Best F1 race to attend?

G-Money

I've only ever been to one Formula 1 race in my life, which was the 2003 Australian Grand Prix. Obviously Australia is one of the races that requires a bit more of a trip than the others during the season, but I was in Australia at the time so it was no big deal.

I'm sure other people here have been to a lot more races than I have. I'm just wondering, based on your own experiences of going to them, which races are the best to attend? Feel free to suggest any race you've been to that's on the current calendar, even if it's at the other end of the earth

cashmni1

like yourself I have only ever been to 1. That was the Hungarian GP in Budapest (2003). Great GP to go to. Cheap and Budapest was great.
From what I understand, the best all rounder is Barcelona, just for atmosphere and next to a great city. I would love to go to the one in Saville with the street track.

biggus

Spa in Belguim is fantastic and easy to get to. also its like going to the phoenix park and eau rouge has to be seen to be believed,especially standing looking up the hill after the race. You can also stay in four countries less than an hour away, to get over the booked up local acommadation. Not that far from Amersterdam either !!

Woden

About 5 years ago I think it was I did Monza and then a year later the Hungary. Was the time of Schumacher dominance and while appreciative of his skill I was not really a fan. In fact I almost fell asleep at the Hungary race! Though I did bump into Jenson Buttons dad in a pub omg ITV do like to interview the British drivers fathers thats for sure.

From a practical point of view I found Hungary easier to get to and with better facilities then Monza (I was staying in Milan for the weekend). Though I prefare the Monza track. Overall there is other races though i'd prefare to go to these days. Singapore would be up there. Always wanted to see Monaco. Spa for the great races and I've a friend in Montreal who says race weekend is great there what with the track being so central.

biggus

I've also been to Imola; stay in rimini beach resort, good train links to track, Spa stayed in amersterdam ,magnys cours in middle of no where but great go kart track beside circuit, hockenheim stayed in heidelberg. Jerez not on current calender.

cashmni1

SPA and a spin to Amsterdam it is then !!
Yipeeeeee......

G-Money

Yeah I have to admit I wouldn't be keen on going to a race and the accomodation being an hour or more away, and that's an hour without getting stuck in traffic, queues etc.

Just checked, Spa seems really really far away from Amsterdam. I should also point out that I couldn't be bothered with camping either. Trying not to sound like a primadonna here...

NialoF1

I've never been to a race yet but the last place I'd go is Magny Cours :P

G-Money

I think Monaco could be good, but would require a lotto win first. Plus I'm sure they have a pretentiometer at the gates and only let people in who are super pretentious and there not to watch the race

NialoF1

grandmaster wrote: »

I think Monaco could be good, but would require a lotto win first.

Too true, if you had 5 grand budget you'd probably be broke before you even get to Monte-Carlo lol

balon

I was at Barcelona 04 and Monza 06. The track in Barcelona can be mad to get to if you are staying in the city. The trains from Barcelona are literally full to bursting to begin with even from 8am on and it's a good 40+ min walk again to the track from the train station. This was before Alonso won his first championship too, bear in mind. The atmosphere was great though and Barcelona is a good city.

Monza 06 was when Schumacher announced his retirement. The Italian crowd went completely crazy. Talk about an atmosphere. Monza circuit is in a park about 30 mins outside Milan. On raceday, there are free trains right to the track from the main station in Milan. (Imagine this in Ireland - think Ryder Cup)

Next up for me will be Monaco or Valencia. Monaco would be expensive, but anyone I know who has been there says being so close to the track is amazing. I walked the track while there last summer (non race weekend) and you can really imagine it being very special.

Valencia is very appealing. It's a new race this year and is another street circuit with higher speeds than Monaco. Balance is tipped in it's favour at the moment I think

dor83

I've been to Canada, Brazil and Monza and I would recomend Montreal above the other 2 because the feeling around the city is much batter than Sao Paulo or Milan. There is also a metro station on the island that is right next to the entrance, which makes it really easy to get to. The facilities at the track were the best too, there was everything you needed inside the track, whereas Sao Paulo had nothing but Monza had a good bit too. If you do go to Monza, the train is free on the sunday from Milan to the track and I found it the quickest way to get there.

I did love Brazil but it was more for other reasons than the GP, which was very good but there was nothing at the track for the fans. If you did go I would recomend spending as little time in Sao Paulo as you can(it is nice to see Sennas grave if you get the chance) and go to Rio, theres so much more to do there.

meditraitor

biggus wrote: »

Spa in Belguim is fantastic and easy to get to. also its like going to the phoenix park and eau rouge has to be seen to be believed,especially standing looking up the hill after the race. You can also stay in four countries less than an hour away, to get over the booked up local acommadation. Not that far from Amersterdam either !!

+1
or Monza

If I had the dollars Id love to catch Australia or the Chineese:o

Biro

NialoF1 wrote: »

I've never been to a race yet but the last place I'd go is Magny Cours :P

Magny Cours is the bargain of F1! For about the cheapest general admission of any circuit you can get to within 30 feet of the track at the hairpin from the long straight. Watched Kimi almost win his first race there in a McLaren with Schu on his tail, but it went pear shaped when a Toyota packed it in in front of them and Kimi ducked outside and Schu ducked inside and managed to get past, only a handful of laps to go. 2003 I think it was. Easy to get to also.

Lucy Lu

Spa, great, a real fans track.

Indy, was not as good, a lot of Americans don't get F1

Barcelona. great

Hockenheim, not one of the better

Monza, unreal

Monaco, the best, unique

Hungary, great too

Turkey, lacking atmosphere

Valencia..................dont know yet

steviec

I've only been to one which was Monaco in 2001 and it actually wasn't that expensive. Stayed in Cannes and got the train down each day, I think it was about 1000 euro in total including an extra week in france after the race.

The best thing about Monaco is that they re-open the roads about an hour after the race and you can walk the track or go right up to the pits, where the teams are usually still working on the cars or just starting to pack up. Brilliant experience.

I really wanted to go to the Singapore GP this year but circumstances didn't work out. I'd imagine that would be an amazing one though.

ewj1978

Always wanted to do Spa..been told its a brilliant party all weekend long..
Anyone but me notice that no-one mentioned the closest track to Ireland?.. that being silverstone ofc.... Heard some awful stories about it..transport links are meant to be awful altogether.. And don't even try to drive to it...

biggus

I was warned by Eddie jordans right hand man years ago never to go to Britain for a GP.
The Brits like to queue to much,at the entrance, for the car park, for the jacks, for food ,for the paddocks etc etc. Plus there's too many of them !

I always went further afield for the convenience!and never booked anything in advance, Imola, Spa ,Jerez,Hockenheim,Magnys Cours.

This forced me to interact with the locals, We always fell on our feet with the closest shave havin been the possibility of sharing a tent in Magnys Cours with some Germans we bet off the Go Kart Track.

Some Irish charm got us B&B right in town even though two Brits in McLaren uniforms told us not a chance of accomodation for 100 miles.

Always had the back up of a large people carrier in case we got caught short for a Bed.. never happened.

Dilbert75

Spa is just amazing - walked in the gate on the first day and saw F3000's driving up Eau Rouge and it looked like they were going up a vertical wall. We were there in 98 so, for obvious reasons, it was extra-special.

Went to Monaco in 99 - didn't cost a bunch as I was staying with my brother in Nice but, as already posted, you can easily, quickly and cheaply travel from many towns and cities along the rail line between the South of France and northern Italy. Tickets are a set price, food & drink prices are typical of GPs. But the sound as 22 cars buzz around the streets is just amazing - like sitting in a bee hive.

Geo08

All of this coming from a campers perspective....

Hockenheim 06 - fantastic atmosphere around the campsite, germans love their racing & make that whole week a holiday & facilities superb, very good seating on the general admission tix if u like early morning long long walks :pac:

Monza 06 - hotel for this one, public transport isnt the best nor is milan & nor is the general admission (again must be early early starts for decent seats)

Barcelona 07 - turned up on the sat, wandered into campsite, no one asked us to pay so we just pitched up our tent in a parking space no one was using this race i would say u have to come with buckets of food as no where for food was found (we had a bag of peanuts which is all we ate :rolleyes:)

Spa 07 - tickets up on eau rouge - fantastic, best of all so far. camping again was great craic, although it was freezing at night & not much on offer again food wise in the evening, but the waffles around the track were ace!!

So in my experience i now hate camping except if in hockenheim!!:pac::pac::pac:

shamwari

I went to Silverstone in 1988 and 1990 for the GP, and again in 1998 for the BTCC. Getting into and out of the place was a nightmare. It is supposed to be better now as there is now a new road, but I wouldn't fancy trying it unless I was in a chopper! The facilities were crap too.

I went to Barcelona for the GP in 2002 on a day trip. Up at 4am, out on a charter flight 7pm, coach straight to circuit at the other end and the same in reverse to get home, which was 1am the following morning. It was great craic but was far too much for one day.

I went camping in South West France earlier this year and an Irish lad there went up to Magny Cours. He had paid for his tickets in advance and had to collect them on the gate before 12noon local time, after which the dispensing of tickets stopped. Due to the sheer craziness of the traffic, he travelled the last 10 miles up country lanes at walking pace and arrived at the entrance around 15 minutes before the off. He was refused his prebooked tickets as he was late, and ended up having to buy general admission tickets and stand in a crap spot where he saw nothing.

He left after the race and didn't make it back to the campsite until around 2am the following morning. Apparently the town of Nevers beside the track was gridlocked for hours after the race. I've since found out that this sort of mayhem happens every year at that track and is one of the reasons why nobody runs packages to that track like Spa / Monza et al.

I was in Monaco last year but not at race time. You commute into the principality by rail from somewhere like Nice or Cannes. Good accomodation can be found in Nice but you will pay a premium (around €400 upwards for a twin room for the weekend).

Slighly off topic, but I've done quite a few of the BTCC races in the UK and to be honest they are great craic. I've done Donnington, Croft and Knockhill and they are excellent. I'm toying with going to Brands Hatch in three weeks for the season finalé. Sure it aint F1, but you won't pay the bandit prices of F1 either and will probably have just as much craic with half the aggravation of getting into, out of, and around the circuit.

Whatcar

NialoF1 wrote: »

Too true, if you had 5 grand budget you'd probably be broke before you even get to Monte-Carlo lol

I have been to Monaco 5 times and it is the best from a spectators
point of view. The idea that Monaco is only for the rich is not true
we stayed in both Nice and Antibes and commuted to Monaco for
pratice days and race day.The rail system is second to none and
Monaco has shops that are as good value as I have seen in Spa
Italy UK or Spanish GP's.You dont have to shop in BOSS and GUCI
stores and most of the stuff you need you get in Nice. The only
thing I will say is you need a seat in the stands but this goes for
most GP.

shane329

I've been to Silverstone 98,99,01, Monza 02, Hockenheim 03, Montreal 04 Barcelona 05, Monaco 06 and Spa last weekend.

Have to say Monaco would be my favorite and was quite easy to reach from Nice by train. Barcelona too has a great atmosphere. Spa is definitely the most spectacular of all the circuits I ve been to and you can get great views with a general admission ticket. I believe they've improved the roads around Silverstone since I was last there. The traffic jams were very frustrasting.

MyTop 3:
Monaco
Spa
Barcelona

jank

Going to singapore in 2 weeks so ill let ya know how i get on.
Now it will be my first F1 GP so it will probably be amazing anyway for me but il try and keep my feet on the ground:p

dor83

I'll be heading to Singapore for the race too so I'll report back too. It's not my first race but it should still be very different to any other race, I can't wait to see F1 cars racing at night.

G-Money

Anyone who's been to Spa, have you stayed at that hotel that's right by the circuit? It's a fairly small place, but it's literally a really short walk from La Source.

Spa looks like a great place to see a race, although I don't want to camp if I decide to go next year.

Also, if you want to sit at Eau Rouge, is it general admission or allocated seating?

G-Money

I also think Suzuka would be great to go to, but wildly expensive. As far as I know, from next year they will be alternating the Japanese Grand Prix between Fuji and Suzuka, and I believe that means next years Japanese Grand Prix will be in Suzuka.