What’s up my fellow GPROers, those of you who may know me will know I’ve been to a number of F1 races myself (nine as we speak) and I’d like to share with you lot what it’s like to be at the races as a fan of the sport. F1 is back this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix and I’ve been there twice myself so I’d like to share my stories from Albert Park and for those of you who are going there this weekend, I’d like to give some suggestions on where to catch the action.
Of the three F1 events I have been to, I have to say Australia is the most fun to be at as a fan of motorsports. You may or may not know this but the Australian Grand Prix is a four-day event, unlike your usual three-day events for other races. Even though there aren’t any F1 cars running on the Thursday, the reason to be there is for the F1 autograph sessions and for some the pit-lane walk.
The autograph session in Australia is the best one of the races I’ve been to because anyone can get in line. Even if you’re not in line, you might still get an autograph from a driver if you happen to be at the right place at the right time. I got Hamilton’s autograph last year just because I had the F1 Racing magazine that he was on the cover and he saw it! I must have met at least half the grid thanks to the autograph session! Here’s one from last year:
There are some guys who are quite friendly and some who I can’t say the same thing. I have met Perez twice, he was friendly in 2012 but the second time I met him in 2014, and I think he did not say a word to anyone at all. His team-mate Hulkenberg on the other hand, is probably one of two of the friendliest drivers I have met (the other being Daniel Ricciardo).
He’ll sign stuff for you, talk to you a little bit and more than happy to take a picture with you even though the staff at that signing are always trying to rush everyone off. He even stayed back for a while to sign more stuff for the rest of us waiting at the front of the stage. There are some guys who will do just that, Vettel, Ricciardo and the Mercedes duo to name a few.
You’ll get to be a part of the pit-lane walk if you bought your tickets within a certain timing and it is quite something to see the F1 cars up close for once which is a rare chance for those of us who aren’t rich like those paddock club buggers. I really don’t know how else to explain it so I will just share a picture of it. If you are lucky, you might see a team practising their pit-stops like Ferrari here back in 2012:
The one thing I like about street races such as Albert Park and Marina Bay in Singapore is that you can watch the action from pretty much anywhere. For Australia, you just need a General Admission ticket and you’re good to go. I have caught the action from most parts of the circuit except for Turns 4 to 8.
My personal favourite is Turn 15 as the track is close to us fans and you can see the drivers really working around that corner and there’s always bound to be a lock-up there! Good spot to watch the action if you do not have a grandstand ticket for Australia for those of you who might be going there this weekend. Even if you have grandstand tickets, I would recommend to just walk around the track a bit and see the action from a few different spots.
As you can tell, one of my hobbies is taking pictures of those F1 cars, it is quite fun if you know how to use those cameras. That is a story for another time.
Grandstand tickets for Australia is not bad personally, it is worth the money. I saw the action from the Schumacher stand which gives you a view of Turns 15, 16 and pit entry in 2012, good spot to watch the cars. The Aussie GP has this thing where you can get seats in four different stands for each day. Personally the grandstand at Turns 1 and 2 (Brabham) and Turns 9 and 10 (Clark) has some of the better views I’ve seen for a race.
I sat in the main grandstand for Sunday and well, I wouldn’t really recommend that as I didn’t have the best of views from there (unless you’re sitting in the first few rows then maybe you might still see something). It is cool to see the start of a Grand Prix for once but after that, I could barely see the cars. Brabham for me has one of the best view, the other one being any of the three grandstands around Turns 15 and 16.
There’s nothing quite like watching F1 cars (or any race cars for that matter) in action so I really recommend you guys, if you’ve not been to one and you can afford it, go for it, you won’t regret it! The cars now may not sound as good as years before but it’s still quite something to see those cars buzzing past you at those speeds too.
If you’re also a fan of V8 Supercars, you’ll get to see those cars in action in Albert Park too. They’ve got some of the best racing in the world. It’s a great place to watch the action for the whole weekend. Classic racing cars are always on display in Albert Park, that’s another one to catch in action.
There are also the usual air displays from the Air Force and the RAAF if you are interested in those. Always a sight to catch when they are taking to the airs! One of my favourite bits of the Australian Grand Prix is the Ultimate Speed Comparison.
A Mercedes road car going up against a V8 Supercar and an F1 car, that mini-race is always fun to catch. The slower cars starts first and they all usually catch up with each other at the end! I’ve shared a few pictures so now I’ll share one video, it’s from the start of the race itself from the main grandstand:
There are more stories I’d like to share from other races that I’ve been to or that I’ll be going to in the near future and I won’t be the only one doing so, the great Hookee will share his motorsports stories too. We’ll be making guides aimed to all those visiting a grand prix, especially those who have never been to one, on what to do, what to look out for or what to bring during a grand prix weekend. Stay tuned for more F1 GP related stories! :)
FIA should pay you for your advertisement. Really interesting and insightful read which makes me really miss the grand prix life. Fantastic pictures too!
If you've got a guide for Spa, I'll be awaiting that, as it's my first time to Belgium this year :)
Keep it up, this was fantastic.
E: My first watchlisted thread which is not a silly game ;)
This is the best topic I've seen for a while Kash!
Personally I've been attending the Race of Morocco since 2009, so since the beginning. For these 5 years (it didn't happen in 2011), I've only missed 2 days, and it was because of school. This is for me the best event of the year by far from me, especially as I want to become a race engineer.
This edition will be the most important one for me. I'll be looking forward talking to as many team managers/engineers as I can. If I can get a small "internship" for a weekend, in Marrakech or for another round will be the best thing that can happen, even if it have to involve floor sweeping!
I'm taking hundreds of pics every year, and it's always a huge pleasure to have a look at them everytime I do that.
I got to say the atmosphere is perfect. The fact that 90% of the attendants doesn't care about racing is in fact a huge advantage. That way, you can literally freely access to the main paddocks, where the AutoGP teams and the other series are located. You are simply next to every of them, seeing the mechanics working on the car, having a talk with the drivers.
During the parc fermé, you can literally see the mechanics pushing the car towards the PF location, and the driver doing their last checks to be ready. This is a unique moment, and I should definately spend more time being near the parc fermé when the teams are getting ready before any session.
The AutoGP drivers are the nicest ones I've ever met. You can easily have a talk with them, ask for an autograph and a pic. Some will even come to you and have a chat. The engineers were really nice aswell, as I already went to get some contacts in this lovely world last year.
Josh and Roland Yes there will also be a track specific guide coming for Spa but we will be doing a few other stories until its time for that one to happen. Spa race is at autumn, You guys not in a hurry right? :)
I’ve got another story for you guys for the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park and this one is for those of you who are wondering what the views are like around the circuit itself and for those of you who are into pictures of these race cars. I have to give credit to my reanimate team-mate Jon Day for this suggestion, thanks mate! Let’s start off with the circuit layout for reference sake
Main Grandstand (Fangio Grandstand)
This is actually one of the rare good photos I got from that view from Fangio Grandstand and that’s only because Bottas was trying to overtake someone and taking the dirty line. So as you can tell, I didn’t really like the view here, also doesn’t help that I was sitting at the back row. Even at the front, there are some guard railings that will probably ruin the view.
The main straight isn’t all bad views, there is one tiny spot between the GP bar and a Johnny Walker bar I think, that I’d usually head off to before the start of the race as you’ll see the cars right in front of you moving into their grid slots. If you’re lucky, you might be in front of someone’s grid slot like I was in 2012:
There is one other spot that’s usually just for the paddock club members but is open to GP Advantage members (the ones who bought grandstand tickets before December 31 usually) and well there’s probably a good reason why it’s off limits most of the time, just look at the view from up there. Would be the perfect spot to watch pit-stops for the F1 cars. Still not a bad spot to watch whatever cars might be on track at the time, here’s a V8 Supercars for those of you who follow that series:
Turns 1 and 2 (Jones Grandstand, Brabham Grandstand)
This is Jones Grandstand which I didn’t realise was not a bad spot itself, I only spent 22 minutes or so watching the V8s qualifying session. Cars are bound to run off at this first corner so it’s a good spot to see someone mess up and usually someone does like this picture here of Mark Winterbottom from FPR.
The other side of the first corner is just as good, I personally prefer the views from this Brabham Grandstand. Because it’s the first corner, like I said, someone will usually mess up here. I would recommend this spot to watch the race since Turn 1 is one of the better overtaking spots around the circuit.
I didn’t get many pictures from there last year because it rained during qualifying as some of you might remember. No shelters in this grandstand or any other for that matter apart from the main grandstand and even then, it’s only the last few rows who are covered.
Between Turns 2 and 3
No grandstands here but there is a viewing bank for those who prefer to sit on the grass and take in the sometimes beautiful Melbourne weather. Not a bad view there too, if you’re not stuck behind someone that is! There’s usually nobody standing right at the front of that area but if you want to get some good/clear pictures of the cars, you’d be better off standing near the top of the viewing bank.
Turn 3
There is a grandstand in Turn 3 but I’ve not been there so I can’t say what the view is like there. I did see bits of the practice session last year from there on the outside of the corner, quite a walk to get there and not a huge place itself so you’d need to get a good spot quickly if you plan to watch there. Not a bad view for getting some photos of the cars, not so good for just watching the action I’d say.
Turns 4 to 8 – Sorry I can’t say much here as I’ve not seen the action from these parts…yet…
Turns 9 and 10 (Clark Grandstand and Viewing Bank)
The view from Clark Grandstand is alright, you can see Turns 9, 10 and the bits of the straight before Turn 11. The view is alright but I wouldn’t really choose that spot, it’ll on the other side of the circuit and there’s not much happening from that side of the circuit unlike the one behind the main straight where there’s the V8 village, the classic cars and probably more things to see and buy.
It’s not all bad though as I quite like the view from the viewing bank next to the grandstand, I actually prefer the view from there. Good spot to get some mega photos too! Here’s one from Turn 9:
And here’s one from after Turn 10, really good spot to see the cars up close:
Turns 11 to 13 – For some reason I’ve not seen the action there…
Turn 14
I quite like this spot to just watch the cars zoom past this corner in a flash, it was a great spot to hear those V8 engines. Can’t quite say the same for the V6 engines but you can still hear them! Here’s two photos of this spot:
Into Turn 14:
Out of Turn 14:
Turn 15
If you’re into getting photographs of these cars, this is THE spot. There’s actually two good spots here, the one next to the Schumacher grandstand which is where I’d usually go to and there’s another one on the other side of the corner which I can’t say much about because I’ve only been there for a good 10 minutes or so in my two trips here. If you don’t have a grandstand tickets for the Aussie GP, this is one spot I’d recommend to watch the action from. So here’s one from the inside of Turn 15:
And one from the outside of Turn 15, probably the only good picture I’ve got from there:
Turns 15 & 16 – Schumacher Grandstand
Schumacher Grandstand isn’t the only grandstand around here, there’s also Prost and Senna and I have to say this, along with Brabham, is probably my favourite grandstand spot to watch the action from. Schumacher and Prost will give you views of Turns 15, 16 and pit entry. If I remember correctly, Senna only has views of pit entry and Turn 16. Still a good spot to watch the action and get some photos of those cars.
And we’re back to the main straight and that’s all I’ve got for the Albert Park street circuit. The good thing about these street circuits, some of them I guess, is that you can watch the action from almost anywhere! Same can be said for Singapore so I’ll do something similar for that later on during the year.
Here's a bonus picture of Kamui Kobayashi having some fun posting stickers all around the autograph stage last year!
Great work Kash You are A big fan of F1 like me .I too witnessed three Indian GP I didnt clicked pics
2011 First Race No grass Mud on Tarmac Sittted at Main Grandstand I was at top row A great start I saw I could see the pits and View of Entrance of Turn 1 and exit of last turn and I can See the Some Southern part of Circuit And Great to see Race start
price I paid 250$
2012
Second Race I tried Something Different Sorted at end of main straight .Beautiful location was able to see 70% of track view .I enjoyed watching cars coming at straight I could see t14,15 and the hard turns after the straight best stands for watching price - 100$
2013 I was short on Money got to picnic stand north north for 25$ Saw race start after standing on wall Webber car stopped in front of my eyes got to see him tried to get autograph but couldn't could see 1,2,3 turns bit of overtaking by force India now im going for a foreign race in
Where I should go Malaysia ,Singapore ,China ,Japan , Abu Dhabi or Bahrain
I've not been to China, Japan, Abu Dhabi or Bahrain so I can't help you with those races. Prices for Malaysia is actually not bad but the travelling is a bit rubbish. On the flip side, Singapore is easy to get around but prices is quite high here. If you prefer to move around and watch the action from a few different spots, go for Singapore. If you'd prefer to stick to one place and watch the action, go for Malaysia. It's your choice after all, I'm sure you'll enjoy it whichever one you may decide to go for. :)
For those of you guys waiting on for my bit on the Malaysian Grand Prix from last week, please forgive me for making you guys wait. It's taking a while to get some things uploaded. I'll try to get it up at some point during the weekend.
Quote ( Kashvinder Mann @ April 3rd 2015,17:16:04 )
For those of you guys waiting on for my bit on the Malaysian Grand Prix from last week, please forgive me for making you guys wait. It's taking a while to get some things uploaded. I'll try to get it up at some point during the weekend.
Take your time Kash! It's not easy to get all these pictures up for us to see and typing out all the details! And all this is on top of your normal work life as well! :)
As some of you probably know, I was at the Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend and I have to say, I actually had a lot of fun this time around compared to the first time I was there.
I want to get the negative parts out of the way first. Travelling to the circuit can be quite a pain. Even though the KL airport is just opposite, it takes around 20 minutes just to get to the circuit bus park, you’ve still got a short trip up to the entrance to make. If you’re staying in downtown Kuala Lumpur, the best way to get there is by the subway/train/whatever you want to call it.
The autograph session was really messy. They didn’t stick to their “rule” of fans not stalling the line and that everyone had to go up to get whoever was doing the signing session. Also some of the drivers didn’t show up at the time they had said but then again, that usually happens.
The weather is the other irritating bit, it can be quite unpredictable at times. You guys probably know about the rain and when it rains there, it pours. Not even a sheltered grandstand like the two I’ve been to helped that much. The weather can be quite hot too so you’ll have two things to worry about there if you’re not used to the weather in this region. Just to show you how bad the weather really can be, here’s a pic from the second qualifying session:
Now for the good stuff. There are a few things you can do at the “mall area” just before the entrance to the main grandstand so anyone can visit that area. The guys at Sepang have now introduced a mini Carnival area there so that’s a good place for anyone bringing their families along. There’s also a haunted house for those looking for a good scare/laugh.
There’s also the Gamezone area where you can have a go at the F1 simulator (the one with just one screen or the mega one with three screens). I don’t know if it’s available at the other circuits because I’ve only just started to notice that it’s been showing up in some of the races. Since most of us here do like to play racing games here in GPRO, that’s a big plus for those of us who want to have a go at the wheel and not calling the shots with strategy every Tuesdays and Fridays!
Back to the action. You guys may or may not know this but Friday is free admission for all. I’ve not heard of any of the other F1 venues that does this so that’s a big plus for Sepang. You can sit anywhere you want in the main grandstand or the grandstand overlooking the first and second corner.
You may decide to watch the first session from the grandstand overlooking the back straight and then switch over to the other side to watch the one overlooking the front straight for the second session. Or you could always just walk around the whole time for different views.
The first thing I did was head over to the very end of the main grandstand to see what the view is like overlooking the last corner and there’s a small three-floor tower that gives you an amazing view of the circuit. You can see Turns 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, some bits between Turns 11 and 12, the two long straights and pit entry.
You’ll have to go the top floor to really enjoy every bit of the view as the first few floors will have seats around. That spot, along with the seats I had for last weekend’s race, might be one of my favourite spots to watch these cars now. It’s also a great spot to get some pictures of these F1 cars.
A bit of a warning, it is quite a walk all the way to the end of the grandstand. For the two long grandstands, there’s a lower deck and an upper deck. I personally prefer the upper deck as you can see the other teams pit areas a bit better than from the lower deck where you might be restricted to seeing just one. I didn’t spend much time from the lower deck so I won’t talk much about it.
I prefer the upper deck mainly to see the cars in pit-lane. You might be able to see at least five different teams practicing their pit-stops during the session and see the cars get out of the pit-lane and sometimes even see the drivers themselves either getting ready to get in the car or just walking around or if you’re one of the McLaren drivers, waving to the fans and chatting to your former team haha! Here’s a video of some of those pit-stops practices:
The only reason I can think of for buying tickets to watch the action from the main grandstand (the one facing the pit-lane) would be to watch the start, the podium, some overtakes before Turn 1 and the pit-stops. Other than that, I really wouldn’t get tickets for those so it’s the perfect spot for the free admission on Friday. Some may prefer to watch the action from the main grandstand but that their opinion and I’m sharing mine with you guys, and if those of you who have been to Sepang and want to share your, be my guest! :)
Before I move to the weekend’s action on track, there’s one event I’d like to share with the rest that happened on a Saturday. I heard about this during the Australian Grand Prix and it happened again in Malaysia. It seems as if there is a Driver’s Forum during the Saturdays of each race this season so that’s a nice addition to the weekend’s events.
Three groups of drivers (usually made up of two or three teams) would share the stage to answer questions from the MC or the fans. There were some really good questions asked during the two groups I saw. I really hope this driver’s forum bit really is an every race deal from now on, at least now there is some interaction between these drivers and the fans that the American series are well known for.
For Saturday and Sunday I got seats at the K1 Grandstand which overlooks some bits of the main straight, Turns 1, 2 and also 4 off in the distance. I have to say, those seats I got might be the best ones I’ve gotten so far. I would really recommend a seat at the K1 Grandstand to anyone, especially the first four or five blocks. The ticket prices for Sepang is one of the cheaper ones I’ve seen so it’s a really good deal.
I won’t talk about what happened in qualifying on Saturday because nothing much really happened when the rain showed up, everyone went for higher ground. Also, the never ending lighting was catching my eyes more than the action did haha!
That’s the view. But me being me, I wanted to explore the place a bit more and I noticed that there isn’t any marshal keeping station at the entrances to each block so I went to the other side of the K1 Grandstand. The views are not bad, you can still see Turns 1 and 2 and now 3 as well. But having seen the west side of the grandstand, I can easily say the east side of the grandstand gives better views, even if you can’t see Turn 3 from there.
That spot is a great place to watch any kind of racing. There were two other support races and there were some great racing going on down at Turns 1 and 2. You guys saw the F1 race too and I don’t know how much of the racing down at Turns 1 and 2 the cameras caught but it felt like every other lap something was happening. I can’t remember how many overtakes I saw. It was cool to see the start from that spot too but this time, nothing silly happened at the first corner.
As if the racing wasn’t already good enough with cars going side by side into Turn 1, pit exit is makes it even more interesting with a few drivers locking up to avoid those were re-joining the action so this is another good spot for those of us looking to get some great pictures. From my view, I got to see the Ericsson spinning off right in front of us and also the Hulkenberg-Kvyat collision.
I liked it so much I might get seats from there again if I decide to make another visit to Sepang. Not a bad place for a grand prix. It’s no Albert Park or Marina Bay where there is a lot going on during the weekends but for on track action alone, it’s probably better than the other two. Here’s one last extra picture of Marcus Ericsson spinning off at Turn 1. So that’s my story of my Sepang weekend, hope you guys enjoyed it.
Quote ( Kshitij Sharma @ March 31st 2015,19:12:18 )
Great work Kash You are A big fan of F1 like me .I too witnessed three Indian GP I didnt clicked pics 2011 First Race No grass Mud on Tarmac Sittted at Main Grandstand I was at top row A great start I saw I could see the pits and View of Entrance of Turn 1 and exit of last turn and I can See the Some Southern part of Circuit And Great to see Race start price I paid 250$2012 Second Race I tried Something Different Sorted at end of main straight .Beautiful location was able to see 70% of track view .I enjoyed watching cars coming at straight I could see t14,15 and the hard turns after the straight best stands for watching price - 100$2013 I was short on Money got to picnic stand north north for 25$ Saw race start after standing on wall Webber car stopped in front of my eyes got to see him tried to get autograph but couldn't could see 1,2,3 turns bit of overtaking by force India now im going for a foreign race in Where I should go Malaysia ,Singapore ,China ,Japan , Abu Dhabi or Bahrain
My main problem with F1 are the prices for live events. For the same price to get a good seat F1 you can get a whole year pass to Brands Hatch (my local race track) for racing which is probably more exciting, all you lose if the atmosphere of F1. Personally I think F1 is a bit of a rip of, a whole year of racing on my back door or 3 days (more expensive with hotel and travel) I think for me it is a clear choice. I hope to watch an F1 race live again soon but for now lower racing will have to do.
I'll agree with you on the prices, some of them are really quite expensive. Sepang is actually quite cheap so not all of them have ridiculous prices. I wouldn't mind watching those local races as you put it, I'm one of those who would watch any kind of circuit racing, but the difference between being in England and Singapore is that you guys have a whole bunch of circuits around the country and we don't even have one proper circuit. :P
For those looking to see the pictures around the circuit, I apologize for the delay but I'll likely be uploading it tomorrow. It's quite late right now and I'll be in school the whole of tomorrow so in between my break time from revision I'll work on it and hopefully get it up the moment I get home.
Totally agree Alex, we looked at tickers for Silverstone this year and they are crazy, add in hotel and travel and we're looking at £500+ for one day of entertainment :-/
Quote ( Alex Nikodem-Wing @ April 5th 2015,18:19:26 )
My main problem with F1 are the prices for live events.
Sepang is then perfect opportunity. G.A was available for less than 50 USD covering Fri -Sun for that price. Flights to Malaysia and back is a different matter though :)
Totally agree with F1 costs to much.....I have only been to the Canadian GP with GA tickets and the views of the track were rubbish, any chance of seeing better than someone in a seat were blocked off. I worked it out that I could get tickets for the Toronto indy, Nascar at Watkins Glen and a couple of Canadian Tire Nascar (Canadian version of Nascar) for the same price of two tickets for the Canadian GP, they really need to lower the price of tickets.
There will probably never be the same costs as Indycar or any nascar at same track F1 has a lot higher logistic cost when running in U.S or lets say south america While Nascar and Indycar usually just ship from state to state these cars,teams and equippement is going worldwide...all the time. but some places are cheper than others.
Abt Canadian GP just looking at the outlay of the track and TV broadcast i can say that i would never advice anyone to get G.A tickets only for this GP. Instead get a good grandstand ticket. it will cost but it will make your experience at this GP venue a lot better.
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