I’m going to Spa this summer. It’s going to be my first real life F1 event!
Not this year, maybe next. I’ve been to a couple over the last 15 yearsz including Spa (and 6h of Spa a couple of months ago). Spa is fantastic and seeing Raidillon/Eau Rouge in real life will give you goosebumps. Like others said, it’s quite steep and you might have to walk a bit, so comfortable shoes are a must. You’re not walking a marathon, so you don’t have to overdo it, but get something you can walk in all day. Expect them to get dirty though!
The location is gorgeous but for infrastructure not ideal (once you leave the motorway it’s some narrow country roads to the track), so expect it to be really busy and try to be on track early. Don’t aim to be there just in time for a session.
Friday is the best day to walk around the track and figure out where everything is, so you waste no time on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning is alright as well if you can’t go there on Friday.
Stock up on food and drinks well before the F1 race begins. The stalls are going to have massive queues, so either bring lots of water or buy it in the morning on track. During the race you can get some refills, just don’t do it 30-60 minutes before the race starts.
Anyway, it’s fantastic. I’ve been to 5 F1 races and everytime I see an F1 car drive past for the first time it’s surreal. The support classes are great to watch as well and make F1 cars look even more impressive. The sound is good as well in real life. It’s still loud enough but not deafening.
I’m heading to Suzuka this year, my second time going to an F1 event. My first one was Spa a couple of years ago. I remember having a great time at Spa, but being quite annoyed at the on-site commentary alternating between 4 different languages.
This year I’ll be going to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Been to most of the European tracks in the past years. This will be my first one outside of Europe. Looking forward to that.
Next year I would really like to visit Silverstone. Still miss that on my European checklist :-)
I went last year to Spa, but only for the friday.
Couple of quick tips in case it is your first time at Spa.
- Wear comfortable shoes, you’ll be walking a lot. Weill, you should at least. Check out the circuit apart from your seats.
- The height difference is bigger than you might have guessed from TV. Eau Rouge is insane to look at.
- Watch F2 and F3 whenever you can. They sound and look way better IRL. F3 is loud as fuck.
- Take food and water with you, buying on premise is expensive.
- Most impressive thing for me? The breaking. Go stand at Les Combes and be afraid they’re breaking too late because that shit doesn’t seem physically possible. Every time.
Have fun
Where will you be sitting? Spa was my first and only F1 event.
We have bronze tickets, so I guess we can roam around a bit?
That’s gonna be fun. Make sure you see the cars shooting down kemmel straight at least once
I’ll be in Zandvoort, my first event as well! I’m quite excited, though I hope the orange smoke won’t be too bad 😅
Only if Verstappen wins. And how big are the chances for that?
Unlikely 😂
But cool gp to visit. I was there the fist year in the arena grandstands.
Ditto. Spa and it’s my first. Been to LeMan few years ago.
4 ppl road trip through UK in a 1.4 lite Corsa. Camping at a nearby nice enough place.
Watched a couple of hours of the LeMans 24h this year on tv. Would love to visit that at some point too.
It was really good and not massively expensive. I’d advise to go a few times since it’s such a big event you can’t really experience it just going once.
Going to Canada this weekend! Also my first F1 event, not my first racing event though as I’ve been to Indycar and stage rally events. It’ll be fun to compare the experience with Indy specifically :)
Enjoy Montreal! I went a few years ago and it was a very fun weekend.