Which is your favorite track?

[pompelmo]

Which is your favorite F1 GP track in a spectators view?
I mean tell me which GP have you visited and how much can you
see on this GP and id it worth going to see this GP!
I was in Italian GP in Monza last year, I had a general admission
ticket (150€-weekend) and I didn't see a ---!
It wasn't worth it!

This year I went to the San Marino GP in Imola with a granstand
ticket(120€-weekend) and I saw allmost the whole track (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th corner). And It was WORTH IT!
I went to see what's the view with the general admission tockets!
I was outstanding

[Monstrobolaxa]

Well I've been at the Spanish GP.....with a general admission and I say the end of the main straight and braking for the quick chicane....Repsol if I'm not mistaken....well it was worth it...I was at Estoril in 1996 and only saw 1 braking point...and a very small straight that went up to turn 3.

Put I've been in the CART Paddock 2 times.....the Paddock RULES!!!

[Reca]

I was in Italian GP in Monza last year, I had a general admission ticket (150€-weekend) and I didn't see a ---!

It mainly depends by what you want to see and by the position you was. Due to the layout, the trees, the lack of elevation changes, in most of the good spots there’s usually a grandstand with its unaffordable costs. Still the are a few interesting positions for general admission if you know how to reach them, at least, that was few years ago, nowadays I don’t know what kind of freeness a general admission ticket allows.
It’s a lot of time I avoid to go to the track on the race weekend, a couple of years ago I was there on the Saturday just because I received a free grandstand ticket, but I was really disgusted by the dimension of the Paddock club and the VIP areas. I wanted to go to the bookshop and it took me about 10 times the time required on a normal day... But you have to thank Bernie for that, not the Monza organisation.
To actually enjoy F1 from the track the test sessions are lot better, you spend almost nothing, you can go basically everywhere without problems, you have plenty of time to see the cars because they test from 9 am to 17-18 with just a pause for lunch, furthermore there are several test sessions during the year.
Add to this that there’s lot less public and it’s almost entirely formed by true passionate people and not by the “my MS(/JPM/whoever else) shirt(/cap/flag) is better than yours” kind of fans you see on race days. You can have interesting discussions with other people or even better, with the marshals, I had really excellent chats with marshals during the test sessions (not only of F1), they are true motorsport lovers.

As for Imola, this year it was a special case and I hope more tracks will follow. They actuated a huge reduction of tickets cost because they wanted to have lot of public in an attempt to save the gp, previous years surely it wasn’t so cheap. If I’m not mistaken they claimed to have increased the cost of most expensive grandstands to reduce the other tickets. After all if one can afford 380 € for a seat, probably could spend also 400€, while a 20€ reduction is a huge incentive if you are planning to spend the less you can.

[rudo7]

Hi,
I was just wondering, how much is the ticket for test sessions? And where can I find out where and when they take place?
By the way, I went to see European GP and I wasn't really satisfied with the view I had. The worstest thing was, that they didn't let us go anywhere else. So we had to stick to one place for whooooole race

[j4kwan]

I was at the Malaysian GP this year (hurray for me) and it was the most spectacular scene. I was at the F seats where the you get to see turns 6/7/8 and then turn 15 hairpin to the straight or watch the racers rev down for the pit entry.

Getting to the circuit was just as fun. We took the local transit from KL where everyone just piled onto a rickety bus and hung on for dear life.

[Monstrobolaxa]

rudo.....test sessions usually are open to public....you don't need to pay anything...but usually there are some closed ones...I've been thrown out of the Estoril track in 2000 for jumping the fence twice (it was a Michelin closed session)....but in any case I still took 4 rolls of film

About the tickets...like my dad usually says..."it's better to watch at home"...and I say: "well at least at the track you have the "good-thing" feeling" but my dad is right....you see more on Tv then at the race track! But don't complain too much rudo it's the same almost in every track you don't see too much...and you can't go anywhere.

[bernard]

about testing sessions... are you free to go anywhere on the track, or are there some certain "spectating" areas. More to the point, are you at any point of the day allowed on the pitlane?

[Reca]

Tests... well the official answer :
According to the official website (I discovered it a few minutes ago...) the ticket for collective tests in Monza is 10€ (3€ for under 18, free for under 11). It allows to go everywhere but it the pitlane/paddock, you need a particular pass for that but I honestly don’t know how to have it, I never asked.
BTW, that’s only for collective F1 tests, if there’s only 1 team (or even 2) there’s no ticket to pay it’s just like any regular day (you have to pay only if you want to enter with your car from the principal gate, but why should you ?).
At the official website of the Autodromo you can find the list of events of the month with all the indications you need : http://www.monzanet.it

Then the unofficial answer... as far as I remember I never paid for a collective test... and not because I jump the fences, simply there are a couple of gates that they close only for the GP, you just have to know where they are and pass from there. I have the suspect that they leave them open on purpose, it has always worked this way. From there you can go everywhere but in the grandstand in front of the pits because there’s a ticket control there.

Monstrobolaxa : what your dad tells to you is what my dad tells to me since I was born, and they are right, F1 is a tv sport, actually that’s true for most of motorsport races, if they’re available in tv then stay at home you will see a better show. The only race I believe are better at the track are endurance races.
About the “good thing”, one of my preferred experiences is to stay in one of the metallic “bridges” crossing the straight line between Ascari and Parabolica. You see nothing because it’s a closed metallic structure, but when the cars pass under you, you can really feel them with your whole body as the structure vibrates. There are a few further spots where you can really feel similar good things, the tunnel under the main straight line, the “tunnel” right before Ascari etc.
Anyway the feeling is the same on test day and race day so...

[West]

Like I said before, I went to a CART race and feel asleep after 30 minutes. It could be that it was an oval race, but I did see everything, and after a while it got old. I feel asleep everytime a car crashed =( except for the last crash, which was spectacular. It was at California Speedway 2002.

My dad wanted to go to Indy this year but I told him it's better on TV. I like the idea of the pitwalk but I don't want to have to spend more than 4 days w/ him cuz we really don't have much to talk about (it's not a bad relationship btw).

[Monstrobolaxa]

Well didn't know Monza charged tickets for tests...but it's interesting anyway!

About pit/paddock passes I've been in the paddock at a test at Estoril as a guest of BAR in 2000! But I had to move around a little....by sending a few letters! Well paddock/pit access is limited to team guests basicly....and some journalists! There was this one interview a few years back in F1 Racing where the journalist said that the team had to leave his name at the paddock gate so he could get in! So even being a journalist won't help you that much!

But we can wait for Scarbs to help us a little on this.....he's the experienced one in paddock entries

[Mikacouli]

As a Belgian i take Francorschamps offcourse. It's the most beautiful track in the world. The reason why it's so fantastic is that the track is very old and it has a history. Tracks like Maleisië, Bahrein don'thave a history.

[doc f1]

Its not about historic , but from atmosphere and how is the view on the track .
In Spa you buy a brons ticket and you see the whole track from the radillon , les combes and the busstop etc..
And the ambiance on the campings is one of ..
Last year i see the nurburgring and the same is that the circuit is in sections , nice views but you cant see the whole track , and no spa atmosphere .
This year i buy silver for Spa in spa , because if you have brons you have to run like hell at 5.30 am to get this view at the busstop , and now i am 31 years old and have a lot off fun at night in francorchamp there will be no time to sleep , so i go for silver .
Hope to see you all in spa at the busstop ...