Monaco & spa

[86vd]

Anyone been to the Monaco or spa grand prix would like to know what best viewing spots are!
Is general admission good enough or would I need grandstand tickets?
This would be for the 2012 season, hopefully Spa will still be on the schedule

[Brands]

Best places at Spa are of course Eau Rouge (at the very bottom looking up the rise to Radillon) and from Blachimont (mega! And a great viewing are looking down on the apex) to the Bus Stop chicane which, unfortunately is nothing like as good as it was. Up the top around Rivage is good for the atmosphere up there but if you want to see just how quick an F1 car is then the first two are a must.

[formulasuper]

I stood along the fence on the inside of the track between 17 & 18 near Blachimont at Spa in 89' in the pouring rain with the F1 cars flying by only a couple of yards away. You could only see the first car in a pack, the rest were totally hidden by the spray.
Results: Senna, Prost & Mansell in that order.

[Brands]

I stood along the fence on the inside of the track between 17 & 18 near Blachimont at Spa in 89' in the pouring rain with the F1 cars flying by only a couple of yards away. You could only see the first car in a pack, the rest were totally hidden by the spray.
Results: Senna, Prost & Mansell in that order.

[Ed Erlandson]

I have not been to Monaco but I have been to Spa a few times, including racing there.
It is a huge track by comparison to many others, in the middle of a forest.
A great place to spend the weekend. You need to either book a hotel VERY early, as there are not many in the area, or plan to camp at the track which is a good option.

The walk from the garage area (close to the hairpin la source) up to the far end of the track is at least a half hour walking. Blanchmont would be to the right, eau rouge to the left. In between is Pouhon, (not sure of the spelling) which is another of SPA's really difficult turns (David Coulthard thought this was a highlight of SPA as well as Blanchmont).

A great track to drive, and I thought among the best to be a spectator.
Go, get tickets, its very nice. It is just the hotels that are dificult beacuse the track is close to the middle of no where.

[Hawke]

We did Monaco about 2 years ago, and were down at the waterfront looking over the harbour. You could see the cars coming out of the tunnel, across the front, left before the swimming pool. Just behind you, you could see the cars leaving the start, and go up the hill. It was great.

Having said that, we just got the tickets on spec, and I have no idea if other places are better or otherwise.

I dont think that there are any general admission areas - only grandstand or rooms looking over the track. Grandstand is probably an overstatement. More stand than grand.


Hints:

1. Take your money with you, it is as dear as poison. Coffee for two - inside the track - $20 for two. However, sandwiches outside of the track about $5 each, and were great.
2. Stay down at Nice - 20 mins by train, and very well organised transport.
3. Drive only if you have a Ferrari. The local dealer becomes a Ferrari only parking station.
4. Your wife will like it, as there are very few support races. Porsche Cup and Formula Renault when we went.
5. Friday is a no race day. After going to several Australian Grand Prix's where there is on track events for 3 days straight, this is a big difference.
6. If you are in a public stand, there is no comfort. We had to buy special cushions - but hey, they look good in my race car trailer.
7. I havnt done all the worlds tracks yet, but this has to be the best place in the world to see an F1 race.

Now my turn. Where is the best place for Singapore? We are going next month.

[cgscgs]

See if you can tour the parts of the original track (8+ miles) which are not included in the current layout. I assume that is still easy to find.
In 1976 while in the army in Germany I went to a touring car race at the old version of Spa. Slept in my car and Monday morning drove the entire course with the exception of Eau Rouge, where you had to take a short detour. I remember driving past houses which had armco protecting their front yards, with a couple of pieces removed for driveway access. I passed a couple of trucks with crews removing those barriers.
Then I headed back to my base, conveniently passing the Nurburgring where I spent my last 10 DM ($4) to take a lap.
Great weekend. I've attached a couple of pictures.

[David G]

Whatever you do, do not book for the balcony at the Hermitage hotel. Back in 97, I paid 500 bucks for sunday, and when I got there, it was ten people deep, and even if you were at the railing, you would only see the cars for under a second. I was told when I booked it, that we could see the start and corner one, that was false. We ended up sitting in the bar, and watching on tv. (it poured rain)
For Quali and the other races we watched at the grandstand at Casino square. Was pretty good spot. I got the tickets at the track on the Weds before the weekend. The best spot from what I remember, was the grandstand at the corner after the tunnel. All the action is always at that corner. You can go up the side of the mountain over by Rascasse, but it gets packed, and people get their spots at dawn.
It is a great spot to go see once in your life.
David

[EACIII]

The Grand stand you want is K1 if I remeber right. Is it along the water front. You can see the cars come out of the tunnel and head for you. Then they turn and follow the water unit they turn right again. Also there is a hugh TV screen right in front of you so you can see the action on the rest of the track. Another plus is all the pretty girls in swim suits will be right in front of you on the boats.

I went to the Vintage GP last year and the food was not priced to bad (less then at Lime Rock and much better). Finding restrooms can be an issue and in Europe they want you to pay most of the time. So if coming in on the train use the free port-a-post at the station before heading down to the track. Also there are restrooms under the K grand stands.

Ed

[JakeL]

My experience mimic's Hawke's and Ed's. My fiance and I went to the Monaco GP this year. I specifically got seats in the back row so that we could look over the back to the starting grid - we were looking straight down into Sebastien Vettel's car at the start, and the sound of the cars as they come out of the pits and off the speedlimiter is otherworldly.

As Ed says, the TV screen, bikini babes on the boats, and visibility of Tabac and the swimming pool chicanes is great.

Highly recommended.

-Jake

We did Monaco about 2 years ago, and were down at the waterfront looking over the harbour. You could see the cars coming out of the tunnel, across the front, left before the swimming pool. Just behind you, you could see the cars leaving the start, and go up the hill. It was great.

Having said that, we just got the tickets on spec, and I have no idea if other places are better or otherwise.

I dont think that there are any general admission areas - only grandstand or rooms looking over the track. Grandstand is probably an overstatement. More stand than grand.



Hints:

1. Take your money with you, it is as dear as poison. Coffee for two - inside the track - $20 for two. However, sandwiches outside of the track about $5 each, and were great.
2. Stay down at Nice - 20 mins by train, and very well organised transport.
3. Drive only if you have a Ferrari. The local dealer becomes a Ferrari only parking station.
4. Your wife will like it, as there are very few support races. Porsche Cup and Formula Renault when we went.
5. Friday is a no race day. After going to several Australian Grand Prix's where there is on track events for 3 days straight, this is a big difference.
6. If you are in a public stand, there is no comfort. We had to buy special cushions - but hey, they look good in my race car trailer.
7. I havnt done all the worlds tracks yet, but this has to be the best place in the world to see an F1 race.

Now my turn. Where is the best place for Singapore? We are going next month.

[86vd]

Thanks for all the input guys, think I'll do Spa next year incase it goes off the schedule, did
go there a few years back in the winter, no one their just drove in the paddock area and
stood on top of the garages looking down the hill to eau rouge with the fog just lifting
awsome pity the gates to the track were locked
I'll try and do Monaco in 2013

[Tom Valet]

My wife took me to Monaco for the GP last year for my 50th birthday. She booked the trip through Grand Prix Adventures. I would highly recommend that you use one of the race tour groups. They have access to all the best viewing locations, whether you want grandstand seats or hotel balconies.

The package my wife booked was to watch the race from the Fairmont Hotel and to stay on a sailboat at night. On Friday the entire city is "open" meaning you can sit in any grandstand without a ticket, so we tried a variety of locations (but there is no F1 practice on Friday--this is the only race with F1 practice on Thursday). For Saturday and Sunday we watched at the hairpin at the Fairmont Hotel from a balcony. This is by far the best location to watch the race in my view and from talking to many people there. The rooms were emptied of furniture and instead was set up for full bar and food and unlimited champagne.

Here is the view we had of the race:



What I heard is similar to what many others have said--there are lots of locations that are terrible to watch from, so you have to be careful where you wind up. That's a long way to go and a lot of money to spend not to be able to see the race.

HTH

Tom

[Charles Warner]

Tom is right. Go with a balcony of some type. We did 2008 at a private 1st floor balcony looking straight down into St. Devote. Catered, big screen TV, and, most of all, a fully functioning and comfortable bathroom. Reasonable number of people. Given the cost of the better grandstand tickets it wasn't too bad. I wouldn't do this every year but if this is a-once-in-a-lifetime-bucket-list-item then treat yourself. We also stayed on a cruise ship at less than $200/day with food and unlimited tenders to the shore from 0500 to 0200. 25 minutes from the track to the cabin. A little reasearch can go a long way.

[Brad Smith]

I went to Spa in 87 (Prosts 27th win to tie Stewart for most F1 wins) and it is a great track to wander around. The distances are huge, it is probably an hour to get from La Source to the top and you're only half way around then. You cannot believe how fast Eau Rouge is! It seems impossible to go thru the corner as fast as they do. I took a tour thru Page and Moy from London which included hotel in Brussels and a coach to the track every day, but we did travel all night and arrived at the circuit Friday am in a small snowstorm (in May!). The weather is all over the place, so be prepared. Brussels had some great pubs and restaurants, but I brought my own food to the track.