This weekend’s British grand prix debacle could cost Silverstone millions, track boss Richard Phillips has admitted.<\/p>\n
Organisers have vowed full refunds for thousands of spectators who heeded the circuit’s plea to stay away from the mud and traffic chaos on Saturday.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to cost us a lot of money,” he told the Guardian.<\/p>\n
“I honestly don’t know the figure, but it could be a lot more than hundreds of thousands (of pounds).”<\/p>\n
Phillips did, however, hail the patience and perseverance of the Silverstone crowd, after an ordeal that was recognised even from within the F1 paddock.<\/p>\n
“I saw fathers with their sons and daughters, old ladies with backpacks and teenagers, all covered in mud and wearing their coats and hats,” said O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio.<\/p>\n
“I have never seen anything like this country.\u00a0 They are the best fans,” said the Brazilian correspondent.<\/p>\n
Mercedes’ Norbert Haug agreed.<\/p>\n
“They are the best fans in the world,” said the German.\u00a0 “They have taken everything – the rain, the cold – and they still came in their thousands.”<\/p>\n
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