Silverstone GP 2012

[NMMotorsport]

Looking to attend my first F1 race this year at silverstone but has anyone got any tips on best places to camp and advice on tickets?

Thanks

Jon

[janeybobs]

When we went last year we camped on the sliverstone woodlands campsite which was literally about 10 min walk from circuit! When I ordered the tickets from Silverstone they added the price of the campsite on. The actual site jis really good, showers, proper toilets, food and drink etc!

[NMMotorsport]

Thanks for that, a long awaited response. Anyone have any tips on best spectator spots?

[bella]

hmm, i thought we'd discussed this one relatively recently but maybe it's still in the f1 forum somewhere.

anyway.

for camping, i've stayed at windmill, which is next to the marshals campsite and as such is a superb location and pretty good value for money as well. if i remember rightly it's only about a tenner a night. litchlake opposite the old main entrance is also a well located site, with a small retail area and hot food on site too. it is next to the fairground though, and you need to turn up relatively early on a friday to get a good pitch, either near the road or away from the fairground if you want a bit of peace! there's some good sites in the village too but those all require a long walk which may or may not defeat the object of camping in the first place.

if you like creature comforts, there may still be places at the whittlebury hall site which isn't very far to walk from the circuit but tends to be much quieter, and with better and more frequently cleaned loos and showers.

ticket-wise... it depends if you prefer to have a seat, or you like to walk around the circuit and explore more. if you go to a lot of non-f1 motorsport you'll find it unusual to be stuck in one place, so you might prefer a general admission ticket. however, particularly on sunday you need to arrive relatively early to secure a good place for the race. it's better value if you just want to experience a grand prix though, particularly somewhere like silverstone which is pretty well suited to a general admission ticket. if you can't be bothered and just want to be able to watch the racing from a nice seat without having to put in a special effort, a grandstand is a good choice.

were there any grandstands you were looking at in particular?

[pauln]

In the past I've found a 3-day grandstand ticket to be very good value. These give an allocated seat in a specific grandstand on raceday, with roving access to most of the other grandstands on Friday/Saturday (some get reserved by sponsors - eg vodafone usually have one which their customers can use). Lowest prices here are £225 for an adult in one of the Copse/Stowe stands. Either spot is good. Views of the largest part of the track are now probably from the Becketts/Village stands, though Vale is also pretty good.

General advice would be to spend Friday having a walk round and watch each session from somewhere else (and check where you'd be on Sunday). For the F1 I'd recommend spending at least some time at the top of Hangar Straight looking back up through Becketts to Maggotts, which gives you a very good view of the speed and cornering ability of the cars.

On Saturday pick a couple of good spots that aren't your Sunday perch.

These days I get a much better and closer view as I'm marshalling...

[Tim the Grey]

I've not attended a GP at Silverstone since about 1983.
But I go there regularly for everything else!
Depending on where you live, you may try visiting for something less, um, crowded, to get a feel for the place?
All I will say is, it's HUGE. With a LOT of good spots, but it all depends on what you are trying to do/see...