Silverstone- F1

[Brian Parsons]

To me it's a disgrace seeing that the teams bar Ferrari are based in Britain. But in the end it's all down to the mighty dollar.

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[Hillian1]

To me it's a disgrace seeing that the teams bar Ferrari are based in Britain. But in the end it's all down to the mighty dollar.

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Sauber are based in Switzerland aren't they?

Could be wrong though.

 

[Turkey]

To me it's a disgrace seeing that the teams bar Ferrari are based in Britain. But in the end it's all down to the mighty dollar.

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Toro Rosso are based in Italy, Sauber in Switzerland and Haas in US (Although have a small UK based factory too) I believe.

 

[Turkey]

££££££££££££ (Sadly that's what FI is all about)

Brands would need substantial work carried out to improve safety as the run off areas are too small to get a Grade 1 licence. I believe that would be quite tricky to achieve.

The paddock too small for F1 and there is no space to expand it as it's inside the bowl of the circuit. Plus the roads are no better than Silvertsone. You get mega queues for Touring Cars and F1 attracts much bigger crowds.

Essentially, yes, money could perhaps fix such problems but you're talking mega money and that's even before paying the hosting fees.

 

[Silverhatch]

Brands would need substantial work carried out to improve safety as the run off areas are too small to get a Grade 1 licence. I believe that would be quite tricky to achieve.

The paddock too small for F1 and there is no space to expand it as it's inside the bowl of the circuit. Plus the roads are no better than Silvertsone. You get mega queues for Touring Cars and F1 attracts much bigger crowds.

Essentially, yes, money could perhaps fix such problems but you're talking mega money and that's even before paying the hosting fees.

Believe me, I know all of the issues with the circuit having worked there for five years. I was just responding to the fact that the Paddock Hill is one of the great places to watch motor racing and especially F1 at full chat.

 

[DavidRyder]

I've been there in General Admission for the last 8 years. It's actually 6am that the gates open and you'd usually want to be in the queue an hour before to get your spot. Probably obvious, but take a camping chair, as it reserves your spot and it's a long wait until the race starts. You can take in food and drink (inc. booze but not glass bottles), which is a good thing to do, as like most events it's not the cheapest once you're in. Also if you have a portable radio and headphones, that can be good for commentary during the race.

Everyone has a different opinion on the best spot. My advice is to go to Luffield but at the Woodcote end of it. You walk under the Granstand and there is a few rows of GA. As it get close to Woodcote the fence rises, but if you get to the right of that, you can see the cars come into Brooklands corner which is at the end of the DRS zone so you get to see some overtaking, round Luffield and disapear down the old pits 'straight' towards Copse. I think it's the best place as you get overtaking action, see a lot of the cars and get very close to the cars too. You also have the leader board and big screen close by.

It's a very similar view to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOzOB83NcIE but personally I'd go just a bit further to the left.

Becketts is a cool spot to see F1 cars but better for Qualifying than the race, as not really an action spot during the race. A lot of people rate Vale for GA, I don't personally see the attraction.

Once you've chosen where to go, check the nearest Gate, as you want to be as close to your spot as possible. So Gate 1 or 3 for my suggestion. In the map below, my suggested spot is in front of the Luffield granstand (not on the corner itself) to the left hand side.

http://www.silverstone.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/170627-EntGuide-Plan-A4-prop-lowres.pdf

That looks like the very same bit of banking that I watched from in 1989!

 

[vegster]

Sounds like you really have to be dedicated to go given all the negatives, I admire those that go.

 

[Springal]

I've never been but got hospitality tomorrow (well all weekend but didn't want to give up a weekend to go) quite looking forward to it but not sure what to expect.

 

[Turkey]

I've never been but got hospitality tomorrow (well all weekend but didn't want to give up a weekend to go) quite looking forward to it but not sure what to expect.

I like Friday's in terms of it's a lot quieter so there is time to walk the track and get any merch without the long queues etc. Plus with General Admission you get access to the Grandstands on Friday. You also get quite a lot of track action what with the two practice sessions. That said, Friday is practice, so there's not much to get excited about on track.

If you're in hospitality, you may be reluctant to trek around the track, but if you stand at Maggotts you can get extremely close to the track and see the cars go through there and Becketts which is quite frankly one of the best spots in the world to see the performance of an F1 car is at weaves left, right, left right, left at 200 odd mph.

 

[seagully]

I like Friday's in terms of it's a lot quieter so there is time to walk the track and get any merch without the long queues etc. Plus with General Admission you get access to the Grandstands on Friday. You also get quite a lot of track action what with the two practice sessions. That said, Friday is practice, so there's not much to get excited about on track.

If you're in hospitality, you may be reluctant to trek around the track, but if you stand at Maggotts you can get extremely close to the track and see the cars go through there and Becketts which is quite frankly one of the best spots in the world to see the performance of an F1 car is at weaves left, right, left right, left at 200 odd mph.

What do you think the chances are of bagging a spot at Becketts with general admission on Sunday? Also, we are taking camping chairs. In your experience if we leave them in our spot while we grab food, beers etc do people tend to leave them alone or try to muscle in?

 

[Turkey]

What do you think the chances are of bagging a spot at Becketts with general admission on Sunday? Also, we are taking camping chairs. In your experience if we leave them in our spot while we grab food, beers etc do people tend to leave them alone or try to muscle in?

I've never tried to get there first thing on a Sunday but I suspect everywhere is the same really. Get to the closest gate, get their early and go for it! The entrance to Maggotts is very cool because you get very close to the track and the cars are super fast through there. The downside is you don't tend to get overtaking through there and you don't see loads of the track. At the end of Becketts as the cars turn into Chapel you're on a banked hill so can see a bit more in terms of the entire complex but you are a lot further back from the track.

So Maggotts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPYPosEcX0c
Becketts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgH9EIdPA0A
Both and similar views:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeMv25wMFrE

As for Camping Chairs, for the first few hours in the morning, we usually stay put as people are trying to force their way in. As it gets full though there's literally no room to squeeze in so people don't tend to bother. We usually just get chatting with the people sat around us and say we're just grabbing a burger or whatever and you look out for each other, or leave someone behind whilst the rest of you go for refreshments. I've never seen someone move someone's seat or anything like that.

 

[East Preston Gull]

I usually arrive on the Wednesday and leave on the Monday (as we're all drinking a lot on race day) and the traffic is fine doing it that way. It's a shame the surrounding Towns are so pants though. Went to Austin last year and the bus from Austin to COTA is about the same distance as MK to Silverstone but well, that's where the similarities end! Austin's an amazing city! I don't mind camping once a year but Austin, Montreal and Valencia were all great in terms of having a proper bed and staying in a cool city. Was very, very close to going to Austria this year but didn't quite happen in the end. Gutted as love Austria. Did you camp there? Wasn't sure whether to camp or find and Air BnB to drive too. Even considered driving back to Vienna each day! Will go to Monaco next year now that there's no chance of a Play-Off Final clash and hoping to get down to Paul Ricard too.

Camped on site at Blue campsite. Good toilets/ showers and set around Spielberg village which becomes a Formula 1 party zone.
It was the best GP I have been to. If you go, get a seat in Red Bull Tribune B upper section. You can see almost the whole track and start/ finish line.

The downside was it took us 22 hours to get there with bad traffic around Passau.


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[Turkey]

Camped on site at Blue campsite. Good toilets/ showers and set around Spielberg village which becomes a Formula 1 party zone.
It was the best GP I have been to. If you go, get a seat in Red Bull Tribune B upper section. You can see almost the whole track and start/ finish line.

The downside was it took us 22 hours to get there with bad traffic around Passau.


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Yeah fancied that section although when I was looking at tickets think that block had sold out. Drove to Austria once before and had a similar journey length, think I'll fly next time!

 

[seagully]

I've never tried to get there first thing on a Sunday but I suspect everywhere is the same really. Get to the closest gate, get their early and go for it! The entrance to Maggotts is very cool because you get very close to the track and the cars are super fast through there. The downside is you don't tend to get overtaking through there and you don't see loads of the track. At the end of Becketts as the cars turn into Chapel you're on a banked hill so can see a bit more in terms of the entire complex but you are a lot further back from the track.

So Maggotts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPYPosEcX0c
Becketts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgH9EIdPA0A
Both and similar views:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeMv25wMFrE

As for Camping Chairs, for the first few hours in the morning, we usually stay put as people are trying to force their way in. As it gets full though there's literally no room to squeeze in so people don't tend to bother. We usually just get chatting with the people sat around us and say we're just grabbing a burger or whatever and you look out for each other, or leave someone behind whilst the rest of you go for refreshments. I've never seen someone move someone's seat or anything like that.

Brilliant. Many thanks for the detailed advice and videos, much appreciated

 

[Brian Parsons]

Well how was your day at Silverstone?

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[seagully]

Well how was your day at Silverstone?

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Really good. We got there about seven and ended up sitting by Copse corner. Decent view of track and big screen and my Dad had a great day which was the main thing. Would definitely go again but possibly camp for whole weekend next time.