British Grand Prix gets green light to welcome 140,000 fans
Next month’s British Grand Prix will take place in front of a capacity 140,000 crowd, Silverstone has confirmed, making it the biggest test of the new NHS Covid Pass.
The announcement paves the way for the largest UK crowd since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as part of phase three of the Government’s Events Research Programme.
The Grand Prix takes place just one day before the delayed Freedom Day in England on July 19, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to end coronavirus restrictions.
The pilot events this summer will test covid certification using the NHS Covid Pass, which went live this week.
It is available through the NHS app, which has been modified so it can now show that a person has had both doses of the vaccine jab, a recent negative test or has had the virus in the last six months.
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The race is one of the highlights of the British sporting summer as Lewis Hamilton’s rivalry with Max Verstappen intensifies in the former’s bid for a record-breaking eighth world championship.
The news will come as a major boost to Silverstone, with managing director Stuart Pringle understood to have stressed to Government officials that the circuit – which staged the first ever Formula One world championship event in 1950 – would go bust if fans were not permitted.
Both last year’s British and 70th Anniversary Grands Prix at Silverstone took place behind closed doors.