F1 is back: meet the man who policed the British Grand Prix

Formula 1 is back this weekend, and one Derbyshire officer will be watching the first race with a different view on things.

Deputy Chief Constable Simon Blatchly moved to Derbyshire from Northamptonshire Police, and after policing the British Grand Prix for many years was the Gold Commander in charge in 2022. 

From the heydays of Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill in the 90s to experiencing the ‘Lewis Hamilton’ effect in the early 00s, Simon has seen it all while policing Silverstone.

Simon remembers Lewis Hamilton’s first races and the extra crowds he drew to the sport. “That’s when it really started getting busy,” he said. “F1 fans are a friendly bunch, so we actually found a simple way to improve the traffic – using cones and lights instead of officers meant people didn’t stop to chat!”

A Grand Prix is a unique challenge for the police, as Simon recalls. “You have effectively got a town of 400,000 which appears in the countryside for one week a year. So although there is a lot of work around security, actually the biggest challenge is just that crowd management, things like people being able to get enough water when it’s hot. The sign of a good police operation is that everyone’s only talking about the racing, and almost don’t notice what we’re doing.”

And although policing a Grand Prix is an amazing experience, ultimately officers are there with a job to do. “It’s a privilege to be able to walk around the pit lane, but as a commander you’re on edge for the whole of the event because of all the responsibility which is on your shoulders. The race almost just happens – but then there’s that diamond moment when it’s all over. I remember walking around the circuit when everyone had gone home safe, just to soak it all up. It’s an iconic event.”

This season Simon is looking forward to a slightly more relaxed experience watching the F1, where the only thing increasing his heart rate is competitive racing. He’ll be cheering on Lewis Hamilton – even if having a British superstar did make his job a little bit harder for a while.