ever been to a F1 race?

jumpingjack

just wondering has anyone here ever been to a Formula One race.i went to silverstone 2 years ago and it was brilliant.the speed and sheer sound of the cars racing by... and of course seeing of the pit girls!

irishgeo

i have plans to go but no money yet.

Seth Brundle

I went to France 2 yrs ago and whilst the support races were great (proper racing!) the F1 was a relative non-event!
I must admit that you see better racing in Mondello or Kirkiston, and there is plenty of noise there.
The rallycross events in the winter time are great to watch (3 or 4 lap races with some cars e.g. Dermot Carnegie's Focus pushing out 650+ horses competing against Gibsons Metro 6R4 which does 0-60 in just over 2 seconds!).
The new feature with mondello is the Super Race Sunday where there are 3 classes (Punto Abarths, Dunlop Super Cars & Formula Ireland). Good racing, you get to meet the drivers and take a pit walk and it also has pit babes (see the pages I have created @ www.mrmci.com/gallery). (chances that at the F1 race you will only see the pit babes on a large screen).

Kali

Aye this weekend is a Super Race Sunday at Mondello... Formula Ireland/Dunlop Super Cars and Abarths.. and the pit girls will be out again (you can actually vote for them at motorsport irelands or Mondellos webpage i think).. while the Irelands are usually pretty boring, both the Abarths and the DSCC make for great racing.. (all classes have two rounds on the sunday.. so 6 races alltogether)... worth going along for anyway.

irishman_abroad

Went to Melbourne 2000 and it was the best week ever. The two things I most remember were the speed of the cars but mostly the noise. The first car I heard was the McLaren 2 seater and I hadent got any earplugs in. Man I was deaf for the rest of the day. Also happened to be Paddys week so I was partying all week

tomcosgrave

I've been to several races, though not in a few years now.
To anyone thinking of going to Silverstone, don't bother. It's a rip off, and the facilities are awful. I was there in 1995 and I hear they've not improved that much.

Although I've never been, I hear that Barcelona for the Spanish GP is cheaper and a much better weekend, as the circuit is right beside the city. And if you're a footie fan, you might be able to fit in a game too, as a bit of a bonus.

I've been to -

British GP at Silverstone in 1995.
San Marino GP at Imola in 1996.
French GP at Magny Cours in 1997.
Canadian GP at Montréal in 1998.
Austrian GP at the A-1 Ring in 1999.
Belgian GP at Spa Francochamps in 2000.

Canada was a lot of fun, easily the best of the lot - great track, great seats, great city to spend time in. Expensive alright, but very well worth it.

The Austrian GP was great as well, great seats, could see about 70% of the track, but alas, it's no longer gonna be on the calendar. A shame. A downside to the circuit is that it's in farming country and you run a risk of stepping in large piles of cow-**** in places. I was there when Irvine won and all the Irish went nuts in Graz, the nearest city.

Belgian GP, well, Spa is an amazing track but I bought tickets for where I thought would be great (La Source) but it was actually a bit beyond La Source, and we had a **** view. And the weather was awful. I'd go again though and do it differently, if the circuit makes a comeback - Eau Rouge is utterly terrifying in real life.

San Marino, well, this looks like it's off the calendar for good, and while I had a great view of the action (40% track view), the stand was a rickety wooden thing, the crowd control was terrible bordering on dangerous, and the cops didn't care, so I wouldn't recommend it.

Magny-Cours, I took a coach trip for this, direct from London for a 2 night stay, and while it was rough going, I was surrounded by complete and utter petrolheads who cared only for the racing and were well able to talk about the history of the sport (one of the guys on the trip was a long-time race marshall who had done loads of British Grands Prix and his last race was at the 1990 British GP - so he had lots of stories), so from that perspective it was a worthwhile trip. The track itself is out in the country, miles away from anywhere, and Nevers, the main town is a bit of a backwater. Don't think I'd bother again, the circuit is a pain in the arse to get to...but the action on track was good, and we got some good seats on the Friday at Adelaide hairpin.

Silverstone was rubbish - **** seats, **** weather, **** value for money. I reckon this venue is up there with Brazil in the "****" stakes, the only thing about Silverstone is that the crime rate is 0. Unless I was going there with all expenses paid, I wouldn't bother. I will say though, that Silverstone was where I got to hear for the first and last time the utterly amazing, frightening, deafening Ferrari V12, so it will always hold a small token of affection for me. But really folks...don't bother with it.

Hope that was of help!

Cheers,
Tom

Woden

Going to monza this year with a mate and will probably meet up with a few friends there that are inter railing, staying in milan flying in on the friday afternoon so will miss the first qualifying, no package deal i thought they where a rip off, sitting at ascari three

commuterised

I went to Le Mans last year in France...
was good, but I wouldn't go again.

John2002

Was at Silverstone two years ago because I won tickets. Thought it was fairly crap tbh and I'd way prefer to watch on tv.

Ba$tard

I didnt eaxctly go to a F1, but I got to sit my ass on the chicane of the Nurgburgring circuit 4 weeks before the race, while at RockAMRing

planning to go to Nurgburgring next year thou

Mythago

Was at Melbourne in 2002, great to watch but next time I am buying a stand ticket, race was spoiled by two aussie twats talking ****e behind me & trying to push in front (Having setup at around 7am right at the fence I was not givin away any space)!

Rang a friend back here on lap 1 as the cars were going past, nearly deafened the poor bastard:D Def gonna make an effort to hit Spa when it's back.

acid

I've only been to one - Belgian GP at Spa. I will be in Budapest around the time of the Hungarian GP this year so I'll be going to that.

Cal

I went to the Spanish GP a few years ago and it was the 'dogs b*****ks'. That may have been the Jordan pitlane junket though:D. The Spanish GP is an all around good weekend because you get to stay in Barcellona which is a cool city anyhow and the trip to the circuit is just a train ride or a taxi away.

Hobart

Been to a few. My first (and best race) was at Monza in 99. Satyed in Bergamo. Both the track, race, facilites and race was second to none. Got into the pits after qualifying and was given a bit of a PR job from Jordan. Met the drivers and had generally a really good time with the "crew" and lo and behold H-H-Frentzen went out and won the race the next day. A great day to be Irish.

Was also at silverstone for F1 and for Le-Mans racing. The Le-mans was much better as I was a guest of a team at that and got to do all the pits and pre-race s**t.

Did both of the German GP's. Nurburgring was the better of the 2, stayed in Cologne for that 1, which is a good city. Also did Spa last year, which was just ok. We had seats on Au Rouge, which really is breath taking when an F1 car hits it, but the cars were coming towards us instead of away from us so the sensation of speed was not as good as in previous meetings.

I have been to the track in KL, Malayisia, which again is a fantastic spectical. But have yet to see any racing there. I am planning to be in either Canada or Brazil for a race next year.

Agar

Used to live in Japan, so I went to Suzuka with a couple of friends and my wife. great weekend. It was the '00 season, when Schumacher won the Drivers Championship at it, so it really was the weekend to go. Had a great time, astounded by the noise of the cars, the speeds, the whole thing. Really made me want to see more. Met David Kennedy and Peter Collins, who swore he would say hi to my five year old cousin the next day then didn't bother his arse, and Murray Walker of all people.

Creamy Goodness

was at the canadian GP 3 years ago was ok but it's better watching on the tv the cars go too fast!

dloob

I was at the canadian grad prix 3 years ago and again this year.
Great place for a race, the track is easy to get to.
Wish they had covered stands, I got soaked three years ago and this year it rained on the friday.

Hope it doesn't get dropped

Lorddrakul

I was at Hungary in 2000 and Spa in 2002. Loved them both.

Strangely enough, Jordan scored a point at each.

Great experiences. Met Irv's parents in Budapest and got to Insult Chris Evans in person!

Loved them

Reckon I'll try a Motogp or SBK next time though, just for a change.

LD

zeris

Went to the Spanish GP this year.

Great weather and Barcelona is a great city. Had grandstand tickets at the finish line so had two TVs, leaderboard and got to see who was pitting. Watching on TV doesn't compare to a race live.

I have been an F1 fan for years and I cannot believe I waited so long for my first race. It is expensive, but if you like F1, go see a live race _now_.