SPANISH FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX

This was our first Grand Prix and it did not disappoint. We bought general admission tickets for 99EUR (3 day pass) and felt they were very good value for money. There are plenty of places round this circuit to get a good view of a corner or straight and a TV without needing to be in the inexplicably expensive grandstands. It isn't a classic race (JB stuck behind MSCH the whole race for example), but GP2 and Formula BMW were good forerunners.
Tip1: We bought two camping chairs for 9EUR each on the Sunday in Montmelo from a shop so we felt as if we had better than grandstand seats! We gave them to an English ex pat family on the way out so didn't worry about airplane issues.
Tip2: Get there early on the Sunday. We arrived at 7am and got a great spot just off the level concrete path after coming out of the tunnel. Late arrivals were left scrabbling for places by 9am.
Tip3: The villagers of Montmelo have woken up to the Grand Prix and sell sandwiches and drink outside the grand prix grounds. Buy stuff there or bring a picnic from Barcelona.
Tip4: It isn't as difficult as people say to get to the circuit on foot from Montmelo train station (that's our experience anyway), but it is uphill. If you walk fast like us it's 20 mins. Walking back to the station is easier and recommended. The quicker you go the easier it was to get onto the train going back. Both Sat and Sun morning we got the tractor bus to the circuit from the top of Montmelo village at a cost of 1EUR each - well worth it!
Tip5: We stayed in Barcelona near Sants station and this was great for both the racing and then to explore Barcelona later that week. Sants is the start of the Montmelo line so you will get a seat in the morning.
Tip6: Bring earplugs and a portable radio so you can listen to the FM circuit commentary. Those cars are deafeningly loud!

Amazing weekend at the 2010 Spainish GP, weather was great. I would not reccomend camping if you are flying as the air travel weight limits really restrict you on what you can take.

BookF1 were amazing, kept me updated all the time and the tickets arrived in plenty of time. he pack of information sent with the tickets is a life saver as it gives directions for rail travel and a good overview of teh weekend.

Planning to go to Canada 2011 and will use BookF1 for sure!

Firstly thank-you "book F1" tickets arrived in good time for departure what a pity you couldn't have had the same control over the ASH CLOUD. This was our 2nd year at Barcelona the first being so tremendous we just had to come back! We booked General Admission and looked forward to the Pit Walk on the Thursday with great enthusiasm but this was not to be - our flight out of Belfast was cancell ed on the Wednesday morning but in good Ulster fashion not to be deterred we took the Liverpool Ferry from Belfast and flew out of Liverpool on the Friday morning. Just hope Alonso appreciates his loyal fans! The trains from Sants to Montmelo are frequent and inexpensive. Yes there is a bit of a hike from the station to the circuit but part of that has Team Merchandise Stalls and the last bit you are carried along by excited anticipation the noise of the cars and media helicopters! Much as we had great views (just opposite T3 and amazing photo's of LH's crash!!!) we felt that in order to get good "seats" and Mexican Waves in General Admission we ought to have been there at about 8 or 9 in the morning. Every visit makes us wiser and wanting more of this live F1 experience. TV does not prepare you for it!!!
PS the Spanish people don't dislike Lewis they just love and adore Fernando!! What a fantastic ambassador for the sport of F1 in Spain he has become!

We had never been to a grand prix before, but were given some tickets as an anniversary present, and what a present! The circuit was amazing and so clean! We had three day tickets and saw all of the action, so much more than you see on TV, the crowd was good natured even to the brits. Was an exprience that we wont forget. Thanks team for the excellent service.

The Pelouse ticket get's good views as long as you are very early on Sat and Sunday. On Friday you can go anywhere including the grandstands and it's really worth taking a wander. I got excellent pictures with no fences or anything in the way from many areas around the track on Friday - you can't do that at Silverstone.
Saturday & Sunday you'll be in with the Alonso fans and have to put up with some pretty nasty Hamilton bating but they were friendly enough towards us.
My best bit of advice is to use the Sagales coach service and not the train to get to and from the track. www.sagales.com
Otherwise you'll have a long walk to the track.
Also don't buy any food or drink at the circuit.
Don't expect the race to be very exciting, it never is at this track.

Only our second live Grand Prix, but would imagine that the views of the race track afforded by this circuit would be hard to beat, we were in stand K but there were also great views from general admission( if your lege can take standing a couple of hours).
Be aware Shuttel busses dont return to train station after race, so its either 30 min walk or Taxi (drivers not interested,too shorter distance to make a killing) busses dont appear to run on sunday.
Book F1, once again excellent service

The only complaint I would have is the distance from the train station to the circuit is very far and also we had tins of beer and tuna confiscated by the spanish security but we saw spanish people with can of beer in the circuit (one rule for the english one rule for the spanish!) also the price of the beer and food inside the circuit was a rip off! next time I would probably go for a stand seat as our view was not that brilliant

Fab circuit easy to get to and some good spots to be had on general admission ticket. Going on the saturday qualifying helped to get bearings and choose a spot to sit sunday - well advised to do this... Marshalls fab directing traffic didnt wait long in or out which was a pleasant surprise. Food was limited, not good and expensive, take a picnic!

Overall a fantastic weekend, cicuit great and genral admission viewing the best I have seen, and I have been to a few races home and abroad! Can suddenly rain so be prepared for a shower and extremely hot weather! Don't let the Spanish fans offend you as they are quite ignorant and there is no other driver than Alonso! Shame he did not win then!!

this was the first time i have been to see the f1 live and i can honestly say wow what an experience.Any one who says that you see more on tv hasnt been to a grand prix.The seats were in a fantastic position and to stand meters away from the track as a f1 car races by at 180mph was out of this world.Big thanks to the support f1 team they made the whole process easy and enjoyable.

The seats assigned on the upper part of the grandstand were ideal. Your permanent communication through the email was greatly appreciated. Superb weekend at the course and marvelous Barcelona. I'll repeat next year even though I have to travel a long way from Mexico.

we went to the spanish f1 a couple of weeks ago, with the general admission tickets. we had a great view of the circuit & really enjoyed ourselves. i booked the tickets in november, as a christmas present for my other half. i was a bit nervous about booking them online & through a company that wasn't directly formula one, however book f1 were fantastic, the lovely lady in the office was so helpful & patient, i will deffinatly recomend book f1 to anyone & everyone! there was plenty of communication in the run up to the race, and the tickets arived just when they said they would. thank you so much book f1.com for giving us chance to make some amazing memories!

the circuit has a great atmosphere, (unless that is when LH tire bursts on the second to last lap, i have never seen so many happy spanish people in one place!) however as many people have said it is a bit pricey at 12 euros a pint! a picnic is a must have! as are ear plugs, im unsure as to anyone who would be able to tolerate the noise! earplugs are only 2euro's at the circuit & were our best buy of the holiday! i do have to admit i fell asleep through some of the race, how i do not know! maybe a combination of the sun & lying on a hill!

Our seats were great. We were seated right accross the start line and being Ferrari fans it was also nice to be across the Ferrari pit wich made our experience even more special.
Being seated in the midle of the main standmade it difficult to view the TV screens, so we did not have a great vief of the rest of the race!

For first time visitors to the F1, we had a wonderfull experience being seated across the start line and pits!

We were seated at the top of stand K, with good wiew to three spots of the track and one TV-screen. Nice weekend and the feeling that Catalunya Circuit is a good place for F1. But public transportation is bad, approx 30 min walk from Montmelo trainstation with almost no shuttleservice. From Barcelona centre (Port Vell) you must calculate at least 90-120 minutes traveltime one way with public transport. At the end of the raceweekend it took 3 hours! In difference, Hungaroring takes less than an hour from stand seat to hotel in the town centre....

But Catalunyan crowd is very good!

The F1 was brilliant, it was our first time and exceeded our expectations. Great seats, if a little far from the screens, but great view of pit lane and race start. Book F1.com gave good info on how to get to the circuit as we used the train - very easy, walk to the circuit from train is fairly long in the heat but well worth it! Circuit very well organised, well policed and tidy. Weather was excellent so we couldnt have asked for more really, would thoroughly reccomend anyone to give it a go, fan or not, its brilliant!

Stay at a hotel in Montmelo if possible - allow 1.5- 2 hours to travel from hotel in Barcelona - Metro - Train Station - Walk to Circuit.....

But it was a fantastic Experience.....

In comparison to Silverstone Grand Prix which I have been to a lot over the years:
Plus points:
1] General admission tickets: really cheap & can always get a good view in the sunshine
2] Campsite very near circuit, cheap & only 5min walk to gate with no queue!
3] Great weather!
Bad points:
1] Poor choice of food available
2] Campsite facilities poor, no communal places to drink/eat/ buy provisions, nearest town poorly signposted so easy to get lost! [luckily we stocked up before arriving!]
3]No information provided in weekend brochure about any of the other races apart from when they were happening.We ended up losing interest as we could not find out who was driving what car.
4]At the end of the F1 race, the circuit shuts & you are made to leave asap, even most of the merchandise stalls shut so you miss out on any purchase if like us you waited to do it at the end of the day.

In comparison to Silverstone Grand Prix which I have been to a lot over the years:
Plus points:
1] General admission tickets: really cheap & can always get a good view in the sunshine
2] Campsite very near circuit, cheap & only 5min walk to gate with no queue!
3] Great weather!
Bad points:
1] Poor choice of food available
2] Campsite facilities poor, no communal places to drink/eat/ buy provisions, nearest town poorly signposted so easy to get lost! [luckily we stocked up before arriving!]
3]No information provided in weekend brochure about any of the other races apart from when they were happening.We ended up losing interest as we could not find out who was driving what car.
4]At the end of the F1 race, the circuit shuts & you are made to leave asap, even most of the merchandise stalls shut so you miss out on any purchase if like us you waited to do it at the end of the day.

Thanks again Book F1 for a great service. As always I had a great time at the spanish gp. Yes the drinks are expensive, yes the merchandise is over-priced (as it is at all tracks) but the general admission spots are great, the toilets are always clean, and the bus service from town is excellent and drops you 5-10 minute walk from the entrance, and the sun (almost) always shines!

You have to be aware in Spain, if you are a hamilton fan, that the Spanish hate him. And that they are prepared to boo him quite nastily. However if you stand up and cheer him they don't blink - I just think they're very vocal towards Alonso.
The facilities are spotless. Toilets are constantly being cleaned! Very nice circuit and I would certainly recommend buying a 3 day ticket to take advantage of the pit walk - I met so many drivers.
Parking is great - just be aware that there is a fairly long walk to the track so comfortable shoes are a must. If needs be just change in the loos!
Food and drink is also fairly expensive but where isn't it when you go out for a day like this?! So if you can bring in food then do.
Other than that I would certainly recommend it! Always a great atmosphere, mexican waves galore!
Great weekend that was made extremely easy with Book F1's help beforehand! Thank you!