Hamilton pleads with fans not to head to Silverstone

©Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has added his voice to renewed calls for British motorsports fans to stay away from Silverstone next week.

There are fears that fans might ignore official instructions about public safety over coronavirus to stay away from the venue when it holds two double header events behind closed doors

But the police have warned they will take measures to prevent too many people showing up in the area around Silverstone and flouting the rules of social distancing and mass gatherings, which even jeopardise the event itself.

British GP fans warned to stay away from Silverstone

That would be a disaster for F1, and would also hit Hamilton's efforts to win a seventh world championship title in 2020.

He's joined appeals to fans not to come to the race, telling them that they should instead watch from home - even though that means not having any home race support to cheer him on.

“It's not my job to come up with rules and tell people what to do," Hamilton told Motorsport.com this week. "I always just try to encourage people to keep their distance and remain at home.

"We're really trying to remain [focused] and always keep our distances from everyone whilst we're doing our job.

"I can understand people will want to go and watch from a distance, just to get the sound of the car or to get a sneak peek of the car.

“But if that means that you're in a crowd of other people, that's definitely not a good thing and I wouldn't advise that.

“What I see on TV is people out trying to live their lives during this difficult time, but this thing continues to spread," he added. "I always just try to encourage people to keep their distance and remain at home."

Hamilton's comments were endorsed by further pleas from Silverstone Circuit boss Stuart Pringle: "The government requirement is that you can run this event if people are not present.

“The plan we've put together is to comply with the government requirements. And we are doing it and we're doing a thorough job

“We're just getting the messaging out there – get it out early, get it clear, and get it backed up with a bit of authority – so that everybody knows you're serious.”

“It therefore flies in the face of that completely if we allow people to be present," he continued. "That includes congregating at the front gate to see whether they can catch a glimpse of drivers coming in and out.

"You won't, because they're staying on-site in motorhomes the vast majority of them," he pointed out.

Pringle acknowledged that there was "a lot of concern" among people in the area that fans flocking to Silverstone could trigger a spike in coronavirus cases.

There have been similar concerns about sports events including Liverpool fans celebrating the team's Premier League championship at Anfield and crowds forming in Southhampton during the first England vs West Indies test match.

“It’s that these sporting events should not be a magnet to bring people to their locality and increase the risk of transmission of this virus," said Pringle.

Northamptonshire Police superintendent Dennis Murray issued a statement earlier this week detailing how the authorities would be approaching next week's race, as well as the second event a week later.

“There will be an exclusion zone around the circuit and F1 fans must not travel to it, but should instead join the millions watching the races on TV," he said. “My officers will be out and about to target anybody intent on committing crime and there will be teams of officers tightly controlling the area.

“It will not be possible to watch the race from the perimeter fences and anybody attempting to do so will be removed," he added. “Neither will it be possible to park near the circuit. All laybys will be ‘clear ways’ and any cars left unattended will be towed away.

“The use of drones will be prohibited throughout both race weekends. The Civil Aviation Authority has imposed a flight restriction for the entirety of the Grand Prix season.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.