BELGIAN FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX

First full day there on Friday ended with our car, along with about 50 others being towed away by the police. This cost us 160 Euros to get the car back. The police were there when we all parked our cars and said nothing. There was no signs to say we could not park where we did. When we came out of the circuit a no-waiting sign had appeared! A Belgium man whose car had been taken said the police get a nice backhander from this trick. I felt robbed!!

Two other complaints. The toilet facilities were disgusting. They were not emptied from one day to the next. Bad for men and completely unacceptable for women.

It took 2.5 hours to clear the area of the circuit on race day. The simple route to the E42 was closed, meaning we had to go the wrong way away from the circuit down country lanes. Hopeless.

The weather in Spa is memorable almost as much as the race as it is so changeable. The seats we had were excellent but I would say that the stand position makes it so that sitting for long periods can be very cold. The biggest complaint I have is the parking facilities and acces to the circuit from the car parks. Our parking tickets were for car parks 4,5,6 and 7 (which we had no choice over) and they were situated some distance from the track down a relatively steep hill, in a number of fields which bearing in mind the weather, was not ideal - for walking or driving. Had we known we would have preferred to have paid 10 Euro per day to park in the drive of someone more local to the track with a short walk to the circuit rather than the 15 Euros per day we paid to park in the field further away.
The other disappointment was the pit walk on the Thursday afternoon, it was poorly organised in the pit lane itself and in my view actually extremely dangerous. I came close to passing out due to the squash and sheer number of people that were allowed through but the main problem was caused as the pit was only open at one end, everyone managed to get in but there was no way of getting out except over the pit wall assuming you could climb over it of course.

A truly unforgettable weekend.

It is some time since i have been to Spa and took my eldest son with me who is 6. To that end i hoped the seats we had chosen afforded a good view. They were truly superb (Gold GP 2) and gave a great view of the cars coming round source hairpin and down through Eau Rouge. The advantage with this stand was that it was covered so the rain showers we experienced didnt mean a multitude of umbrellas going up and obscuring the view. Access to the circuit was superb. We travelled up from Reims in France and entered the circuit from the South. If you drive into the town of Spa you can get pretty much up to the circuit entrance and park for 10 euro's. No queues in and 20 minute queue out to get to the motorway.
Circuit facilities have improved drastically since the last time I was there just bring your own food as 4 euros for a portion of chips and 1 euro just for some sauce was excessive. 60 centimes for the loo i felt ok as at least the lady was cleaning them all the time although somewhat off putting.
Overall a brilliant day it was useful reading up on information on Book F1 website beforehand and appreciated updates as to ticket deliveries and final last minute info including weather links for the circuit. Thank you

The view from the steel part of the track was excellant,the problem however was getting from our campsite at combe to our entrance.the circuit laid on buses for the 15 minute ride but after qualifing on Saturday we had to wait 2 hours for a bus.on the Sunday before the race we waited two hours for a bus, none turned up so we decided to walk, got lost in the forest, had to wade knee deep through a river and ended up missing all the support races.not good with two children who ended up wet and cold.the race however was the best f1 ive seen so made up for our earlier disaster

My only gripes about this weekend, were that the circuit literature says you are allowed to take alcohol into the circuit (Not strong Liquer), but the cold beers that I had transported in the fridge in my motorhome all the way from England - were confiscated at the gate as we went to do the pitwalk on Thursday! The guard said I could collect them on my way out, but lo and behold, he and my beers had dissapeared, there's a surprise! I wish I'd just opened them and poured them away instead!

The only other "Jobsworth" I had the misfortune to meet, wouldn't let us walk down the La Source entrance with Gold 7 tickets (the way we came out!), but you could if you had Gold 8 - the grandstand next door!! This just added a 10 minute walk. albeit uneccessary. Come on Circuit organisation, it's not like you haven't done this before.

What happened at the end of the Thursday 26th was unacceptable, we didn't let it ruin our weekend but I would hesitate on principle to support the organisers of this race in future.

My 16 year old son and I has picked up a hire car at Brussels and on arriving near the circuit we purchased a 3 day green parking ticket. The attendant's just let us drive as we wished, with no further attendant's to direct us. We were quite excited as the F1 first practice was in session. As we approached Les Combes South, we could see the campers to the right of the road. Along each side of the road there where parked vehicles. We expected to have to turn around as there was a dead end at Les Combes, but I noticed a couple of spaces, I was too late for one as the car in front took it, so I slotted on the end of the row. Wary of being parked correctly I was conscious of being on the end and not obstructing anything. Nonetheless there were no signs restricting parking and in particular there were half a dozen police vehicles stationary in the area, clearly the police had no issue with all the parked vehicles at that time.
Nonetheless when we returned to the car at lunchtime, having picked up Kangaroo TV and or sandwiches, there was now a free space a few cars up, between other cars which I thought was better than being on the end, which was partly a pathway.

When we returned about 5pm none of the vehicles where there now, including ours (which had our race day tickets, passports, camera and mobiles). Miraculously there where now some freestanding signs which presumably meant no parking?! Police were less than helpful and it was chaos, with motorbikes still being taken away on tow trucks. Eventually, through other victims, we learned that all the vehicles had nbeen taken 2km down the road; a recovery vehicle was doing the rounds to pick up the drivers only, to take them to the depot. You can imagine how I was feeling, there was no way I was leaving my son when I was unsure where I was headed, how to get bak and we had decided to leave our mobiles in the missing hire car. To say this was stressful is a real understatement, I still had to find our campsite and pitch up. Eventually we were reunited with our car, at a cost of Euro 160 (plus another 5 for using plastic), for removing a car 2km?????? We were not given any documentation from the police to say we had committed an offence or that authorisation had been given to anyone to recover our hire vehicle - that is unacceptable and made me suspicious (to add to my outrage and distress). At the time I paid up, relieved to be back with an undamaged car and our passports etc.

We were also led to believe there may be a police fine. The local victims were adamant that the Police were in on this scam - the recovery firm (Depannage Thomas - Route du circuit, 4960 Malmedy - +32(0)80770363) must have take Euro 8,000 on that day.

We took a different route the next day, being better guided in the green area by attendants to a field. However we walked to where we had parked the previous day and again there were parked vehicles, no signs and plenty of Police present. I do not know what happened that day as we were determined to enjoy the racing etc.

But even leaving aside whether the police considered a a later stage in the day to deem the vehicles illegally parked, there was no justification for towing the vehicles away - that was completely disproportionate, both financially and in terms of anxiety and inconvenience. If you pay to access as parking area and within an area there are areas where you should not park, not only should that be beyond doubt, but those areas should be inaccessible. If police are present when vehicles are parking there it is entirely wrong some hours later to tow those vehicles away!

I would like bookf1 to investigate this issue. I will be happy to provide an email address of one of your other customers similarly affected. Any advice on who to contact to make representations would also be gratefully received.

stayed at f1 camping weather was awful rain,wind,thunder,lighting camp was amud heap ,but had areally good time.Even though the weather was so bad and on the sunday night the roof came off the main event tent. The staff at thesite were friendly and helpfull. The only down side to the weekend were the buses to the track they needed to be a bit more organised but apart from that had a really great time and can't wait to do it all again.As regards the spa cicuit take your own food and drink with you,can be expenesive inside the circiut ,but all that aside the weekend was really great.

This was our first time at any Grand Prix and were under the impression that general admission gave access to various areas of the circuit, but upon reaching the circuit found that the only area you were allowd was Steel in which it had no stalls and facilities were very poor.
The organizing of transport to and from this area was extremly poor as there were a few hundred people trying to get to an area that small people carriers were used to shuttle you to, this led to people fighting to get on the transport and on the final day transport was not laid on to get you back from the circuit to the main antrance. I think the tickets need to be more informative as to where and what facilities are available to you.

Coffee was disappointing size for the price (3 Euro). Other hot drinks were not available after about 1000hrs in the two outlets which sold them. Copious amounts of beer available for 5 euro 1/2ltr. Food also appeared expensive but we thought that the chips in a cone (5 Euro) were reasonable for the amount and quality. Parking for the pit walk was disorganised and on a park where you can basis on the roads at La Source entrance. We were lucky that we were in a covered grandstand and felt sorry for the people who were at the mercy of the weather (which lived up to its reputation for Spa Francorchamps) in the other gold and silver stands. Some of the bronze areas offered very good views of the track which we feel was a small consolation for the weather which did lead to exciting practice, qualifying and racing over the whole weekend not just F1. Would recommend Kangaroo TV for commentry of races.

Spa circuit as a destination which as purely a racing circuit fully lived up to my high expectations. The thrill of Eau Rouge and the close contact views of the driving was excellent.
However my overall experience of the weekend was spoilt considerably by the way in which the facilities were organised and regulated.
The campsite was a disgrace which was no more than a field and was a health and safety disaster. No washing or showering facilities but worse no running hot or cold water for cleaning of hands - that's a lack of duty of care.

The toilet facilities were inadequate for the numbers of people camping and were disgracefully dirty. The paid for toilet facilities were little better in the race circuit.

All of the site was unregulated - there were fireworks permitted amongst the tents - loud music from 7 or 8 different "raves" until 4.00am on Sunday morning and the exit procedure to leave the site was complete mayhem with no direction control or chanelling which resulted in huge delays of over 2 hours whic resulted in my party missing our ferry home and incurring additional £60 fee.

The access/ext to the circuit at Combes under the race circuit was not lit at the end of the race day leaving a potentially dangerous situation for hundreds of people walking through without any light.

The food provided both in the campsite and the race circuit was of the lowest quality possible for mass catering. There was no attempt at providing anything resembling fresh food - all the food was high fat, high sugar content and unappetising.

In future I will be staying at home to watch the Spa FI race where I can enjoy the whole experience in the comfort and safety of my home and recommending the same to all of my friends and colleagues.

It seemed that the overall quality of the experience offered was an arrogant one of thinking that the historic and exciting aspect of the circuit was all that there is to offer the customer, once the entrance fee is paid no customer care was evident.

Not a lot of food options, but what there was was great, the sausages in rolls and the waffles in particular are outstanding! Juliper beer good too if a little expensive but that is to be expected. As always, great race, plenty of good viewing points on Bronze General Admission ticket, plenty of big screens and plenty of changes in weather making it all the better racing to watch!
I can also say the circuit's medical team was good after I slipped and broke my leg in 3 places they got me from the straight at the top of Eau Rouge to the Medical Centre on a quad bike then ambulance to Malmedy hospital.
Nothing beats Spa for the atmosphere, the amazing views and the overall feeling of being at a circuit with such history, it even surpasses Monza as my fave race! Roll on next year!

Be prepared. The weather is unpredictable and there's alot of walking uphill (unless you're in the Paddock Club!!). We do a self-drive staying in Liege, but lots of people camp in Francorchamps village and seem to have a great time!! Facilities at the circuit a pretty good, plenty of food and drink outlets, big TV screens in loads of places which can be viewed even if you don't go for a Grandstand ticket. Well worth a visit - a great race track.

Great 3 days, loved every minute of it!!!
The best curcuit in the world, great views of the cars, great atmosphere!
Pit lane walk good but a little crazy, get there early on a sunday as all viewing places get taken up very quickly, take variety of clothes as the weather is very unpredictable!!!
Also beware at the end of the race you may have to wait in quite abit of traffic!!!!
Overall dont let the minor points detract from an otherwise fantastic weekend!!

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!!!