Webber on Turkey - 'there was no-one here'

Instead of covering grandstands with asphalt-coloured tarpaulin or removing trackside broadcast cameras, organisers of the Turkish Grand Prix should have swung open the gates, Mark Webber said after finishing second at Istanbul Park.

All weekend at the impressive Hermann Tilke-penned circuit, observers have marvelled at the scarcity of spectators, as did the Australian driver as he and his fellow drivers waved at near-empty grandstands while on the back of a slowly circulating flat-bed truck prior to Sunday's race.

"Jenson and I spoke about this on the parade lap, that to get some more people in here, to let them experience our sport, we should have let them in for free," said Webber, 32.

Observers in Istanbul have wondered all weekend why some grandstands, built with multicoloured seats, had been covered at the last minute.

It turns out that it was to camouflage the fact that, from a helicopter's viewpoint, television viewers may have been unaware that a major motor sporting event was taking place below.

Sunday's official headcount was 36,000, at a venue whose capacity is in excess of 150,000.

"I am looking forward to Silverstone because I think it will be a great atmosphere, unlike here. There was no one here," Webber lamented.