BELGIAN FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX

THE MAIN ADVICE IS TAKE WATERPROOFS AND AN UMBERELLA BUT OVERALL A GOOD WEEKEND

Only decided to go a week before the event.

Quick phone call to Book F1 confirmed the availability of Gold 1 Tickets. Tickets bought and due to the late booking I was advised that we would have to collect from Circuit. Have to say that having never been to Spa and having just had a bad experience in collecting tickets from Silverstone I was more than a little worried. Please note the Silverstone tickets were nothing to do with Book F1.

Anyway quick trawl on the internet and booked Best Western in Leige (closest we could find).

So on Firday morning we set off to Belgium (475 mile drive)...arriving at La Source at 16:50. Parking was fine - 10 Euro and only 5 minutes from Circuit - found the ticket office with ease and collected the tickets......So overall BIG THUMBS up to Book F1 and Spa Circuit. The Circuit Team in the Booking office were quick - polite and very helpful.

As Friday Practice was still running (having been delayed by weather) we decided to pop into the circuit - okay we were entering on Gold Tickets and maybe this accounts for the excellent polite and friendly service we got at all the ticket check points.

General comments - food - hot drinks etc were a the price you would expect for a big event and of limited variety BUT on future days we stocked up with fresh Sandwiches in the cafes running up to La Source Entry. Toliets - okay the plastic porta loo's were not that pleasant BUT the attended permenant facilities in the Gold enclosures where EXCELLENT and very clean - yes you pay 60 cents which is very normal on the continent.

Getting back from Circuit to Hotel took 35 mins for 22 miles - very happ[y with that and roads were open and free running.

Saturday - we arrived at La Source at 08:00 again parking within 5 minute walk of entrance...traffic was fine taking about 35 minutes from Hotel....we left at end of final race and getting out was okay.

Sunday - we arrive early again maybe 07:45 and certainly more traffic but at least it was free running. We decided to park as close as possible but tip for the future would have been to park further away to help in getting back out.

Overall - 110% satisfaction.

General Comments and Tips.

I can beleive some of the comments above about camp sites - but then lets be honest what should we expect for event that attracts "Lads Weekend".

If possible stock up with food and drink BEFORE entering the Circuit.

Take water proofs.

Would I go again - YES and will be booking in the coming weeks.

Great Circuit, Great Race don't really know what all the complaining about camping is about.

4 amazing days at the Belgium Grand Prix, entered and exited through the Blanchimont Gate, great for sitting yourself at Pouhon.

Pit walk on the Thursday you have to enter via the La Source gate, it's a complete scrum but well worth the op to see the drivers and perhaps get a sig or two.

Practice 1 and 2 on Friday is prity quiet the best time to walk about and find your place to sit for the race, take chairs, if it rain's you will have to stand otherwise

Qualiy and the Race you should have by know worked out where you are sitting, If you think it's busy on Sat wait until Sunday.

Facilites on site are all right, the bend you over for fries, burgers, but what do you honestly expect this is a International event the countryside is left in tatters after the race so do you really blame them from making a fast buck off you. Portaloo things are rank(aren't they always), gents will pee in the woods.

Camp-site, well the one i stayed at was loud but the noise went at midnight and i didn't hear of anything bad or unruly going on, think i will keep this site under my hat though as i would like to go next year and don't want to spoil it.

Excellent viewing points if not crowded on race day ( be there very early on the sunday )great race, the best track in the world!!!! Definatley going again!!!
The pit walk is crazy but fun.
Only problem is amount of traffic leaving the circuit after the race, prepare for a wait!!!!!!
Its a small price to pay for such a fantastic curcuit and race !!!!

Beautiful setting up in the mountains and as such, be prepared for some rain. Bring waterproof leggings and coat, and earplugs are a must if you are sitting in a stand.
There are plenty of food and drink stalls inside the track and the prices are reasonable.
F1booking service was excellent and provided us with a map and details of the programme over the weekend.

Enjoyed the Belgian F1 weekend experience with my eldest son, who is off to university next week, a bit of a last trip together. We arrived by car for Friday's practice, attended Saturday for both qualifying sessions & Sunday's race. Spectating conditions could have been better, effected by changeable wet weather, umbrellas & people claiming places by leaving fold up chairs that ultimately restricted access to the banking. Many then also stood up in front of their chairs. Vehicular access ok on Friday & Saturday but dismal on Sunday especially after the race when it rained for 3-4 hours, narrow lanes & the muddy grass parking in the camping area did not help. Stewards were non English speaking & not well organised. My tickets were there when we eventually found the right office, would have helped if the cabin had an official name on it & maybe your bookF1 logo visible, it was tucked away. Francorchamps is an old facility & although I appreciate it has a once a year major usage, the only efforts that were obvious to me were put in was to sell fast food & beer at high prices. Perhaps some of this profit could be spent on wider pathways & general drainage around the circuit for improved Bronze ticket holder comfort. Overall, I felt the circ. £150 p/p ticket costs & 30 euro parking did not reflect value for money.

Travel from Brussels to Verviers (1.5 hrs) by train was comfortable. However bus journey from Verviers Central station was tiring as the bus was overcrowded and it is almost 40 mins journey.

Plan your journey well in advance as its almost 2 kms walk after you get down from the bus. Please do not forget to carry umbrella, ear plugs and seat cushions/big plastic bags if you are having Bronze General admission ticket as it is a challenge to sit on the wet slippery slopes along the race track.

Have fun... Its amazing to see man and machine at the edge of the extremes!!!

Can`t wait till next year and there will probably be 3 car loads of us going instead of just one. One of our party did not bring any wet/cold weather gear and suffered for it. Pack clothes for all weather enjoyment of Spa. 51 weeks to go till I`m back. Book F1.com kept me up to date when my tickets would be released and then delivered. Great service and will defo use the site for next year`s tickets.

Had a great weekend at SPA. Stayed at the Eau du rougecampsite which is the closest campsite to the track and from just up the road we caught the free F1 shuttle bus down to the circuit saving a 3Km walk. The shops and entertainment (other than racing) at the track are limited to the merchandise trucks which was a bit disappointing and also there are no cash machines inside the circuit so make sure that you take enough money with you. there are cash machines in the little villages surrounding the track but due to the traffic you can only really get to them in the evenings. When booking your tickets make sure you look at where the big screens are situated, spa is such a long track if you can't see what is happening elsewhere you can easily loose track of what is happening during the racing. Weather at Spa is unpredictable so all weather gear is a must!

Parking and access excellent on day 1 and 2 as accessed car park 27. Okay on day 3 car park 127 at Ster.
Would be helpful to have the names of the key sections of the track when walking around if you are a newcomer eg source and prouhai.
Also found it a little dangerous & scary having quadbikes, mopeds and motor bikes suddenly appear on the footpaths while you are walking along.
More variety on the choice of take away food would be nice.
Better shelter and cover for when it rains.
Picnic tables under or near the gold grandstand wopuld be appreciated.
Access to the other stands on non race days like at silver stone would be more fun.

Arrived on Wednesday at Les Combes camp site, it rained, then it rained some more. Pit walk on Thursday, manic but we managed to get Lewis & Jenks to sign our hats. Friday practice in GP2 Stand, great view of the GP2 pit area & track all the way from La Source through Eau Rouge & up the hill, Large screen oppisite.
Make sure you have ear plugs as it's full chatt & your very close to the action! Friday night no sleep, in fact no sleep until Sunday when everyone had gone home. Race excellent right result for us as were Mclaren nuts. Walked the track after the race, got soaked, does it do anything but rain in Belgium? I will certainly use Book F1 for our next F1 trip, tickets arrived on time, excellent information via the web sit. Top class all round.

It was a great weekend dispite the rain However the Rouge car park was difficult to access from the north , and I would have welcomed more info about the car park locations and access from the motor ways before I booked-- my campsite was diametrically opposite my car park!

We got to the camp site on the thurs (dinner time)in high spirits,but we were extremley tired. We'd been traveling since just before 12 midnight on the wed. There was 5 of us. We pitched our tent then went down to the pits as we'd been told the drivers would be there. Wow what a thrill seeing them! We got back to camp site to have some tea and all of us decided we'd have an early night! By 4ish in the morning of fri all our tempers were at boiling point. The noise from some of the others campers was still goin on! Loud music..and fireworks!! We had another good day down on the circuit for practise day and again we tried for an early night. Things were a little better..i think it was 2 when the music went off. Quailifying day was amasing even though the heavens opened several times! We then got back to the camp site and had a good night. We talked about what time we were going to get up ready for race day so we could get a really good spot! We'd gone to bed around 11..setting an alarm to get us up for 6.30. As we slowly came round when the alarm went off we heard shouting from a fellow camper who'd we befriended,saying had we been robbed as they had!! To our horror we found all our clothes in the middle of the tent. Our sleeping pods were unzipped and my trousers were gone from the bottom of the bed as was my girlfriend's handbag. One of our friends even went to sleep with his head on his trousers..they were pulled out and were in the middle tent. We think we'd been gassed as none of us heard a thing and we all had headaches,sorethroats and feeling sick. When we looked closely we'd had money stolen,a couple of phones..and worse of all camera's. All with our pictures of when we'd been to see down in the pits of the drivers!!! Our car key was in my girlfriends bag...they'd even gone in the car to see if there was anything else ie.Sat nav,luckily for us we'd not brought it! There was quite a few other tents around us that had been done over. All had money gone but not all had items gone. So the Police think it was a gang doing several tents at one go. So if you are going to camp at the f1 races please be on your guard. If possilbe invest in a gas detector!!

We actually bought our camping through the website. The plot was basic and it was very much like a music fiestival, however, toilets were cleaned every morning and there were showers. The plots were marked out but the staff were a little disorganised. i think they were locals! Having said this, we were not expecting it to be of a high standard and so, as such, the camping met our expectations. You simply couldn't get closer to the entrance. We had green area camping at Les Combes. The entrance was next to campsite and was perfect...no queues to get in or anything.

As for the service we received, the guys at Book F1 are impossible to get hold of by phone, however, when I emailed them about when our camping ticket would be delivered, I received a helpful, friendly and prompt response. This service and the fact a tag was put on our item as we were going on holiday over a week before the GP, means that I would indeed use the company to book tickets again in the future.

Thoroughly happy with what we got, and email service received.

Thanks very much to all at Book F1.

Kind Regards

Beautiful track set in the forest. Bronze tickets were more than enough because you get access to almost all the track and then you can chose where you want to watch the race. There are enough big screens all around the track to pic from too. Remember to bring raincoats as the weather changes very quickly and it rains most of the weekend. there are shuttles taking to various parts of the track but be prepared to do loads of walking! Camping for us was very easy. We did not drive there or did not have any needs, we just has a tent. There are plenty of areas around the track where you can pitch and which are free. We ended up in the le combes part of the track. there is also camping space at la source and in the distance south of the track. all of these are free if you only have a tent. I'm not sure about car but it did not seem like anyone was paying. great GP to watch 10/10!!!!!

We have just returned from Spa 2010. Already knowing that this is the best circuit for real race fans before i went couldn't have prepared me for a weekend like that! What a race, our view was at Kemmel just after eau rouge and just befor le combes. We saw at least 20 overtaking manouevres from this vantage point. I would not go to a F1weekend without a kangaroo tv, very easy to use and means you do not have to be situated neaar a big screen, which are always busy areas. but what a race! Come On Lewis!!!!

We really enjoyed the racing weekend but the circuit access and additional facilities were generally well below the standard of Silverstone. It took 3.5 hours to exit our green area parking site on Sunday. I thought we would see more of the track from Les Combes and was disappointed but we did have a giant screen in front of us. We also had less rain than some parts of the track. The actual circuit is exciting and in beautiful setting.

Just got back from the Belgian GP 2010. Can't wait for the tickets for 2011 to go on sale! I bought a bronze ticket which was fantastic value and you still get great views of the race. Spa is like no other race track and the crazy weather just adds to the occassion.

Excellent weekend, lots of viewing areas food and drink stands/toilets.
Advise must be given that there are NO ATM's or Cash Machines at the Spa curcuit, and at 5 euros a Beer, you soon run out of Cash...!