Counting the crowds

In an idle moment last year I found myself watching the build-up to the World Cup Wales v Argentina rugby match. (Odd, as when I played the game at school I found it expedient, if encouraged to pick the ball up, to appear to drop it as soon as possible, to avoid a sudden fall and possible injury.) F1 has not resorted to quite this Cardiff style of overture, although it comes somewhere near to it, with the massive and frequent helicopter landings for good measure, and the organisers of Indianapolis used to stage pre-race shows before the Independence Day Indy ‘500’.

No doubt more viewers saw the Cardiff World Cup than watched the British GP billions, they say, on TV but it is interesting that whereas 72,500 people filled the Welsh Millennium Stadium, I am told the GP brought 282,000 to Silverstone last year. I wonder if this year’s rescheduling to April will prove as popular.