It has been six years since I attended the last time Australian Grand Prix raceAnd while sport exploded in global popularity, the experience within the Paddock Club has gone in the opposite direction. Once an exclusive haven for elite guests in Formula 1, the Australian club Paddock now feels like a glorious public acceptance area, chaotic, and completely disagreeing with the luxury of its international counterparts.
On Sunday afternoon, the scene inside the Paddock club sponsored by the American Express this year- was not less than the massacre by the end of the day. Sugarly, guests of companies fill in the space, and Shoes was flowing as if they were meeting Daniel Richardo’s fans, and excessive promotional models around them without a goal in their brand uniforms. Sometimes, it looked like a port in the suburbs at the time of closing more than the top of Motorsport Hospitality.
On the other hand, and Formula 1 Paddock Club Experience has been coordinated in destinations such as Singapore, Monaco, Miami and Las Vegas to the ninth degree. These are very polished spaces, and the exclusive double as celebrities, billionaires and executives are mixed in air -conditioned luxury, wonderful and shoulders with schools and drivers. The experiment is supposed to be smooth, a mixture of position, exclusive and entertainment. However, the Australian Grand Prix race followed a different approach: increasing ticket sales to the maximum and leaving the chips to fall where it might. Yeeheaaw!
Why is the Australian club Paddock very different?
Unlike other Formula 1 circles where Paddock Club is managed directly by Formula 1 itself, the rights of the Paddock Club in Australia owned by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation. This is a decisive difference. While the F1 strongly raised global hospitality standards, creating distinguished experiences that are in line with the attractiveness of the newly discovered luxury brand, the Australian Grand Prix has gone in the other direction- the Paddock club filling into the rafters with the largest possible number of guests who pay.
This was not always the case. Five years or so, the Australian Paddock club had fewer people, but the experience was clearly distinguished. The crowd was a mixture of high -value individuals, corporate executives, and fans of the serious F1 who were there for the race like champagne. Now, it seems to be more free for everyone, as priority is more than quality.
The floor on the street is that this may change in the coming years, as Formula 1 may show off control of the Paddock Club club to match the higher brand expectations. If this happens, Pioneers of Australia may find themselves price, as sport turns into a useful and developed experience and meets the needs of the global elite instead of the celebrities of local companies looking for a big day.
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Luxury brands are watched- and expect more
If Australia really wants to put itself as the premium formula 1 destination, it needs to take a closer look at how Paddock works. The fact is that luxury global brands are increasingly investing in this sport, and they expect to deal with its largest spit according to that.
Louis Vuitton, a sponsor of the Australian Grand Prix for this year, was a major coup for this event. However, the level of expectation comes. LVMH hosted some of its largest customers via MOëT Hennessy, Tage Heuer and Louis Vuitton in the Asia Pacific region, and you can bet that they were asking about what was going on on the ground while passing through Paddock. This is not a small care. It is a dangerous investment from the most powerful luxury group in the world. They are not here for half of the measures.
Just take a look at what F1 did in Las Vegas. This sport has done very lengths to formulate a distinguished experience that screams exclusive, attracted the pioneers of the high world and ensures that the deep pockets feel that they are part of something really special. Miami is the same, with the hospitality inspired by the yacht and the energy inlaid of fame.
If the event wants to attract Who is he One of the global business and entertainment, it must adjust how he wants to see it and what Paddock Club really means. Because at the present time, the Paddock Club Club in the Australian Grand Prix while it did not succeed commercially and a lot of fun, is not an offer to luxury- it’s a lost chance.
