MALAYSIAN FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX

Had a wonderful time! Seats were great for viewing of half of the total circuit. Access to most of the main straight as well within walking distance. Perfect place to view from cause of access to all the main gate events and displays. the only thing I would like to improve on during the weekend is I wish it lasted longer!

It is a very small matter but when i went there on Saturday some of the seats were really dusty, wet and some had even mud on them. Besides that, it was a great circuit and a great race.

I am an ardent follower of racing am not at all convinced with weekend.As their was no drivers parade,which was mentioned in the plan.even the drivers autograph session was not properly conducted every now and then change in que position.It seems only grandstand viewers are given imporatnace for their price.F1 fans are everywhere a and not everfyone can afford for expensive seats.Drivers parade enables all the viewers to catch their glimpse.F1 and sepang should think about it as sepang has maximum audience.

This was my first experience of attending a GP for 38 years. I made all of my own arrangements for travel before I realised that bookF1 even existed. I booked my ticket through them as their site seemed to offer me the most information regarding the views from the various parts of the circuit.
I also picked KI stand after reading a review from a previous client who told of the traffic chaos after the race. I did not want to be stranded at the opposite end of the circuit at the end of the race which influenced my decision to go with K1. Public transport to this circuit seems to have improved somewhat from previous years.The Malaysians seemed to have plenty of shuttle busses to KLIA.
I thought that I would be clever by arranging my own transport to & from the Concorde inn (where I usually stay when travellling to Kuala Lumpur en route to somewhere else) This actually turned out to be a potential disaster as many of these so called 'Limousine Services' do not have the necessary parking stickers to get close to the circuit at the end of the race & are kept moving by the police. As a consequence I found myself standing in the rain on the Saturday afternoon waiting at the spot where I had been dropped off. My 'Limousine' driver was, unknown to me, parked at a petrol station opposite where all the shuttle busses were arranged. I decided to hop on one of these busses to KLIA & link up with the Concorde inn free shuttle to the motel. I was given a refund by the Limousine Service but from then on I only took them out to the circuit & hopped the bus back to KLIA after the race on Sunday. I found that this was probably the most efficient way for an independant traveller to get around.
One of the things I did like about this venue was the fact that there is a free day on the Friday. As I say, I am a novice at actually attending a Grand Prix & I dont know if it is usual practice at other circuits but I roamed where ever I wanted (except the pit areas) & got my photos & videos of these areas which I would never have seen otherwise. This free day is, I believe, to try to encourage Malysians to become interested in motor racing at Sepang. It certainly whetted my appetite by being able to see the views from various areas of each stand.
One thing that did seem surprising to me was the lack of other supporting events. There was a Formula BMW race but no other activity. I was interviewed by a Malaysian tourism representative about my impression & I told her that they might perhaps try to put more effort into crowd entertainment as the time between practice session & qualifying is far too long for people to sit waiting for something to happen. There was a display by the 'Smokey Bandits' (the Malaysian Air Force aerobatic team) but they did not arrive at the advertised times but suddenly appeared overhead.
There was plenty of food & drink on offer but the choice was limited & each stand was offering the same fare at the same prices. Although the signs say no outside food or drink allowed, no one checked my back pack in which I had packed a few drinks & some nibblies. All in all I enjoyed my experience at the GP. If I were to return next year I might actually join up with Paul Deason's entourage from bookF1 & get even more out of the trip than I did this time around. Paul's crew got my ticket to me at home in plenty of time for me to get to KL a week before the race, well done!!

the overall experience was great - there were excellent links to the circuit from KLCC (we were staying at Traders hotel also one to recommend) and there was a very convenient bus from Suria CC (5 mins from the hotel) to the circuit for only RM15 each way - on the way back however taxi was really the only option to get back before midnight, costing RM180 but that would be the case whichever grand prix you went to. The only criticism I had for Sepang circuit was the size of the screens opposite the grandstand - they weren't nearly big enough and you couldn't see any of the crucial detail re lap times etc on them so effectively this made them redundant. We instead had to hire in a Kangaroo TV device which was also good but an additional RM300 (about 60 pounds) investment that we shouldn't really have had to spend given the grade of seating we had purchased.

Other than that the event was great as was the race

thanks

The weekend was amazing. We all had a good time! Unfortunately there were serious problems with the organization of the transportation to and from the cirucuit from Kuala Lumpur, We travelled by the organizer that was placed at KL Sentral and took. It was really bad organized in terms of we had to wait for hours outsid the circuit just to get on the bus. The guys that were supposed to ship os in to the buses seemed to lack any form of organizing mind and many people were really upset. Despite that small problem me and my crew were more than satisfied woith the KL GP.

Everything about the race - the organisation at the circuit and the facilities were great. The only issue was the public transport leaving the track. It was totally disorganised and the staff at the race track were not helpful. Many people were upset at having to wait up to 2 hours for a bus or taxi - myself included. The race itself was great, and the organisation inside the track was spot on. Outside though was a different story.

Fantastic weekend, food was rather expensive and there was a limited choice. Transport worked well, and efficient. Limited number of support races was disappointing. Ticket pick was easy.

All in all a great weekend with fairly good weather for this part of the world were its so unpredictable. Friday was a free day so had access to the whole circuit and spent most of the time in the main grandstand to get a good close up view of the drivers in the pit area. Also had a good look from K1 area which is OK but nowhere near as good as F Platinum/Gold (thats my opinion anyway).
Saturday and Sunday in F Platinum/Gold block M which is the far right of the stand look at it from the front. Had excellent views of pits, main straight, back straight, could also see from turn 5 through to start of turn 10, basically about 65 -70% of the curcuit. Would recommend this stand over any other at this curcuit due to the amount you can see and also the cost, approx £115 for the 2 days which I think is excellent value for money. I also rented a kangaroo TV which again was excellent. Full BBC radio commentry, driver radio, driver on board video, stats, split screen etc etc etc. Worth every penny as the large screens were to far away to see any timings or details therefore you would of been in the dark without the TV. TV's are OK to pre-book but are readily available at the curcuit at no extra cost. The downside of F stand is that to get a bus back to the main entrance takes about a hour due to the rotation that the buses collect people. On Sunday I walked back to the main entrance which only took 25 minutes so I would recommend walking. You also have to return the Kangaroo TV back to the main area as this is the only drop of place for the TV's which is a bit of a pain, but don't let this put you off renting one. THumbs up from me :-))

WE had an excellent weekend the diamond tickets gave us a great view of both the red bull team pit and button's!! I would advise people however that the gate to your seats are not manned on Saturday and therefore anyone sits on your seats - you have to be prepared to move people!

Food wise the satay stand was well worth it - i wouldn't bother with the chicken nuggets etc - disgusting!!!

Disappointed with the concert - they wouldn't let us in with a umbrella - we had only just bought it (£40) and they wanted us to leave it outside - where anyone could pick it up!!! therefore we gave our passes to two girls who were thriiled to bits!!! otherwise an excellent experience!

Truly was a very memorable experience. Was impressed by the scale of the whole event. Would've been nice if they maintained the restrooms that were located next to the grandstands, for it was really dirty and without any ventilation. The temporary restrooms were much better. It would've been good if there was more sheltered areas too. But overall, food and atmosphere was really good.

We had a very good good experience, location of the track close to major roads made getting to/from the track very easy, we chose to driver and that was a good choice.
Suggest that there should be some marshalling in the car park, in true Asian style they fill up from the exit back which left some good spaces inexcessable.

Getting to the circuit was very easy and once I got there the view was brilliant.
I got the skybus for 15RM each way directly from KL Sentral, fridays practice and saterdays qualifying was just a jump on and jump off experience.But race day was very different. Getting away from the track after the race was a massive wait and I didnt get back in to Kuala Lumpur until 10 at night, but I had read the reviews of previous years and knew it was to be expected.
The viewing was top notch though!!!! Fridays practice day gives you a free roam of the Mall area with views of the back straight hairpin and home straight. Brilliant for keen photographers like myself to get the shots you need without to many people around too. Mind you're ears on the main straight though . . . .wow! Qualifying was interesting this year viewd from my allocated seat,Stand F, block M, seat C1. It poured down 2 minutes before they were due to start but I was bone dry under the roof. A few seats closer to the edge had people moving due to rain blowing in but even with a wind I still didnt feel a drop.Happy days.
A very good package all in all and I would definatly go again if Im in Malaysia another time. 4 star overall though due to the nightmare bus situation at the end.
P.s I didnt agree with the rule of not being able to take youre own foods in, not even a simple bottle of water. I thought to myself well what if you are diabetic (Like my father is) Just as I thought it a guy 5 rows back from me sufferd a dieabetic fit and had to be attended to by the medical staff.
This rule needs to be amended as soon as possible!

Too small projector at C2

Funny

First trip to a 'new generation' track, very impressive, but the access to and from by the official SkyBus is still slower than I would expect mainly due to 4 tolls on motorway to KL. PA system at track is poor. Food was good quality and drinks reasonably priced.

Good weekend and tickets arrived in an efficient manner. Thank you.

I enjoyed the whole 3 days of the Malaysian Grand Prix it was just a bit unlucky that mother nature decided that Malaysia needed some rain . The bus system from the track to the airport needs to be looked at it just confused the hell out of everyone , there is no organization after the race to stand in line to catch the bus i seen people argue , push and shoved out off the way just to get on the bus , expect long delays to get back to KL Central , and don't think about getting a taxi easy at KL Central the Que is a mile long it took me 3 hours and 30 minutes to get back to my hotel room from the circuit .
Next time I would carry a small portable umbrella . Have a good Breakfast before you go the food is to expensive
But overall i had a brilliant time

OK first the plus points. Despite only seeing only 36 laps of the total 2009 race the Malaysian GP has to be one of the best value races to attend.
The panorama of the circuit from the F Platinum seats is fantastic with a great rear view of the start, overlooking turns 7 & 8 (where a lot of cars spun off in the torrential rain) and of the back straight and the hairpin where most of the overtaking happens.
Add to that a free open day on Friday practice where you can roam the main grandstands and you really get a brilliant experience of the event over a race weekend.
Unfortunately the Malaysian Grand Prix is let down by appalling facilities at the circuit.
Food
The catering provided on the outer grandstands is terrible. A few trestle tables re-selling sandwiches from 7/11 stores (yes I checked) and polystyrene containers filled with rice and what looked like curry isn't my idea of event catering.
Sure there was plenty of beer if that's what you're after (the Finns and the Aussies in our stand certainly enjoyed a lot of it) but where are the one handed meals you can eat whilst watching a race? Hotdogs? Hamburgers? Filled Pittas? OK so not typical Malaysian fare but I don't expect a gourmet meal at a race just something that’s easy to eat whilst crammed onto the grandstand seats. I can’t comment on catering at the main grandstand but from my brief experience on free Friday it appeared to be much better serviced.
Access
The real nail in the coffin is the transport provided to access the grandstands via the perimeter road.
Getting to the circuit n race day was a small problem; I took a bus from near to my hotel in Bukit Bintang but was forced to wait as two full busses passed by because the dopey Skybus staff was selling seats on our downstream pickup point for seats that didn't exist due to busses being filled at upstream stops!
When I suggested that they communicate with their colleagues in order to reserve seats for people downstream that had paid in advance they looked at me like I had just asked them to eat their first born!
Luckily my uneaten first-born and I were able to squeeze on the last bus to the circuit, which also took us around the perimeter road and straight to our grandstand.
Sadly this was as good as it got because on both the Saturday and the Sunday we were forced to stand on the road for almost 2 hours waiting for an official Skybus to stop and collect us and take us back to the main entrance.
On the Saturday it poured torrential rain 30 minutes after qualifying and everyone from the F grandstand got soaked waiting for buses that never arrived.
Thankfully on both days some more enterprising/desperate people flagged down private busses that showed pity on us poor sodden F1 fans and took us around to the main entrance.
Again the people from Skybus can’t seem to organise themselves to properly service the event. Here’s my tip Skybus management: Don’t start all the collection busses from the same point – stagger them around the circuit!

Kangaroo TV
No matter which race you attend you simply MUST hire one of these. They are brilliant and even if they charged double the price I would get one. Not only do you receive superb pictures, replays from the host broadcaster (FOM?) and driver audio but you also have access to the timing screens and superb BBC Radio 5 live commentary.
My tip: if you have a curious youngster like I did hire two units as they will never let you near it.
One caveat with the Kangaroo TV is the return point is inside the main grandstand. If you are returning a unit from one of the outer grandstands or hills – which is where most fans will appreciate KTV you must trek all the way back to the main grandstand at the end of the event to return the receiver!
After the debacle of the return transport adding a 15 minute climb from the bus drop off point to the KTV kiosk would have been worth forfeiting the MYR1000 deposit and keeping the thing as a souvenir.
Listen up Kangaroo TV: You need multiple drop off points around the circuits if you are going to see return business on your fantastic gadgets.
Conclusion
Horrendous torrential race stopping downpours aside the Malaysian Grand Prix is still a great race to attend but take my advice; there are a couple of things you simply MUST do if you are to enjoy this event:
1. Hire a car and pay for car park access next to your grandstand. Do NOT use the busses or taxis.
2. Take lots of light, waterproof clothing, a huge umbrella and a few plastic bags to keep your camera dry for when it rains – because it surely will.
3. Bring your own picnic lunch and soft drinks every day if you aren’t in the main grandstand.
4. Hire a Kangaroo TV or two but allow at least 30 minutes at the end of the event to return it.
5. Visit the main grandstand on the free Friday – not the best place to watch the race – and soak up the atmosphere.
Minus 2 stars for the food and access to circuit.
I would have given a zero for access because a 2 hour wait in the pouring rain for a bus after an event is simply unacceptable IMHO.

OK - so we picked the first race for a zillion years to get stopped mid way - but aside from that it was a great experience. Due to problems with ticketing we had to collect our tickets from the box office, rather than having them delivered to us - but that was very straightforward. Our seats were excellet - thank you Book F1. We went for K1 Gold - and were just a few seats separated from the platinum section. Could see a fair chunk of the track - the start line, the end of the pit lane, corner one and some of the top of the circuit. Good view of the big screen. The roof kept us cool when it was dry and dry when it was wet. The general admitance would have been excellent value if it didn't rain - great if you're on a budget. A few things to note - transport from KL comes in several forms, the Komuter train, and bus service, the KLIC (fast) train & bus service, bus services from KLCC and I'm sure many more. We went the Komuter root because it was the first one we found at the station. It was cheap but slow - took nearly two hours to get there and about three to get back - but it was well organised and convenient. There is no PA system at the circuit - but you can listen to commentry on an FM radio - take one with you - or buy headphones at the circuit from £10 upwards (I was listening to the BBC TV feed!). Unlike Silverstone where you have access to all circuit areas once you are in, in Sepang each grandstand is in it's own little bit - and whilst you can go into the other bits you have to be checked in and out. There were food and drink stands in our area, two large toilet blocks (although the ground around them was sodden, very muddy the toilets themselves were very clean), and a merchandise stand. There were other merchandise stands at the main entrance, but nothing like as many as on the pit straight at Silverstone. Becuase the circuit is so big the atmosphere was also less buzzy than Silverstone on raceday. The ticket says that you can't take food or drink into the circuit - no one even checked! It is very very hot so be sure to take something to cover up with and stick on sunblock and keep drinking the water. Overall it was a fantastic experience - shame that the race was stopped, but glad JB won. I would definitely go again. And another big thanks to Book F1 for making this a simple and enjoyable experience.