Amid fears of a protest from Just Stop Oil activists, 100 soldiers have been deployed at the British Grand Prix this weekend, in a bid to thwart any of the organisation’s plans.
Just Stop Oil activists did invade the track on the opening lap at the Silverstone International Circuit last season, after they breached security at the Wellington Straight.
Five activists ran onto the Wellington Straight, much to the shock of several drivers.
Due to a huge barrel roll crash for Zhou Guanyu at the opening corner, the race was immediately red flagged, which meant the drivers weren’t going past the activists at full speed.
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Given how prominent the activists have been at sporting events in the UK this year, an attempted protest is expected on Sunday.
Just Stop Oil activists recently disrupted a tennis match at Wimbledon during the week, where they threw orange glitter and jigsaw pieces onto the court.
In a bid to stop any protest from happening, security has been heightened.
Intense bag searches are being conducted and facial recognition is being used, whilst Northamptonshire police will be guarding the circuit’s fencing.
The army will also be present at Silverstone, where they’ll be positioned around the track.
A plan to reduce the risk of a protest has been devised by Silverstone bosses, F1, Northamptonshire police and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Silverstone chief executive Stuart Pringle is hopeful that “serious disruption” will be avoided throughout the British GP; however, he has stressed that everyone must “work together” to thwart a protest.
“We need to work together to ensure the weekend passes without serious disruption,” Pringle said, as reported by The Daily Mail.
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Should any protest take place, then there will be hopes that it doesn’t take place on a live circuit like last season, something which could prove to be deadly.
F1 bosses will likely see it as an accomplishment if they can get through every session without any interruption from Just Stop Oil this weekend, in order to keep everybody safe and to stick to the tight schedule.
With 480,000 fans expected to be in attendance across the weekend at Silverstone, it’s certainly going to be a packed affair.