TURKISH FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX

I felt all in all it was good. It was a good race as well. The seats were great but very cold because of the wind. We were in winter coats and the bronze stands were in short sleeves. This is the first race I have been to where they allow people to stand on the stairs and infront of the stands accross the rail. No security to prevent it. I assume it is because there is nothing being sold in the stands. No food, no drinks, no coffee. There was very few food stands but the quality of those was pretty good. No entertainment to keep people interested in staying at the grounds. The traffic is so bad in Instanbul that getting to the track and back took a very long time (that's life in Turkey). I really enjoyed Instanbul. It was bad organizing to have the UN summit and the F1 race at the same time. Hard getting in and out of hotel for diplomats. They could do so much more at the track to make money I think.

Fantastic weekend at Istanbul Park. Book F1 gave us the seats we wanted - top of Silver 8 - and they were great, if a little windy!

The circuit and view from Silver 8 is really good, but there must be a few down points. Pricing of food and drinks - £7 for a beer? Come on! The traffic, mostly back from the circuit, is also terrible culminating in a 4 hour journey to get back to the old side of Istanbul after the race.

Would I go again? Yes - but I'd stay near the track whilst the race is on, and then only move into Istanbul after it was over.

For a picture of the view from Silver 8, have a look here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregkingston/5715643548/in/photostream

Access to the track is not easy. Apparently there are buses laid on from Istanbul centre (about 55km away from the track), costing 5-10L (approx £2-4), but we didn't see them in central Istanbul and no-one at our hotel knew about them. Additionally, the information on the official website was very vague, just saying 'Sultanahmet' (a huge area) or Taksim Sq.
Rather than doing this, we got a private shuttle bus, costing Euro 30 per person return each day - quite expensive, but we were given specific pick-up points and times and obviously a seat was guaranteed without waiting. Traffic was horrendous, but unavoidable if you want to stay on the European side and travel to the track on the Asian side. The journey took 45-50 minutes out in the morning, and between 2 - 3 hours on the way back - even on a Sunday.

Once at the track, things were much better. There is a bus that circulates around the track, dropping people off at their seating area. Unlike at some other places (Silverstone), you are not simply able to walk around the circuit in the GA areas until you reach your desires spot or grandstand. For example, we had seats in Bronze 5, just after Turn 8 at the 9/10 chicane. I had hoped to watch some of the action from Turn 8 in FP3 before heading around, but we weren't allowed into this area. Very disappointing.

The view from Bronze 5 is pretty good. You catch all the action from Turn 8 exit to the Turn 10/ chicane exit. There was actually a reasonable amount of overtaking, though nothing like the amount of passes going on at the end of the main straight.

The grandstand was around 2/3 to 3/4 full, even during the race, and only 1/4 full at other times.

Very expensive for good and drink at the circuit - we took our own.

Surprisingly cold for May - temperature of 16-18°C, though felt cooler with the brisk breeze. I had a fleece and jacket on intermittently despite the sunshine.
Good event, great seats (though I might subsequently choose the grandstand at Turn 12), unavoidable issues with transport. Hope it stays on the calendar.

the istanbul traffic congestion was nose to tail mostly and unaviodable. the f1 circuit was well facilitated and clean. excellent view from silver 1

Shuttle buses from Istanbul take ages but are cheap, drivers very erratic and seem to take a different route on every trip!

View from Silver 8 was great, especially this year as you could see DRS activation zone and the pit straight. Could also get onto track easily after race from grandstand to run down to podium.

Toilet facilities excellent. Food prices reasonable. Drink prices extortionate (£4 for a can of coke!).

Bit annoying that to get from 1 grandstand to another, or from 1 GA area to another, you have to exit circuit and walk / take free shuttle bus around perimeter of the track so you can't see the track itself. Well worth a trip up to turn 8 though, really shows the men from the boys and the good cars from the great cars!

Excellent seats and very happy your service. Only down sides were the circuit being a long way from the track and shuttle buses being busy, meaning 90 min journeys without a seat.
Also, we didn`t know where our ticket could get us on Saturday and on Friday, some stewards would let us into other silver stands and some stewards wouldn`t let us in to other silver stands on Saturday.

Istanbul Park is a great circuit, I hope it stays on the calender. The view was one of the best i've had, right on turn one so you get starting straight and can see right into some of the garages (with bins).

The catering was pretty decent if like me you are partial to a Turkish Kebab.

Just a shame its so far from Istanbul centre, its an hour there and two hours back on race day, by taxi. Couldn't face the coach option.

Overall i highly recommend the circuit and the city to anyone!

Had the best time at the Grand Prix, View from after turn 8 was fantastic weather was brilliant the race was exciting and the toilets were the cleanest I have seen. It is also well worth staying right in the action in Istanbul because it is the most amazing city the bus transfers to the circuit took 1 and a half hours and were very cheap 5TL . If you are a nervous passenger do not get on the bus however I found the Turkish driving style very entertaining and helped pass the time. To sum up the race was fantastic and the city is just as good. Stay for as long as you can after the race to get the full Istanbul experience. My best advice is to relax and enjoy the culture on offer.

the experience was fantastic and the public transport from sultanhamet was great except on the sunday after the race, although i must say that there were more people than had been expected and numbers were up from last year, we had no trouble on previous days i must say!! we were pleased that we had opted to stay on the european side even though we had to travel back and too, the experience in istanbul, and the people were fantastic. big thank you to all the staff at the faros hotel and haluuk the manager, fantastic hotel and would highly recomend it.

Amazing circuit - and I have been to many. Of course there are niggles, like why are the bus stops not marked with the corner that they stop at but, hey, at least they have free buses to take you around. The toilets are the best anywhere, no doubt so clean due to the very small attendances but they are often fenced off into the next section that you are in; why? Constant security checks were a bit of a pain when you entered the circuit as well as every time you moved between GA areas and to your grandstand but the security people were very friendly and we had a laugh with them at most points. The following days some remembered us, said hello and shook our hands so it wasn't an unpleasant experience and the Silverstone guys and other circuits could learn a trick or two about making it a fun time for customers. (Probably the Americans taking out Osama last week had something to do with the heavy presence.) Very cheap buses (6 TL = 2.5 €) are available to the circuit from the popular parts of the city but not well advertised, whereas there are numerous ads for the expensive 30 € ones that pick up from your hotel. TOP TIP: Avoid the jams on the way home, after the race, by taking the Kadikoy bus to the terminus and catch the ferry there to Eminou then tram to your hotel in Taksim or Sultanhamat. No delay and a nice, cheap, ride on the Bosphorous to climax the day. There was no commentary on the support races, in any language, but not a problem for me. All in all a fantastic circuit with one of the world's greatest corners, cheapest entry prices, friendly locals, cheapish prices in the City (avoid the outrageous £4 Coke etc in the concession stands at the circuit - hence 4*), sightseeing, sun, views, etc I just hope that Bernie does not get his way and there will be a Turkish GP in 2012, as 2011 was a great race. If there is a race, book it through bookF1.com as they are very reliable and get the seats you ask for and keep you well informed of progress: Great service and good prices. Thanks guys.

Amazing circuit - and I have been to many. Of course there are niggles, like why are the bus stops not marked with the corner that they stop at but, hey, at least they have free buses to take you around. The toilets are the best anywhere, no doubt so clean due to the very small attendances but they are often fenced off into the next section that you are in; why? Constant security checks were a bit of a pain when you entered the circuit as well as every time you moved between GA areas and to your grandstand but the security people were very friendly and we had a laugh with them at most points. The following days some remembered us, said hello and shook our hands so it wasn't an unpleasant experience and the Silverstone guys and other circuits could learn a trick or two about making it a fun time for customers. (Probably the Americans taking out Osama last week had something to do with the heavy presence.) Very cheap buses (6 TL = 2.5 €) are available to the circuit from the popular parts of the city but not well advertised, whereas there are numerous ads for the expensive 30 € ones that pick up from your hotel. TOP TIP: Avoid the jams on the way home, after the race, by taking the Kadikoy bus to the terminus and catch the ferry there to Eminou then tram to your hotel in Taksim or Sultanhamat. No delay and a nice, cheap, ride on the Bosphorous to climax the day. There was no commentary on the support races, in any language, but not a problem for me. All in all a fantastic circuit with one of the world's greatest corners, cheapest entry prices, friendly locals, cheapish prices in the City (avoid the outrageous £4 Coke etc in the concession stands at the circuit), sightseeing, sun, views, etc I just hope that Bernie does not get his way and there will be a Turkish GP in 2012, as 2011 was a great race. If there is a race, book it through bookF1.com as they are very reliable and get the seats you ask for and keep you well informed of progress: Great service and good prices. Thanks guys.

Excellent value for money. Will use your company again in the future as you have been very helpful. Many thanks. Dave Land

just back from turkish gp fecilities round the track was terrible tv screens where shocking coundnt see a thing no atmosfere there the track was miles away getting in and out was terrible took us two hours to get out the worst g.p. we have went to and will not return

we felt that facilties round the track ie refreshments where few and far between and the tv screens where poor

I am not a big fan of formula 1, but this year i saw it live for the first time and really enjoyed it.

Getting in and out of circuit not great, its as though the security staff had done this for the first time,I don't think any of them new what they were doing. Free for all on the stands,people sitting on the gangways instead of their own seats just so they could get a better view,everytime a car came round everyone would stand up,which was really annoying.You need to look at how Singapore was set up.The tv screen was about as useless as a chocolate teapot far too small,not much commentry either.Facilities were rubbish,you need to update the grandstands and why wern't all of them used.Wouldn't go to this grand prix again. Too far out of the way.

Just returned and had a great weekend. We stayed in istanbul which to be honest was very dissapointing but in a great hotel which made up for it, the Zagreb hotel was superb. The problem is that the circuit is one and a half hours drive away, 3 hours on the way back on race day. If you want to go cheap you can get a bus from istanbul to the circuit for 5 euro but we did it by taxi which will cost you about 60 to 70 euro return per day.
The circuit itself was great and we watched it from turn 8 which is a great location with the exception of there was no TV.
Overall a great circuit but do's need some upgrades to get the crowds back and that is assuming they will be racing there again, everyone we spoke to did'nt think so

1. Dont drive in Istanbul. The traffic is the worst I have ever experienced.
2. What is very annoying is on all the Circuit maps I have looked at on line and even the official programme it shows TV screens at turns 7 and 8. When you arrive at the circuit these screens are not here!!!! That was a real downer for our group, and it really is not acceptable as had we have known this we wouldnt have choosen general admission tickets. Very Very disappointing.
3. The security guys at the track are very inconsistent and over the top. You cannot enter any areas with a the bottle top still on your water!! God knows why. Also they check your bag ever time you go in and out of an area, and you cant just walk around the cicuit as you can at Silverstone, you have to walk miles out then walk along the roads.
4. The food choice was a total joke and expensive like iv never known, Iv been to many Grand Prixs around Europe and this was the worst in terms of food, although the toilets were excellent.

easy to access the circuit, nice circuit, good view. we hadn't any serious problem. it was a nice experience.

Having just returned from six nights in Istanbul I thoroughly enjoyed the city, culture and food during the visit. Disappointingly the same cannot be said for the F1 experience. Firstly the track is a long way out of the city with nothing in the vicinity. There is no visibility or atmosphere of there being a race whatsover in tyhe city. On Sat we took the organised buses which was an absolute farce due to the poor organisation of loading them. There was plenty buses avaialble and log queues they just werwent filling and realeasing them. I can only assume there was a scam between the bus and taxi drivers forcing people to take taxis instead of the low cost buses. Overall viewfrom high up in the gold stand was fantastic. As well as sering the whole of the main straight and corner one you could also see a large part of the out field. From my experience it is no suprise that Bernie is thinking of removing this one from the calendar.