Formula 1 has been accused of "stifling competition" after insisting all tickets resold through third parties for the F175 event at London's O2 next year will be invalid.
Tickets for the 18 February event, where all 10 teams will unveil their liveries for 2025 with all 20 drivers set to be present, sold out in just 45 minutes when the general sale window opened last Friday.
Soon after, tickets were being listed on resale websites, some for vastly inflated fees of over £1000 – the face value of tickets varied between £58-£113 – while other listings were believed to be for seats that do not exist.
F1 released a statement condemning the swift postings on the resale market, saying it was "against the terms and conditions" and that "any tickets bought through an unofficial resale platform are not valid for entry".
It added that a number of listings were "fraudulent" and advised fans to only seek resale tickets from the official AXS channel.
Unlike recent sought-after events, tickets for the immersive evening were not subject to dynamic pricing and, while it is not illegal to resell tickets via third-party companies at an inflated figure, the stance taken by F1 and The O2 is likely to ward people away.
However, Viagogo, one of the resellers which had listings for F175 tickets soon after they had sold out, has hit back at plans to refuse entry to fans who purchase through its platform.
A Viagogo spokesperson told Motorsport.com: "Ticket resale is legal in the UK and Viagogo is fully compliant in the UK. By restricting resale, event organisers stifle competition and unfairly target fans who choose to buy on a secure, transparent, and highly regulated resale marketplace.
"Ticket fraud is extremely uncommon on our site. There's no incentive for anyone to attempt to sell an invalid ticket on Viagogo, as they will not be paid unless the buyer gets into the event successfully. Sellers can also be charged penalty fees and banned from our platform for any policy violations.
"We operate an event organiser portal where all event organisers can contact us directly to investigate any listings."
