karmic anxiety is twitching, so let’s highlight some positives:

Stormzy was epic! Whilst I’m not a fan of Grime, just not my thing, his energy, the way he moved on the stage and engaged with the audience was hypnotic. This was on a very rainy Friday, but the pouring rain during his set just added to the atmosphere (plus made room for us to be closer to the stage than we ever would do normally). Nothing short of a privilege to have seen him perform, looking on in awe both thinking in my tipsy state that I wish I could move/dance like him and why wasn’t he PM? Also a shout out to Self-Esteem, not someone I was aware of before (not sure I would be the typical demographic), but after her set, her album has pretty much been on repeat since I’ve been back.

Secondly, if I have any praise for Silverstone it is for the level of inclusion that seemed more noticeable this year than before, several areas/tents/stalls caught my eye from the Sign Language tent, a Pride stall and various charity tents that was nice a nice addition to see.

And thankfully, the race was awesome. There is something added to an atmosphere of seeing a home person/team win their home race and it’s not often that an incident free race can keep me as hooked Silverstone did this year.

Right, back to my moaning. Lets talk prices.

	2022	2023	2024	2025
Camping	£346	£346	£436	£536
Camping Extras	–	–	£115	£156
Silverstone Membership	–	–	£149	£185
Tickets	£1240	£1396	£1876	£2363
Silverstone Extras		£516	£480

Silverstone Woodlands Camping – a 55% increase in 4 years.

Tickets – a 51% increase in 3 years (the 2025 figure is what it will be if the current trend continues

Now, for what you get from the camping, at around £175 each for an electric pitch for 5 days of camping and entertainment, is actually not a bad price, but for returning customers I think the worth of it due to size of the increase, that worth is diluted to the point where I just do not feel like I want to part with my money.

The same goes for the tickets, but unlike the total cost of camping feeling worth it if you didn’t know any better, I’m not so sure the tickets do. Especially when Silverstone are employing such tactics as the Silverstone Membership – which allows you early access, which means access to the cheaper tickets before dynamic pricing gets silly. Then there are the extras, the figure above represents in 2023 the price to attend on the Thursday, a pit walk, and a museum ticket (per person). For around the same amount in 2024, you just got the pit walk, and that’s it. Simultaneously taking advantage of new fans and feeling pretty much sarcastic with returning fans.

As a data person I’d be fascinated to know the figures of how many new fans each year convert into returning fans the year after. I don’t think Silverstone can survive and rely on the Drive to Survive audience, which seems to be who they are aiming all the financial tactics at for some short-term gain, whilst pushing out and pricing out those who would have been returning year after year.

I think dynamic pricing for online purchases is a disgusting practice and a middle finger to consumers, to the point now it just seems an abuse of technology. Imagine being in a queue, holding a product you were told was one price, only to find that price was 20% more by the time you got to the counter, there would be an uproar.

Sadly, though the Silverstone example is on the extreme side, this is common in other sectors, products, companies and I can’t help but think at some point something is going to break.

My prediction is Silverstone will struggle next year (I would also expect in the coming years for additional charges to be brought in, such as paying for Qualifying seats on the Saturday, and completely banning drink to be brought into the track). They will bemoan costs and other financial pressures, but their real problem is that someone, somewhere, is getting very very rich from this. All the while, fans new and old are being taken advantage of – the same fans with which Silverstone does not and cannot exist without. We certainly will be voting with our wallets and will not be there in 2025, something I’m sure Silverstone Managing Director Stuart Pringle, and his pay check, won’t be losing any sleep over.