Seating at Silverstone with general admission tickets

[resolve10]

Thanks for the replies. We won't be able to make FP1 or FP2 as she'll be at school on the Friday, which is a shame as we'll miss the opportunity to try the grandstand views. Unless the training day gods shine on us and she has the day off!

She's quite laid back and well behaved, will be happy to read a book until the race starts. I don't have any worries with that (if anything I'm more concerned about my own boredom...) but I don't want to go through it all to find she still can't see the race and it spoils the experience.

We were looking at doing Spa or Barcelona but thought I might be pushing my luck with international travel this summer so thought I was taking a safer option but didn't think it through before booking...

[HardtopManual]

Spa is far better than Catalunya as a track, but it's also a lot more effort to attend. I've both camped at Spa and stayed in a hotel and commuted in. Neither is a particularly easy option - camping leaves you open to the often atrocious weather, commuting means you'll be stuck in jams to get to the circuit. Still, a great race, and dead easy to get to thanks to Eurostar.

Catalunya doesn't ever really serve up a particularly great race, but a hotel in a fabulous city and a shuttle bus to the track each day is no hardship. There are some great spots for photography, particularly turns 4 and 15, where you can snap the cars both at reasonably close range and head-on, which is a rare opportunity. The GA area is huge, and I've always found it easy to bag a decent spot without any need to get there at silly o'clock and mark my territory.

Monza is another easy option, although it's not so good for photography (lots of catch fencing, zero elevation change). GA is no hassle, but there are bargain seats on the pit straight in "Gradinate no2" (&3) - I paid €150 for a weekend seat there in 2017. Even ended up next to a couple of fellow PH'ers.

[resolve10]

Thanks for the advice. With hindsight I wish I'd held off booking Silverstone but got a bit carried away with renewed hope after Boris' speach on Monday!

I'm wondering whether it would be worth biting the bullet and upgrading to a grandstand, but even the cheapest ones would probably double the cost of an already pricey weekend. Does anyone know if you get an allocated seat in the stand do they just sell up to maximum capacity and you find your own?

[Gary C]

Its allocated seating.

Certainly, plenty of people sit on the banks, but they get in place early and stay there all day, especially if it has any view of a screen.

A stand is really worth it.

I should be there this year with tickets carried over from last year.

Monza on the other hand. People actually come into the circuit on the friday and hide in the woods ! but without seating, watching the race at monza would really require tree climbing skills.

I believe Hungaroring is quite good for GA watching.

[Sandpit Steve]

resolve10 said:

Thanks for the advice. With hindsight I wish I'd held off booking Silverstone but got a bit carried away with renewed hope after Boris' speach on Monday!

I'm wondering whether it would be worth biting the bullet and upgrading to a grandstand, but even the cheapest ones would probably double the cost of an already pricey weekend. Does anyone know if you get an allocated seat in the stand do they just sell up to maximum capacity and you find your own?

Grandstands are all allocated seating. I have in years past managed to get a grandstand for Saturday and general admission for Sunday, which was a lot cheaper than a full upgrade.

It’s not really a boring wait for the F1 race, there’s at least three support races beforehand to follow, the drivers’ parade 90 minutes before the race, then the assembly laps half an hour before. In recent years the support races have been F3, F2 and the Porsche Supercup, but they’re mixing things around a bit this year and including the all-female F3 W Series, which may be of interest to your daughter.

One hint would be to take a phone or tablet (and a spare battery!) with the F1 app to get the timing screens, which can be useful when watching live rather than on TV. You can also get ear defenders with an FM radio built in, to listen to the circuit commentary.

[StevieBee]

resolve10 said:

2) Any tips for corners/vantage points where you can gain enough elevation to see over the perimeter fence to grab a couple of photos on the Saturday would be good. I'm also thinking a low aperture will allow you to shoot through the fencing and render it invisible anyway, any photographers here??

A longish lens as close to the fencing as possible will deal with the chain link regardless of aperture. Position so you're shooting as much through the 'hole' in the link as possible. There are a few photographer's gaps that you can use but these tend to be hogged by the bottom feeders and everyone ends up with the same shots anyway.

The longer the lens the better for Silverstone. My weapon of choice is a Sigma 150-600.... but it is a lump to carry around.

Get low - personally, I'm not a fan of photos of cars looking down on them.

The Vale / Club section is good. The track comes quite close to the fencing here. Couple from this spot from WEC in 2018:





Luffield is good for some nice panning action.

Friday is the best day for a bit of snapping. Cars are on track for longer and less crowds give you greater options of vantage point.

As mentioned above, Catalunya is great for photography. My lad and I went to testing there last year. Cost of flights, two nights hotel and entrance cost less than race day entrance to Silverstone. Example...

[MuttWagon]

I’ve done the GA admission plenty of times but I’m beyond the faff of it now.

My recommendation would be to upgrade to a grandstand and enjoy the day. You can turn up when you want, wander around, go to the toilet etc. Much more enjoyable but obviously costs a fair bit more. If you get a weekend pass you can sit along the main straight for quali and see the pit lane. I would thoroughly recommend that and it gives the option to take different people on the different days

[resolve10]

MuttWagon said:

I’ve done the GA admission plenty of times but I’m beyond the faff of it now.

My recommendation would be to upgrade to a grandstand and enjoy the day. You can turn up when you want, wander around, go to the toilet etc. Much more enjoyable but obviously costs a fair bit more. If you get a weekend pass you can sit along the main straight for quali and see the pit lane. I would thoroughly recommend that and it gives the option to take different people on the different days

Thank you, I'll give them a call this week and find out how much the upgrade will be. I'm guessing it'll be more than the difference between the two tickets due to 'admin' !

Have I understood that right, if you have a ticket for any grandstand you can sit on the pit straight stand on the Saturday?

[stemll]

resolve10 said:

MuttWagon said:

I’ve done the GA admission plenty of times but I’m beyond the faff of it now.

My recommendation would be to upgrade to a grandstand and enjoy the day. You can turn up when you want, wander around, go to the toilet etc. Much more enjoyable but obviously costs a fair bit more. If you get a weekend pass you can sit along the main straight for quali and see the pit lane. I would thoroughly recommend that and it gives the option to take different people on the different days

Thank you, I'll give them a call this week and find out how much the upgrade will be. I'm guessing it'll be more than the difference between the two tickets due to 'admin' !

Have I understood that right, if you have a ticket for any grandstand you can sit on the pit straight stand on the Saturday?

Silverstone grandstand tickets are roaming on Friday and Saturday, sit where you like. Sunday is allocated seating. Have a look on the site before you ring them, some of the stands (eg Copse) have cheaper seats for kids, others don't and have the same price for kids and adults.

I did Friday in 2019 on my own as my son (then 12) was at school. We both went Sat and Sun and I think I sat in every stand at some point over the three days. My favourite as a stand is Becketts. Not only do you see them from Maggots through to Chapel but you can also see over to The Loop and Aintree. That is one of the stands that doesn't have reduced kids prices, we sat in Copse A which is half price for kids under 16.

Edited by stemll on Sunday 28th February 13:20

[Teddy Lop]

resolve10 said:

Thank you, I'll give them a call this week and find out how much the upgrade will be. I'm guessing it'll be more than the difference between the two tickets due to 'admin' !

Have I understood that right, if you have a ticket for any grandstand you can sit on the pit straight stand on the Saturday?

yeah roamin' grandstand is great, we spend the Friday slowly making a loop of the entire circuit and trying out different perspectives, and as you say pit straight is great for qually.

Personally I wouldn't bother with GA you'll need a bleeding umpires chair (now a camping umpires chair there's a thought), If it came to it I'd rather go every other year but with seats than go GA annually.

[NoddyonNitrous]

NoddyonNitrous said:

I'm going for the first time this weekend.
Friday GA/centre track, Raceday GA only.
Having read the above I wonder about just staying at home; I can't be arsed getting to the gates 6 hours pre-race then sitting in one place all that time. Is that really what it's about?

Well I went and had a great time (I was on my tod).
Friday arrive as & when, wander in ,out, round about sit in grandstands, banks see the sideshows, all good.
Race day go there 0700-ish ( can't remember exactly), no queues at the gates. Unnecessarily early I felt, although I don't know when/how much the queues built up after that. Still plenty of good spots to be had if spending the day in one spot was your bag. I watched the start of the GP from the banking around turn 2, getting into position 20/30 minutes before the start. It was no problem for one person to find space without offending or frotting with others. After the first half hour or so I resumed manoevres and watched from a number of vantage points. Managed to get to the inside after the finish to watch paddock goings on and onto the circuit. Beer, cricket and sun filled the evening. Great day! For a 10 year old? Not convinced

[resolve10]

StevieBee said:

A longish lens as close to the fencing as possible will deal with the chain link regardless of aperture. Position so you're shooting as much through the 'hole' in the link as possible. There are a few photographer's gaps that you can use but these tend to be hogged by the bottom feeders and everyone ends up with the same shots anyway.

The longer the lens the better for Silverstone. My weapon of choice is a Sigma 150-600.... but it is a lump to carry around.

Sorry I meant to reply to this earlier, thanks a lot for the pointers. Great photos as well!

My longest lens is 300mm. I've seen those Sigma 150-600 lenses, don't know how you carried that round all day!

Teddy Lop said:

yeah roamin' grandstand is great, we spend the Friday slowly making a loop of the entire circuit and trying out different perspectives, and as you say pit straight is great for qually.

Personally I wouldn't bother with GA you'll need a bleeding umpires chair (now a camping umpires chair there's a thought), If it came to it I'd rather go every other year but with seats than go GA annually.

That last point is my thinking exactly - I've decided to give them a call tomorrow and see if I can upgrade to Vale or Farm Curve.

I'm thinking Vale as it would put us in a good spot to get on the track at the end. For anyone who's been, is it possible to walk the full circuit or is access only allowed so far before they cordon it off? Would be nice to stretch the legs after sitting for a few hours and walk the full circuit to let the bus queues ease off.

[stone1]

resolve10 said:

For anyone who's been, is it possible to walk the full circuit or is access only allowed so far before they cordon it off? Would be nice to stretch the legs after sitting for a few hours and walk the full circuit to let the bus queues ease off.

Yes, in 2019 we were able to walk the full circuit starting from Vale and doing a whole lap around. It was a lovely end to the day and meant that by the time we arrived back at our tent and packed up we had missed the worst of traffic leaving the circuit.

Does anyone actually think it will go ahead with spectators this year? We have tickets from last year that were carried over.

[TheDeuce]

stone1 said:

Yes, in 2019 we were able to walk the full circuit starting from Vale and doing a whole lap around. It was a lovely end to the day and meant that by the time we arrived back at our tent and packed up we had missed the worst of traffic leaving the circuit.

Does anyone actually think it will go ahead with spectators this year? We have tickets from last year that were carried over.

I'm feeling fairly optimisatic about spectators at F1 and all sorts of other 'normal' things returning.

The combined effect of developing natural immunity for the considerable number of us that already had covid, and of course the rapid rate of vaccination now suggests much of what is currently sensibly restricted really can safely be dropped pretty soon.

Not so sure if track walks this year are likely though. There are bound to still be some control measures in place to limit the density of people in each area etc, which in turn might make some things impractical.

[Sandpit Steve]

stone1 said:

Yes, in 2019 we were able to walk the full circuit starting from Vale and doing a whole lap around. It was a lovely end to the day and meant that by the time we arrived back at our tent and packed up we had missed the worst of traffic leaving the circuit.

Does anyone actually think it will go ahead with spectators this year? We have tickets from last year that were carried over.

The U.K. vaccine rollout is about to accelerate, they’re planning on having everyone being offered a vaccine by June, with booster shots following shortly afterwards.

Silverstone are hopeful that, given the current government roadmap of dropping all restrictions by 21st June, the event will go ahead as scheduled in July with a crowd present.

The one known unknown is international travellers - with the rollout in mainland Europe so far behind the UK, quarantine on arrivals could well remain in place for most of the summer.

[stone1]

Sandpit Steve said:

The U.K. vaccine rollout is about to accelerate, they’re planning on having everyone being offered a vaccine by June, with booster shots following shortly afterwards.

Silverstone are hopeful that, given the current government roadmap of dropping all restrictions by 21st June, the event will go ahead as scheduled in July with a crowd present.

The one known unknown is international travellers - with the rollout in mainland Europe so far behind the UK, quarantine on arrivals could well remain in place for most of the summer.

It would be amazing come July if Silverstone was allowed to go ahead. It would be interesting to know how many spectators / staff come from outside of the UK to support the Silverstone weekend.

[LucyP]

Well obviously all the F1 and support teams who are not based in the UK, plus the foreign media. There will be some foreign fans too. Hard to know how many.

The teams and people working at Silverstone are not the problem. They ran last year on both weekends with constant testing and no Corona problems. The real problem was just up the road at the factory that produces sandwiches for M&S! They can do that again if necessary.

I think Silverstone are going down the compulsory vaccination route for people who work for them.

It has been reported that they are looking into inventive solutions to allow crowds, even to the extent of whether e-tickets could link to a Corona vaccination passport database, although I am not sure that one exists at present, and I doubt that the whole country will be vaccinated in time either.

I cannot see Liberty funding the race again this year, and to make it pay, Silverstone need big crowds, and for the new hotel to be full, with the guests walking above the track on the new bridge linking the hotel, to the most expensive hospitality at The Silverstone Wing.

I suspect that "Centre Access Passes" will not be available this year to keep numbers down in the support race paddock, and I suspect that access down the link road to the outside of the F1 Paddock, which was allowed for the first time with a Centre Access Pass in 2019, won't be allowed either.