Advice for Silverstone F1 newbie (-ish)
Discussion
I’m taking my son (15) to his first Grand Prix at Silverstone and was looking for some pointers about what to do / see over the three days.
The last time I went Schumacher broke his leg, Coulthard won and Jensen Button was pulling off some dubious moves in F3 and I was still bemoaning the good old days when the Grand Prix was at Brands Hatch
so it’s fair to say I’ll be somewhat of a newbie.
Thanks
The last time I went Schumacher broke his leg, Coulthard won and Jensen Button was pulling off some dubious moves in F3 and I was still bemoaning the good old days when the Grand Prix was at Brands Hatch
so it’s fair to say I’ll be somewhat of a newbie.Thanks
I'd suggest:
-Spend Friday's session finding some good vantage points round the track. If you've grandstand tickets, you can use any grandstand (any seat) on Fri and Sat (allocated seating on Sunday)
-There's usually plenty of stuff to do, often a simulator or two, cars on display, plenty of merch to poke etc. Then just organise your day around what you'd like to see on track and go from there.
-Worth taking a set of headphones if you'd like to tune into some audio commentary, or splash out on the official headphones there (think they were about £70 last year)
-Go see the gig(s) in the evening at the circuit
-Take a few snacks (cereal bars etc) with you
-Taking a water bottle is very good advice!
-The queues for the buses (and car park upon exit) are usually pretty slow so bear that in mind.
-Spend Friday's session finding some good vantage points round the track. If you've grandstand tickets, you can use any grandstand (any seat) on Fri and Sat (allocated seating on Sunday)
-There's usually plenty of stuff to do, often a simulator or two, cars on display, plenty of merch to poke etc. Then just organise your day around what you'd like to see on track and go from there.
-Worth taking a set of headphones if you'd like to tune into some audio commentary, or splash out on the official headphones there (think they were about £70 last year)
-Go see the gig(s) in the evening at the circuit
-Take a few snacks (cereal bars etc) with you
-Taking a water bottle is very good advice!
-The queues for the buses (and car park upon exit) are usually pretty slow so bear that in mind.
Edited by LittleBigPlanet on Tuesday 20th June 08:51
Get there early
Pack clothing for all weather - hot, cold, rain, sun
Get there early
Walk around the circuit - this works if you have a grandstand seat. If you're General Admission, you'll need to reserve your spot on race day and stay there.
But walking around the circuit is good - there's loads of stuff to see.
Get there early
Take food/water in if you can - the rations there are expensive and not that great unless you're in club class.
Comfortable walking shoes, clothing, etc.
Did I mention get there early?
The traffic isn't as bad as it used to be. My first British GP was in 1995 and it took us 5 hours to get out at the end of the race. In 2000, we left our home in Milton Keynes around 0700 and got to our viewing point just in time for the warm-up lap.
Nowadays, all roads lead into Silverstone in the morning and out again after the race so it's better, but at the end of the day it's still 140,000 people descending on one relatively small place on one day, mostly by car.
Bobo W said:
When you say “get there early” - what’s early?
If you have a general admission ticket and want to get a good spot near the front, then you want to be there; parked and ready to enter, when the gates open at dawn.......Seriously.If you have grandstand seats then you have the luxury of something more of a lie in, but I'd still be aiming to be at Silverstone for no later than 0600-0700am
If the traffic is light at you're in by 0800 - great. Take a nap in the car and then go about your day. But it's better to be there early than sat in hours of traffic wondering when you'll get in.
Muzzer79 said:
Bobo W said:
When you say “get there early” - what’s early?
If you have a general admission ticket and want to get a good spot near the front, then you want to be there; parked and ready to enter, when the gates open at dawn.......Seriously.If you have grandstand seats then you have the luxury of something more of a lie in, but I'd still be aiming to be at Silverstone for no later than 0600-0700am
If the traffic is light at you're in by 0800 - great. Take a nap in the car and then go about your day. But it's better to be there early than sat in hours of traffic wondering when you'll get in.
I usually drive and park at the circuit (and have grandstand tickets) so tend to arrive around 0700 on Sat/Sun (we're about 45 mins away).
I had no problems leaving last year (but I did run at the chequered flag to get back at a good time). Took a friend about 40 mins to get out of the circuit which is pretty good (at least you're not stuck on a bus in the blistering heat like we were a few years ago, roasting)! Much better to be in a car with air con.
Also, I've found the food to be quite a lot better in the last two years (expensive, yes)--plenty of choice and quality has certainly upped. The pizza I had last year (about £12 iirc) was decent.
I've been going almost yearly since I was nine (30 years ago).
If you have grandstand seats there is a case to be made for rolling up way later than everyone else. I went to quali last year and parked at the school late morning, having driven straight in with no hold-ups. I had a relaxed stroll to the circuit and watched from two different grandstands.
You're parking at the school, which is a brilliant place to be. It's a half-hour walk to and from there to the circuit entrance, but you will just be walking past stationary traffic. When you leave the school, if you are heading north you have a good chance of avoiding most of the exiting traffic.
You're parking at the school, which is a brilliant place to be. It's a half-hour walk to and from there to the circuit entrance, but you will just be walking past stationary traffic. When you leave the school, if you are heading north you have a good chance of avoiding most of the exiting traffic.
LittleBigPlanet said:
I'd suggest:
-Spend Friday's session finding some good vantage points round the track. If you've grandstand tickets, you can use any grandstand (any seat) on Fri and Sat (allocated seating on Sunday)
Pretty sure GA admission on friday includes grandstands.-Spend Friday's session finding some good vantage points round the track. If you've grandstand tickets, you can use any grandstand (any seat) on Fri and Sat (allocated seating on Sunday)
https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/formula-1-bri...
Sliverstone "Racemaker" here, so hopefully can help you out. There's about 800 of us volunteers there over the weekend to help you out if you have any queires etc. We're the ones in the bright pink t-shirts so we should be hard to miss!
I'd definitely recommend using Friday to explore. General admission tickets should get you in any Grandstand on Friday, and if you have a Grandstand ticket you can do the same on Saturday too - just be aware that the popular grandstands (Hamilton Straight, Club) get busy early! My favourite spot to watch is from Becketts, and the new Chapel grandstand looks good too.
As it's Silverstone in summer you can expect all 4 seasons in one day. Last year on Saturday it started off cold and windy, then got boiling hot, then poured down during quali! Being an old air field it does get very windy, so I'd say pack a good coat and some waterproof shoes!
There's plenty of water points around the track so bring a couple of water bottles to fill up. Food can get pricey so bring some of your own if you prefer. The Fan Zone, near Luffield is a great place if you want Merch etc (but it can be cheaper to order in advance!)
Most of all, enjoy! It's a brilliant weekend with loads to see both on and off track.
I'd definitely recommend using Friday to explore. General admission tickets should get you in any Grandstand on Friday, and if you have a Grandstand ticket you can do the same on Saturday too - just be aware that the popular grandstands (Hamilton Straight, Club) get busy early! My favourite spot to watch is from Becketts, and the new Chapel grandstand looks good too.
As it's Silverstone in summer you can expect all 4 seasons in one day. Last year on Saturday it started off cold and windy, then got boiling hot, then poured down during quali! Being an old air field it does get very windy, so I'd say pack a good coat and some waterproof shoes!
There's plenty of water points around the track so bring a couple of water bottles to fill up. Food can get pricey so bring some of your own if you prefer. The Fan Zone, near Luffield is a great place if you want Merch etc (but it can be cheaper to order in advance!)
Most of all, enjoy! It's a brilliant weekend with loads to see both on and off track.
BenA27 said:
paulguitar said:
Hello! Quick question for you, will there be little huts selling grandstand upgrades on quali day this year?
Good question! Not sure yet, probably best to ask around on Fridayeliot said:
LittleBigPlanet said:
I'd suggest:
-Spend Friday's session finding some good vantage points round the track. If you've grandstand tickets, you can use any grandstand (any seat) on Fri and Sat (allocated seating on Sunday)
Pretty sure GA admission on friday includes grandstands.-Spend Friday's session finding some good vantage points round the track. If you've grandstand tickets, you can use any grandstand (any seat) on Fri and Sat (allocated seating on Sunday)
https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/formula-1-bri...
Bobo W said:
When I started going a 3 day ticket was £12, mind you that was 1980, how times have changed.
I have a ticket stub for the last GP to held at Brands Hatch in 1986 which shows a price of £25.00 for general admission. The CPI Inflation calculator shows that to the equivalent of £93.73 today. I think General Admission to Silverstone is around the £190.00 mark so in real terms we're paying £100 more than we were in the 80s. However...From memory, race day at Brands in '86 included two rounds of the then BTCC, A Formula Ford Race, a Formula 3 race and a Celebrity Fiesta Race. Plus a proper airshow that included Condorde flying low enough to be able to see the Pilot waving from the window. And lovely ladies wearing very little giving out free fags! (those were the days when 'woke' referred to what you did in the morning).
Silverstone this year; you'll get an F2 race, the Red Arrows and no free fags.
You can play the "Spot the Alpine merchandise" game. Since Enstone was bought back by Renault (post Lotus) they've never seemed to have any merch at GPs. Spotting the odd t-shirt or cap for sale (usually from a previous season) is akin to seeing and actual Alpine A110 on the road. It's a rare sight but you know they're out there somewhere.
Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff