Blame me for empty seats at GP, says Alonso

BARCELONA: Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso blamed his lack of recent success as much as the credit crunch for empty seats at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday.

Organizers expect around 100,000 spectators at the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday, a far cry from the record 140,700 that turned out on race day in 2007 when Alonso arrived as F1 champion for the second successive year. Last year's Sunday attendance was 132,600.

However Spain is suffering in the economic crisis and ticket sales have slowed although 71,600 turned out for Saturday's qualifying to see Alonso qualify eighth with the lighest car on the grid.