McLaren and Allwyn hosted a Formula 1 demonstration event in Athens, Greece, drawing 20,000 fans and over 100,000 ticket applications, reigniting speculation about a potential Grand Prix in the Mediterranean country.
Athens Demo Draws Massive Demand
The Allwyn x McLaren Racing: Live in Athens event took place at a purpose-built temporary circuit at the OAKA Athens Olympic Sports Park, which was constructed for the 2004 Olympic Games. Allwyn, a multi-national lottery and gaming company and sponsor of McLaren Racing, made 20,000 free tickets available for the event.
Organisers noted that demand could have been higher, with over 100,000 applications submitted for tickets in the weeks leading up to the event, indicating significant interest in F1 within the country.
Historic Context and Growing Momentum
Greece has never hosted a Formula One Grand Prix. Former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone briefly considered a street race in Athens, with a Greek business group presenting plans for a 5.2-kilometre circuit near the port of Piraeus. Those talks ultimately failed, and the idea was dropped in 2014.
Momentum for the sport has been building in Greece. Red Bull hosted a demo run at Tatoi Airport in May, and there was also a show run in Thessaloniki in 2023.
McLaren's Global Fandom Strategy
Speaking exclusively to Express Sport, Louise McEwan, chief Marketing Officer at McLaren, explained the rationale behind the event: “So few fans ever do get to the track despite the phenomenal growth of the sport.
“I think it’s below 1% of fans ever get to a track in their lifetime so there lies our opportunity. Fans want to get closer to us than ever before, they want to be part of our world and we need to take our brand to them as well, knowing they can’t always get to the track.
“This is an incredible opportunity to pop up in a market that doesn’t have a race weekend with Allwyn and engage more fans than ever before.”
McEwan added: “We want fans from wherever they are in the world, typical markets have been the US and the UK over the last couple of years but when we look at growing our fandom, we need to do that globally and this is a really important market for Allwyn. When we can work with a partner where there is a natural force in market where they’ve got an incredible consumer base and we can tap into that, I think it’s incredibly powerful.”
Star Drivers and Classic Cars
The Athens event featured McLaren's 2023 F1 MCL60 and test driver Pato O’Ward, alongside two-time F1 champion Mika Hakkinen, who drove Ayrton Senna's classic 1993 MP4/6. Oscar Piastri was scheduled to participate but a late change in plans due to the Bahrain Grand Prix being moved to Malaysia prevented his attendance.
Pavel Turek, Chief Officer Global Partnerships at Allwyn, said: “Seeing thousands of fans turn up in Athens today is exactly what we hoped for when we launched this event concept in partnership with McLaren Racing.
“At Allwyn, we are always looking to bring more, whether that's more unforgettable moments or more fans closer to the sports and entertainment they love. Bringing speed, thrills and excitement to a nation with such a passion for sport is the perfect way to introduce our international event platform, and we can't wait to bring more of these moments to fans around the world.”
Hakkinen, when asked what it would take to get a Grand Prix in Greece, said: “I think a very easy answer to that is money. It’s a very complex process in my opinion. It’s not a question about fans. Greece has a massive market of fans over here, Formula One fans, that will never be a problem.
“You have a great passion here for Formula One and motorsport in general. But naturally if you look at race tracks like Abu Dhabi and Silverstone to serve the fans including the hotels and everything, it requires a lot of effort and requires a lot of money to build something like that.
“I don’t think it’s impossible. I think if Formula One put in a race in Greece everyone would be super happy. Nobody would have anything against it. One day maybe there can be a driver from Athens or Greece… but you would have to probably go and build up your career in England and race over there with the go karts to find that toughness that is required to become a racing driver.”
Greece currently has no F1 drivers, no F1 teams, and no permanent racing facilities. The event at the OAKA, however, demonstrated strong local enthusiasm for the sport, and the seed for a potential future race has been planted.
