Silverstone F1 First-timer - Grandstands and the usual stuff
Discussion
Hi guys, I know these questions crop up every year but I've had a good root around and can't find the answer to a few questions.
Basically I'm planning on going to Silverstone this year for my 21st with my dad. Without sounding spoilt or anything, I've been given free-reign on which grandstand I choose as my parents share the belief that it's a 'once in a lifetime' thing and I might as well go the extra mile if it's going to improve the overall experience. I just had a few questions about the grandstands and camping really.
1) My heart is pretty set on the Abbey grandstand. It's in the top band so you have a reserved seat for the full weekend rather than just the Sunday. My dad reckons this will be ideal incase of rain, etc and to be fair, going to trax the other week and experiencing only a couple of hours rain was miserable without having somewhere with cover to stand under so I would agree with him there. And most importantly from videos I've watched the views look pretty epic especially for the start.
Will this be a decent place to spectate from? We'll try and roam around as much as possible on Friday and Saturday to get a taste of everything but in terms of the race am I right in thinking it should be a good spot?
2) We're going to camp on the official campsite. We get the option for lively and family friendly plots. I'm all keen for lively as I know that's where the atmosphere will be but my dads a bit concerned about his sleep experience! What's the general atmosphere of the site like? Is it 'lively' enough to keep you awake till silly hours of the morning or is it generally quite sensible?
And more importantly when should we be aiming to arrive? We're only about 1hr30 away but I've heard we should be getting there by Thursday evening at the latest to set-up otherwise it'll be full?
3) Does anybody know if there's an allocated seating plan of the grandstands available anywhere? When I get on my basket with the tickets in for Abbey it says S201-S202 but there's absolutely nowhere I can find that shows where this is in relation to the stand. Anyone know if a plan like this exists? I assume anywhere on Abbey will be fine...?
Any help would be much appreciated even if you just want to share general experiences or what I should look out for! I'm massively excited for this and want it to be the best experience possible.
Thanks guys!
Basically I'm planning on going to Silverstone this year for my 21st with my dad. Without sounding spoilt or anything, I've been given free-reign on which grandstand I choose as my parents share the belief that it's a 'once in a lifetime' thing and I might as well go the extra mile if it's going to improve the overall experience. I just had a few questions about the grandstands and camping really.
1) My heart is pretty set on the Abbey grandstand. It's in the top band so you have a reserved seat for the full weekend rather than just the Sunday. My dad reckons this will be ideal incase of rain, etc and to be fair, going to trax the other week and experiencing only a couple of hours rain was miserable without having somewhere with cover to stand under so I would agree with him there. And most importantly from videos I've watched the views look pretty epic especially for the start.
Will this be a decent place to spectate from? We'll try and roam around as much as possible on Friday and Saturday to get a taste of everything but in terms of the race am I right in thinking it should be a good spot?
2) We're going to camp on the official campsite. We get the option for lively and family friendly plots. I'm all keen for lively as I know that's where the atmosphere will be but my dads a bit concerned about his sleep experience! What's the general atmosphere of the site like? Is it 'lively' enough to keep you awake till silly hours of the morning or is it generally quite sensible?
And more importantly when should we be aiming to arrive? We're only about 1hr30 away but I've heard we should be getting there by Thursday evening at the latest to set-up otherwise it'll be full?
3) Does anybody know if there's an allocated seating plan of the grandstands available anywhere? When I get on my basket with the tickets in for Abbey it says S201-S202 but there's absolutely nowhere I can find that shows where this is in relation to the stand. Anyone know if a plan like this exists? I assume anywhere on Abbey will be fine...?
Any help would be much appreciated even if you just want to share general experiences or what I should look out for! I'm massively excited for this and want it to be the best experience possible.
Thanks guys!
I've been to Silverstone for the last 6 years, really enjoyed every year.
We've tried every grandstand and we all think Club corner is the best for viewing, you can see down the pits, watch the start and see quite alot of the cars approaching, also opposite the presentation area, Becketts comes a close second, though perhaps i'm biased as both times we've sat at these stands, Vettel has has binned it or his car has broken.
With Club corner, don't go for the top 5 rows, the damn Santander advertising sign above the start/finish line blocks the first corner. I would agree you should get covered seating, when we've not had covered it's either rained hard or has been very hot and sitting in the sun for a long time i got burnt.
You'll have to watch the cars from Club or International straight, watching the cars take the first corner flat out is something you can't describe, TV doesn't do it justice, they're jaw dropping fast.
We have stayed at the lively camping and it's not silly noisey, you'll sleep just fine. Get an electric hook-up though, they're all placed in a good location so if you turn up late, you'll also get a good pitch. Though we got there Wednesday night this year and it was close to empty, by Thursday night it was getting busy.
There's loads of things to do in the evenings, we got to see a pissed Eddie Jordan on stage playing drums with a band that Red Bull have at their functions, he really got the crowd going, really good fun.
As for atmosphere, brilliant, you'll meet and get talking to loads of people. I met the most Scottish person in the world, couldn't understand a word he said but we still had a laugh.
We've tried every grandstand and we all think Club corner is the best for viewing, you can see down the pits, watch the start and see quite alot of the cars approaching, also opposite the presentation area, Becketts comes a close second, though perhaps i'm biased as both times we've sat at these stands, Vettel has has binned it or his car has broken.
With Club corner, don't go for the top 5 rows, the damn Santander advertising sign above the start/finish line blocks the first corner. I would agree you should get covered seating, when we've not had covered it's either rained hard or has been very hot and sitting in the sun for a long time i got burnt.
You'll have to watch the cars from Club or International straight, watching the cars take the first corner flat out is something you can't describe, TV doesn't do it justice, they're jaw dropping fast.
We have stayed at the lively camping and it's not silly noisey, you'll sleep just fine. Get an electric hook-up though, they're all placed in a good location so if you turn up late, you'll also get a good pitch. Though we got there Wednesday night this year and it was close to empty, by Thursday night it was getting busy.
There's loads of things to do in the evenings, we got to see a pissed Eddie Jordan on stage playing drums with a band that Red Bull have at their functions, he really got the crowd going, really good fun.
As for atmosphere, brilliant, you'll meet and get talking to loads of people. I met the most Scottish person in the world, couldn't understand a word he said but we still had a laugh.
i should add my 21st is July 2014 then 
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