Why ticket sales for Melbourne’s Formula 1 Grand Prix are better than ever

The Sunday of the upcoming Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix has already sold out, with hopes ticket sales on the Saturday could also soon be exhausted.

And a popular Netflix series is believed to be playing a big part in soaring sales.

Some 125,000 people are expected to attend the Sunday race, once grandstands and corporate suites are finalised.

Melbourne last hosted the event in 2019, with the 2020 event quite literally called off at the last minute as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia.

Andrew Westacott, CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, said he wasn’t surprised sports-starved Victorians were keen to get back to live events.

But he said there was no doubt the hit Netflix series Drive to Survive had attracted new fans to the sport.

“It has been a marketing phenomenon,” he told 3AW Drive.

Mr Westacott also addressed concerns about the event being impacted by hospitality staff shortages, like the AFL was in Round 1.

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