- 77% of British GP purchases are from overseas buyers, up from 48% in 2023
- 62% of British fans’ ticket purchases are now for races outside the UK
- Abu Dhabi GP is the most popular race destination with 119 unique buyer countries
- Tech, information and media is the number one sector travelling to Silverstone for business, according to Perk
The British Grand Prix has seen a 14 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in ticket sales, according to data released by Viagogo ahead of this weekend’s visit to Silverstone Circuit.
The ticketing platform has seen global search activity increase 143 per cent YoY across its platforms, which should see more international visitors to the race than ever before. 77 per cent of purchases are from overseas buyers, up from 48 per cent in 2023.
This isn’t due to a drop in demand among British fans. Instead, British fans are becoming increasingly likely to attend Grands Prix overseas. 62 per cent of British fans’ ticket purchases have been for races outside of the UK, placing them sixth in the world for international travel behind Brazil (98 per cent), China (91 per cent), Australia (86 per cent), Monaco (84 per cent), and Saudi Arabia (79 per cent).
According to Viagogo’s year-to-date (YTD) data, the British Grand Prix currently ranks as the fourth-most popular UK sporting event by sales volume. This falls behind only the Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov boxing fight, the National Basketball Association (NBA) visit to London for the Memphis Grizzlies and the Orlando Magic, and Royal Ascot.
“It’s an exciting time to be heading into the British Grand Prix,” Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula One world champion, told a group of select media. “The fan base here has always been huge, but what’s changed in recent years is just how many people are now travelling from other countries to be part of it and it’s one of the best weekends of the year, a real festival, not just cars on track.
“Since Covid, we’ve seen this brilliant boom in fans travelling to watch races all over the world, and I love that it’s opened the sport up in that way. It all points to a brilliant week ahead at Silverstone.”
This popularity is reflected in the global market as ticket sales have increased 19 per cent YoY around the world. Plus, in a 2025 comparison of unique buyer markets across global sports, Formula One attracted fans from 160 unique buyer countries, outperforming the likes of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Football League (NFL). This represents a 42 per cent increase compared to the 113 unique countries recorded in 2019.
In terms of the most popular Grand Prix destination, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the most diverse with 119 unique buyer countries, followed by the Italian Grand Prix (108 countries) and the Qatar Grand Prix (97 countries).
“Formula One perfectly reflects the platform’s global reach, with unique buyer markets up 42 per cent since 2019 to 160 countries worldwide,” said Shaun Stewart, head of open distribution and sports partnerships at Viagogo.
“The British Grand Prix shows the international appeal in sharp focus, with Silverstone ticket purchases up 14 per cent on last year, and a remarkable 77 per cent of those purchases now coming from overseas visitors, representing a clear sign of how far Silverstone’s reputation has travelled as one of the must-see events of the year.”
Meanwhile, data released by travel and spend platform Perk has revealed that business travel to Silverstone and the surrounding area spikes sharply during the week of the British Grand Prix.
Flight bookings for corporate travel into the UK are up 10 per cent YoY. Domestic flights specifically rose 39 per cent YoY, while international inbound flights are up seven per cent. But Germany is the largest source of corporate travellers during race week, ahead of even the UK.
Drilling down into the data, technology, information and media is the number one sector travelling to Silverstone, up ten per cent YoY. But the businesses travelling to the race span an increasingly wide range of sectors, from green energy firms and women’s health platforms to HR technology companies and insurtech startups, reflecting just how far the motorsport corporate pull has extended beyond its traditional endemic companies.
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