Silverstone first timer

[F1fan84]

Hi everyone

Just booked tickets to Silverstone for my hubby as a surprise birthday present. Both of us are big F1 fans but have never been to a race before so looking for hints/tips to get the most from the experience. We live quite a drive away so I've booked us into a local (ish) hotel due to the fact I'll be 30 odd weeks pregnant and don't fancy camping.

Any advice greatfully received.

Thanks

 

[Lizard]

One piece of advice. Use the park and ride if possible and get there early.

I went to qualifying last year and am going to the whole weekend this year. The traffic going in is fine until about 5 miles out where it is worse than the M25. Took the bus an hour to go 7 miles and going through the little villages had no traffic at all. The main road going in is where the traffic is. (Can't remember the road name.)
Buses sometimes get use of special lanes so that's why I say use the park and ride.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Where's the hotel?

 

[Roo]

Do you have grandstand seats? If not, get there really early on race day - when I went in 2005, gates opened at 5am for general admission, but as soon as Saturday's action was over people stared queueing for the following morning. Once you're in position, that's it for the day - if you move away you'll end up at the back of everyone unless you leave your partner to defend your space. It's a bit like a festival in that respect, but with less shoving.

Make sure you wear comfortable shoes - you'll do a lot of walking.

Food in the circuit will be very expensive, so either take plenty of cash or bring your own.

Consider ear plugs, especially if you're particularly close to the track - if I remember correctly there's parts of the circuit that are feet away from the spectators (entry into Maggots, for example) and, unless you have experienced an F1 car going past you at flat chat before, they will be louder than you think. It might be worth sticking a few in your pocket just in case.

If you're just in the general admission area, when I went when the race started everyone stood up and stayed stood for the duration of the race, so consider taking something to stand on if you're vertically challenged.

Take a radio if you've got one; there's usually an event radio station, or tune into BBC Radio 5 Live. If you don't have a big screen in front of you you'll have no idea what's going on otherwise.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Yeah, a lot of what Roo said is true. I did Copse Terrace in '06... If you're standing I have to say in was nothing worse than physical torture, especially in the burning heat of the day. We got there at 7am, and were at the back. I think they allocate tickets based on how many people they can fit (standing) in the area... which is fine until 98% of people turn up with camping chairs (which obviously take up much more space), then you're rammed in like battery hens, overlapping your arm-rests with some half naked hairy geezer from Essex rubbing suntan lotion into himself, defending your chair/standing space with the threat of violence when one of you has to go the toilet...

Bring back in season F1 testing at Silverstone. £30 for three days, go anywhere you want (pretty much), paddock access, hardly any traffic... THAT is the way to experience an F1 car and meet the drivers... not robbed by the ticket vendors, raped by the food vendors, then tortured for 10 hours in the hope that you'll see something interesting happen on track in front of you, not that you'll know whats going on anyway because you can't hear the Tannoy, all rounded off with never-ending standstill traffic on the A43... In fact you could just save yourself the hassle, watch F1 on the TV, and do a few BTCC races instead...

Uh-oh, I'm going off on my Silverstone GP rant again...