The AWFUL F1 fan experiences at Grand Prix this year 

The organization at Zandvoort was absolutely fantastic; no lines to get into the circuit, you couldn’t get to the circuit by car which was a good thing, short lines for drinks and amazing recycling policies (you got a token when you entered the circuit, than after you bought your first drink, if you didn’t bring back the can or cup, you would have to pay double. This eliminated pretty much all littering)

The thing that baffles me is Zandvoort are in their second year with a compact venue where fitting 100,000 people ought to be a nightmare but it was the best organisation of any race I have ever been to when it came to the management of the crowd, transport to the track, the food and water, toilets etc, yet tracks with all this experience such as Monza and Barcelona (the latter I also went to and was actually very lucky not to get the worst of that organisation and still have a good time) we’re simply unable to cope with the larger crowds F1 is seeing this year…

I went to Monza this year. My first Grand Prix. Absolutely terrible experience. The organizers prioritized money over the fan experience, no doubt. For the swedish speaking people: i made a vlog on my YT-channel showing my experience.

I went to my first this year at Zandvoordt. I was a bit nervous after seeing all the horror stories of other tracks, especially coming all the way from California. Everything was fantastic including the public transport on Sat and Sun. For anyone still thinking about going to one next year, I'd highly recommend NL.

I was at Silverstone this year. The time to enter was long, but once you are in there - it is a fantastic experience. Great viewing angles, screens all across the major corners, loads of security, no hassles with food or coffee, and very well connected public transport system for people to go anywhere in UK. Definitely recommended.

I actually work at the company responsible for public transport in and around the Zandvoort circuit and iam always open for fan input about the accessibility of the track. But iam so happy too see so many positive comments about the Zandvoort circuit.

Hi, I am Italian, and as many of other people, the Monza Grand Prix was my first time ever being in an F1 Gran Prix, and as an Italian i can agree with all of you that Monza was organized terribly, i saw people destroying fences, pushing children in tight spaces, it was a complete disaster. I hope they do better next year :(

Zandvoort is so well managed. Even if you don't support Verstappen just go for the great experience

Went to Zandvoort this year by public transport, and let's put it this way, from Amsterdam Central station everything was organised to take tens of thousands of people there. There were amazingly long trains going every 4 minutes! Once in Zandvoort it was a short walk from station to track, and although crowded, it walked in decent pace. There were 3 entrances to come in through, all very wide and constantly stacked with staff to ensure a smooth entry. Taking in water or whatnot was not an issue. Once on the circuit grounds there were food stands and toilets, regualry cleaned, everywhere. And these stands weren't like just one or two people in a truck, they were full blown shops, for example like 6 drinks stands in a row, with every stand having 3 counters, meaning they could serve up to 18 people at once. There were virtually no queues whatsoever. Also for food, even warm food was almost immidiatly done as they were cooking it in the back and keeping it heated after. Over all, I had a great expierince and this video just somewhat confused me, because it seems that one of the most recent tracks to be added and it greatly over populated (fitting over 100K people on a 1950's circuit), yet somehow getting the fan expierince absolutely right.

I only went to Malaysian and Japanese GP in 2016 and 2017, both were nice experience. For Sepang it may just because not many people went to the event (and maybe that's why it is not on the calendar anymore), but Suzuka was absolutely packed still well organized. Easy to find ways, many spots on different location to see cars (you even can buy the cheapest ticket and have a seat on 130R!) , and the food quality and price was amazing! Not simply sandwich or hamburger! Tariyaki, Okonomiyaki, fried noodles, quick sushi, you name it. Only one thing I would say could be better, the nearest train station was 20~30 minutes on foot and shuttle bus was limited.

F1 Growth is good but The FIA isn’t catching up

The organizers of Zandvoort deserve a round of applause. I have been to many F1 GPs and this one was by far the best organized

I'm glad to hear Matt didn't have any issues getting into the circuit at the British Grand Prix. Those protestors who invaded the track didn't any have issues getting into the circuit either 😃

I went to Spa and I have to say it was pretty well organized this year. No ridiculous cues, you can still bring your own food and drinks (accept alcohol). Parking was really well organized this year with big parkings in Malmedy and busses to take you to and from the Circuit. Comparing to other years the fanzone was really nice!

Fan experience at the Australian GP this year was actually fantastic imo, with it being the biggest year to date for us bringing in close to 500k people across the weekend. Only downside being the public transport situation with trams being the only options so hopefully we can fix that somewhat next year and be good to go!

God, I was at Monza this year and honestly, the worst organized sporting event I’ve ever been to. Even aside the spots where you could buy food and drink (with the tokens it took us 1,5h to queue for on FRIDAY) the water bottle filling stations had massive lines too. Personally decided not to waste time there since we had to buy food too and that took more than enough time, but my parents did wait to fill theirs and then didn’t have the opportunity to get any food if they wanted to see qualifying on Saturday. And in that heat? At least people should be given the opportunity to keep themselves properly hydrated

The fact that we have to ask for more security on tracks is disheartening really... F1 didn't need the kind of tribalism we see in football. Disgraceful. Those makeshift log stands at Monza were half hilarious half sad.

I remember seeing something on Twitter where the Monza experience was pretty horrible for people with disabilities

I went to Monza this year and had a mixed feelings experience. Friday and Saturday were Ok, it's normal to take some time entering on the event and queue to something, but on Sunday was an absolute nightmare. Arrived at the track at 7:20, just to get into a 1.5km long line into the circuit... Then inside, there was no place to see anything. At last, on Curva Grande, there was a screen among Aramco banners, showing ONLY an Aramco logo in different colors.... Not even a live timing for the race. Thankfully, there was a cellphone tower nearby from where I could catch 5G and live stream the race for some people around me. But I'll never ever go again to GA in Monza, even though I think that could be one of the best in the calendar given the fact that you can watch from almost every corner, but the GA tickets were clearly over sold for this event by the thousands.

I’ve been going to the 🇦🇺GP for about 20 years in Melbourne and despite not running the previous 2 years, they handled the record crowds really well. I ran into a lot of first time race goers and the ratio of female to male fans has evened out dramatically over that time. I’ve not been to any other races but hearing some of these stories makes me thankful for the event that is run down here.

The biggest problem is that too many people are crowded in an area around the circuit which is way to small

this year was the first time i went to an f1 event i was at Zandvoort on the friday and it was an incredible experience it didnt matter who you were chearing for everyone was getting allong (for what i saw). and i heard it was organised really well which i cant really join in on since it was my first time and dont know the norm. but there were trains every 5 min. the very clear markings already started before you got of the train station and they even made entire bridges so it would be safer and quicker for everyone. the only dissapointing thing was the scammers who were selling stuff like sunscreen, earplugs and capes outside the circuit for diabolical prices whereas on the circuit you got those things for free! but i cant really blame that on the organisers and i wont. it was an incredible experience and its sad to hear that apparently is getting more rare these days

I've never been to a race before and I'm thinking I never will (unless I can fork out for really premium seats or get the VIP experience). And I ask myself, what's the point of even going to races? I can either stay home, get expert coverage with the vision mixer cutting to the action constantly, or I can be there on the day and see the cars wizzing by once every minute or so. "Well, there they go....... erm.... how can I kill a minute?" That's not to mention that most fans don't get to even see the podium, and the cost of tickets is outrageous. True, the races have an exciting ambience an' all that, but those crowd numbers sound incredibly daunting to me. Top that off with the horror stories like these you hear and the increasingly dickish behaviour of the crowd (flares and booing comes to mind); yeah, sounds like hell.

Wat at Spa this year, thankfully had the opposite experience to Monza. Yes you had to buy tokens but there were almost no queues for any stall. Plus there were screens everywhere to see the action and there were people camping out behind tyre barriers all over the place as well. Great atmosphere !

I was at Monza this year and can confirm that it was absolute hell. Paid over $2k for one of the nicer tickets but it got me nothing on Saturday+ Sunday. Adding to the terrible coin system, there was ONE coin exchange system for everyone sitting on the main straight. There was also a grand total of : One cold water tap(free), Two beers tents with 8 taps between them, three choices of food vendor(food truck style), and a measly eight portable toilets.....for EVERYONE sitting on the main straight. I'll also add that for the water+battery thing it seemed to be a difference depending on wherever you went in. South entrance didn't give a shit as long as your cap was off. North cared unless they noticed you had one of the experience passes (we did ...sorry ) in which you got to skip the line all together. And just remember this, you know it was a shit show getting in...think about leaving.

It's such a shame that some fans had terrible experiences it's simply not good enough and things need to change otherwise it's going to put people off going to races. I was fortunate to have a really good experience when I went to Silverstone earlier this year

Australia was as good as every other year, the long line for things moved pretty quick. Can see how in the future if more fans were allowed in that facilities would need to be increased but for sure Melbourne is an incredible experience everytime on and off track

The Austrian Grand Prix was very cool this year. It took forever to get to the standing room but you saw a lot of the race no matter where you were. The only negative thing was that some drunk fans discriminated against others and there was far too little security. Transportation to the track was good although the shuttle buses were way overcrowded.

I was in Belgium in 2019 and now in Monza just now. I was wondering if this was gonna get social media attention cause that was absolutely the worst managed event i have ever been to: The tokens were even worse cause they didn't have enough tokens and had to constantly wait for the food stands to bring some back Also there was apparently a digital token system with a NFC wristband you could get, which flat out did not work at most places So not only were there insane queues everywhere, most of the time they'd be out of whatever you were queueing for! But worst of all on Sunday if you took a shuttle bus back to the train station, theyd funnel you into a line into the station directly from the bus, which you WERENT ALLOWED TO LEAVE. They literally had police to stop people from leaving that line, you couldn't even say fuck it and walk home or into Monza, you had to stay in that line and one woman apparently had a panic attack. When we got in most trains were cancelled. Absolutely unacceptable and probably borderline criminal. I love Italy but I'll never attend a Italian GP again.

I’m a paraplegic, and I just gave up on traveling to and attending live events like races and even a lot of concerts. The venues are generally horrible if you can’t walk and even climb in some instances. You wind up looking at people’s backsides instead of the race. I do miss being there live, but streaming channels have become very good at covering the races, practices, and all.

I had a very good experience a few years ago at the Nurburgring. Took me 10 minutes walking from my car and another few minutes to get in and I could walk or sit completely free... everywhere I had a great view. Would do it again if we still had that GP and if it wasn't an 8 hour drive for one way lol

Belgium was quite similar, same token system, it worked a bit better but the queues for almost everything is incredible...oh my gosh were the parking sport packed, you had to settle for a 3 to 4 hour period just to get out of the parking. the bronze area places were so full you couldnt stand up and go to the toilet...the camel straight/pouhon were a NIGHTMARE you couldnt even get past people to go to your seats if you were able to somehow get out of your sitting position....and I want to adress the toilet problem for women, us men had it easy we went next to a tree but women had to wait 2 hours just to be able to access a toilet.

Situation at the Hungaroring was pretty much the same as in Monza. Long queues, no screens around the track,( or you couldn’t see them because of the seats) security guards sent us away from good spots because it was ,,dangerous”. It was a great experience, but I’m not sure I’ll go next year.

My one friend just got back from Monza and said how amazing Friday practice and Saturday qualifying was, but the Sunday race was a nightmare. They paid extra to have a dedicated seat on Sunday, but Italians jumped the fence and sat on their seats, they were forced to go watch elsewhere and didn't even get to watch more than 10mins of the actual race. People got aggressive also. Needles to say, I don't think they will ever be going back to Monza...

Even though Zandvoort is so small and I felt like a human sandwich at some points, at least the crowd was always moving and I even got my food extremely fast! And everyone was very friendly and in a great mood. I know Dutch fans get a bad rep but I had a great experience! (I am a woman, if that is relevant)

I went to Silverstone for the first time and the quality was amazing and little queues. And I do feel for these fans because going to a face is definitely expensive

I went to Barcelona this year, and while not near as bad as Monza, it was pretty shocking how they were missing basic stuff. Absolutely no public transit other than one train station that was a 30-45 min walk, and it ran 2 trains each direction per hour. Barcelona taxis also aren’t legally allowed to pick people up in the province where the track technically is, so that’s a no go too. We had to wait for 3 hours at the train station to take it back to the main city about 45 mins away in an absolutely packed train. Long lines to get in, but I think all of the gates were open, so not sure how they fix that. I will say, they let you bring in any bottles (non alcoholic) 1.5L or less which was great. Not having to buy water was a blessing knowing how Monza went. Also, no alcohol?? Cmon Barca, have some fun!

The amount of booing towards max during his interview and on the podium was disgusting Even the Verstappen fans cheered when Lewis got interviewed last year at Zandvoort

I went to Austria, Zandvoort and Spa. Had good expierences at all circuits. I was amazed by the Zandvoort organisation though, It really looked like they thought EVERYTHING through, plenty of toilets, the entire area was clean there was barely any litter at the end of the day. Constant entertainment for example: when the session was red flagged there was a DJ playing music and keeping the crowd entertained. There were volunteers to help with anything every few meters, alongside the track and outside the track. Transport was great, you could park your car outside Zandvoort and go to the track by bicycle, wich seemed so fun! cycling with thousands F1 Fans to the circuit hahah. We went by train wich ran smoothly as well. It was a 20 minute walk to the circuit but it felt like 5. Cause even towards the circuit there was enough that entertained you. At the entrance there was no waiting line at all. And Zandvoort also listened to previous situations of people feeling unsafe at the circuit. They showed a phone number on the screens, you could text SOS to that phonenumber if you felt unsafe for any reason and they would help you.

I was at Monza this year at turn 1, absolute disgrace in terms of organization. There were no water stations at our grand stand, so if you wanted water you either had to queue for 2 hours to get tokens so you could buy water, or leave the whole area, exit the track, re-enter the track at the main gate (another hour queue) just to refill. 2 water stations for the whole circuit. To make matters worse as the race started a bunch of general admission ticket holders managed to get onto the grandstand and just stood in the stairways stood up, making it so alot of people who'd paid atleast £500 per ticket couldn't even see. The staff there were mostly good and friendly, but it was such a badly organized event I wouldn't even feel that bad if Monza wasn't on the calendar anymore as it doesn't deserve to be there if it's organized so terribly in a fashion that puts fan experience at the bottom of their priority list.

I feel really bad for these experiences, I went to my first ever GP this year in Australia and sure the lines were long for some things, but imo it was a wholey positive experience and I'll definitely be going back

I went to Monza this year, it was my third time going since 2019 and was by far the worse. The token system was implemented last year and was a complete shambles same long ques for both getting the token and food, the same as this year. We thought they would have gotten rid of the system or increased the amount of places to purchase the tokens but was exactly the same. As we had been to Monza before we knew what to expect bring your own food, hat sunscreen, water ect as many of these things aren't provided by the track. The amount of toilets available were severely lacking, no places to fill your bottle once inside, and also no shade for many of the grand stands. The amount of stewards was also in need of more numbers, 20 minutes before the race we went to our seats only to find that someone was sitting in them and wouldn't move as they said they had been there for 3 hours so were intituled, we also saw many arguments between people who had general admission tickets and people sat on the grandstand as they were stood in front of them by the fence blocking the view of people sat on the lower levels of the seats. There were no where near enough stewards to control the crowds and the ones that were there looked to be no older than 23/24 (I don't blame them for not having control as they were probably getting paid minimum plus with very little training before hand getting shouted at multiple people) by the end of the race with 3/4 laps to go we had watched many arguments between fans for blocking the view of the track, there was even a fight between two Ferrari fans which got broken up the crowd no stewards or police in sight. Overall the experience was terrible and definitely won't be going back. It was such a shame as the 1st year I went on 2019 seeing Leclerc win as a Ferrari fan was something very special. The organisation was alot better and the whole weekend was amazing.

The thing that still upsets the hell out of me is I was supposed to go to my first Grand Prix this year (Miami GP), so I saved up and set aside about $1000 to make it happen, only for the ticket prices to be in excess of 2 grand just to get in. Just as a comparison note, I ended up using that money to buy tickets for me and my dad to go to the Daytona 500, with pre race pit passes and still had $400 left after.

I had a great experience at Spa, save for one thing - it looked like there was no cleaning happening throughout the entire weekend. My friends and I were seated in the newly built Eau Rouge grandstand, which was a wonderful experience. However, on Saturday, a man in the top row fell ill and was vomiting all over his seat, as well as the three rows below him. It was unfortunate for him, we were seated a few rows down so we didn't have too bad of an experience, we managed to clean up and carry on. However, there had been no cleaning done overnight, and the man's vomit was still stuck to those top few rows come Sunday morning. Imagine arriving on race day, to your expensive Gold seats in the fancy new grandstand, only to face that mess. The people who were supposed to sit there ultimately resorted to sitting on the stairs adjecent to their seats, which I'm sure must not have been great for them.

At Barcelona, I had my sun cream confiscated at the entrance. It was over 35 degrees on the day. They quickly ran out of essentials such as umbrellas and water on the Friday. Water situation improved by race day but warm bottles. For transportation we left the circuit at around 6, by 11 we finally managed to get on one of the few trains back to Barcelona with many still behind us.

I can partially agree. I’ve been to Imola this year and sat at the Rivazza sequence, which wasn’t bad at all, although the dirt in front was more mud than dirt, as it had rained beforehand. That plus with the slight lack of markets to buy food, it was very fine! That might be unusual though ngl…

I went to Zandvoort this years. And honestly it was amazing. However, security at the entrance wasn't that great. Small bags didn't get checked when you entered, which means you could basically bring in anything without trouble. Flares ofc are an obvious one everyone knows about, but think of weapons that could have easily gotten in if one crazy fan thought of it.

Another *funny* experience I had in Portugal last year, in the covid period, remember it was one of the first venues that allowed public. I paid to have a nice seat at the top of the hill where you can see over the whole track, but because of the media -- which was outraged that so many people could be together without protection in training-- on race day they closed my stand. I forgot to tell you that on race day, I almost missed the race because the cops where suddenly blocking all roads to the track, even I had payed for a parking next to the track. I showed the cop my parking ticket but he send me back. After a few miles I turned around pissed off, and just passed the cops road block, hoping they would not shoot me. So then arriving I found out that my seat was void because of covid, I decided to go to ask my money back at the ticket office. They offered me a place in the grand stand, nice, but no thanks because they pass there with over 300 km/h. After refusing this they offered me a place at turn 1, where you have basically the best experience. So thanks to the organisation of Portimão for taking care of me finally. For every race they should give a FIA official a normal ticket and a renting car to go to the track, and report back with a report, that is just my thought, I hope you F1 fans and friends have better experiences than me. But overal I must say that if F1 comes ever back here it it probably still one of the best places to see the race.

Really sad to hear that about monza. I've been twice (pre covid) and they were by far the best races I've attended. Only complaint about monza was the long queue for a bus to the train station after the race. Presumably its much worse now because of increased attendance. Was hoping to go to the Austrian grand prix this year but couldn't get tickets 3 months before the event

My GP experience was SPA 2021 so not a lot of good feedback from my side but I also think that was impacted by the bad weather. Still FIA & the circuites should invest more so that you would actually enjoy the full experience since the prices are growing year over year.

for anyone who is saying Monza was a bad experience this year, i can say it's because It Is in Italy. I'm Italian and I know How things work here, and of you want an advise, don't come to Italy otherwise of a vacation to visit it, because the management in here Is awful in everything.

The bottle cap one is quite understandable bc people can easily throw them in track. A tip is to just bring an extra cap with you. Not in your posckets tho they might check, put it in your shoe works every time 😂

I've been at Imola this year and even though some of the problems found at Monza were present there (queues for food, no power banks) it wasn't nearly as bad as Monza, probably due to the far less amount of people. Visibility was generally good and it seemed to me fans were far more respectful. The only issue was the mud, but it was normal given it's a park and it rained for 2 days

The fan level and behavior can be blamed partly on a certain streaming show. THERE, I said it!!! I've never been to a GP but I do have an example of something that needs to change. A few years ago I went to the WEC race at Silverstone for the whole weekend. I went for 3 or 4 years in a row and the ticket price increased each year but the most I paid for a weekend ticket was about £75-85. This got you access to both the ELMS and WEC paddock area, any grandstand that was open, a pit walk/autograph session and you could even go in the wing and watch from the balcony about the pitlane!! To get that sort of access for the British Grand Prix you would need to pay hundreds if not thousands. I don't blame Silverstone for this.....I blame F1.

The organisation and experience at the Australian gp is absolutely fantastic. I’ve gone to the aus gp every year since 2016 excluding 2021 and I’ve only every had one bad experience which was the infamous cancelling of the 2020 gp. While crowds have been growing in the recent past to the point that the number surpassed the record set at the first gp in Melbourne to reach 420,000, the organisers have dealt with the situation excellently, providing many entrances to the track, many food and drink stands and viewing areas. Just to add on, in all of my years of going to the Australian gp, I’ve never had or seen anyone having a bad experience with another fan. Maybe it’s just our Australian way that we don’t do things like that 😂

When to monza myself this year with the general admission ticket. I went in the main gate (Gate A) Saturday and Sunday and while there was a queue, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for a event of this size. I got to the track at about 11 on Sunday and had to wait about 15-25 minutes for bag check and ticket scan. It was really difficult to know what was happening on track. We stood near the end of the main straight by the pit exit and I couldn’t see anything for the first about 15 laps. After a while, someone gave me a chair to stand on and a family member was texting me the grid position every few laps. Without those 2 things, I would have had a terrible experience. Overall there is somewhat of a lack of signing posting and info on the track. There is a fair amount of stewards, but they are all quite young. The average age was probably 17-21. Everyone I talked to was very nice and tried to help, but there was definitely a language barrier at times. One thing i’m not seeing mentioned that surprised me a lot was the back search. Our bags were barely looked at. We could have very easily brought in flares or sometimes even worst. There was no body pat downs either, which worked out for us cause we snuck in bottles caps so we could refill a few bottles at a time. Also the ticket checkers broke at gate A on Saturday so you could get in for free. It could have very easily cause a capacity issue.

Another monza visitor this year here, was genuinely scared on the Sunday prior to the race as I went from food area to food area just trying to find a bottle of water to buy, took me 1 and a half hours. In 30c weather when your running around, gets scary very quickly

This year I went to Monza with the general admission ticket and the organization was simply a scandal. Even asking to the people that were there to help you they just said that they didn’t know anything about it. The queues were eternal and the view of the track was a shame, we didn’t understand anything about the race and the most fortunate used the phone to see the race on sky with the few internet we had. Before I went to a Imola with the grandstand’s ticket and the organization was a completely different. Even if I’m Italian, my opinion is that a Monza shouldn’t have a Formula One Grand Prix because it doesn’t deserve it.

I have been to Spa this year (3 weeks ago). This year me and my 5 friends decided to buy bronze tickets for the whole weekend. What a big mistake.... We planed to arrive at 10 am so we could have time to set up our tents for camping and then see the FP 1 at arround 1 or 2 pm .... but we actually arrived at at 2 pm due to the big traffic on the highway exit ramps, so we had no time to see it. On Saturday we were the whole day at the track begining at 9 am. We had our camping chairs on the long straight where all over takes happen in the 1 and 2 sector. We took the spot because it was the only big screen we could see the race on. 100 meters further in the breaking zone, was no screen at all ... Very poor coverage. It was very crowded that day on the steep hill for a saturday. Long waiting for food or the coins. I medium french frise was 6.50€ and a beer 0.5 L was 6.50€ too. Way to expensive for the long waiting. But then came Sunday.... The race day. We were at the track at 6.30 am in the morning, because we knew if we would be there at 8.00 am, we would not find a spot to place 6 camping chairs next to each other ( at 9.00 was the F3 race). At 7.00 am there were more people than at the qualifing on Saturday. At 08.00 you could not walk up and down the hill. There was 0 space. No walkways. You had to step over so much stuff, chairs, blankets, drinks... You could not walk at all. Basically you where forced to stay seated until the race was over (5pm). If you would go to the restroom, you need +45 min. All in all there were 3x the people, the place could handle. Way to expensive food and drinks. Coin system is used to confuse you how much you actually pay. And enterences took +30 minutes.... Leaving on sunday ended up in a total traffic jam (we stood on the street and did not move at all) for 4 1/2 hours and entered the highway at 00.30 am on monday.... Only thing good where the positiv camping people and the camping in general. I have been camping at Hockenheim'19 and Nürburgring'20, it was way cheaper, way better organised, only small traffic jams but nothing compared to Spa this year. For the future I will not take free seating (bronze), cause you have to be early at the event in order to get good seats for the whole day. I like to have my own seat in a grand stand and not standing in a bronze category with 3x the people that could normaly fit.

For viewing experience with general admission ticket I can recommend the Hungaroring because of its geographics. The circuit is like a huge basin where the edges are higher than the inside. So you can stand almost anywhere and still have a nice view.

Was at the Australian GP this year and it was pretty good considering that the weekend attendance was nearly half a million people. Only complaint is that viewing areas were pretty wack as there was nearly no elevation at most points and food cost $27

I loved my time at the Spanish GP, however it was so awfully organised, long queues which is even worse considering we were caught in the middle of heatwave and we had to wait for at least 40 minutes to pay 4€ for a 330ml bottle of water. In order to get back to the city using the train there was an absolutely huge queue at the entrance of the train station, therefore me and my friends had to hitchhike back to barcelona. Another friend of ours decided to wait and after 5 HOURS OF WAITING got tired and had to pay 70€ for a taxi to get back to the city. The organisers and the ones responsible for Barcelona’s public transport should be ashamed of themselves

I went 3 times to the Red bull Ring in the last 5 years. Every time I went there were new grandstands, meaning more people. I decided that this year was my last time going there as, just like Monza, the queues for literally everything were insane. Not worth a 12 hour drive anymore.

This makes me glad my first in-person race experience was at the Laguna Seca track for this year’s INDYCAR finale. Was a wonderful time- yes, it was hot, but you could choose your own seat, you had great views of the action, and you knew what was going on thanks to screens and audio commentary from the sound system. And no flares choking the air with smoke. Sad to hear about Monza, though. It was on my bucket list after the 2020 and 2021 races.

I was at Monza this year. I got crushed into a chain link fence from the sheer volume of people and honestly thought I was going to pass out (or worse). My whole side is bruised from it. The queuing and viewing was almost unbearable that I considered not going back on the Sunday and just watching from a bar in Milan. It took HOURS to travel a 20 minute journey home. People were obviously frustrated and started shoving, again making me feel like I was going to suffocate. On my way to the circuit on Sunday I spoke to a girl who had passed out the day before from sun exposure and not enough water. She woke up in the medic tent and they told her she needed water and a fizzy drink, but DIDN’T GOVE HER THIS, so she had to go out into the sun and queue for >an hour to get fluids. Agree that the signage and viewing was abysmal. I saw nothing on the Saturday because people were standing on logs, bins, seating, just to see over the fence. People were hanging out of trees everywhere too. Overall the worse GP I’ve attended and hugely disappointing considering it’s been on my bucket list for years. I almost took my dad with me but so glad I went alone as he would have absolutely hated it. Would not go back to Monza.

Nearly 7h spent on a tree on Sunday at Monza😆 What a memory that is. The atmosphere was great though

I have actually been to Monza this year and I can day most of what Matt says it perfectly accurate. However: Access to the circuit was quite easy for us (was there with my gf). It never took us more than 5-10 mins to enter and then another maybe 15 minute walk since we had to go through a tunnel under the circuit, we had seats on the inside of the track. The thing is, we used a side entrance from Biassono. Monza sits perpendicularly on the map over Milan, so the closest point to Milan is Parabolica. I am pretty sure 80-90% of the fans tried to enter through there and that’s why it took them a thousand years. I’m sorry but if your seat is near Lesmo and you enter through Parabolica, that’s on you. Granted, signage could be better to indicate this. They did try to direct people to their respective entrances, but if you’re already at one gate and your seat is at the opposite end of the circuit you’re gonna have a bad time regardless. They need to start indicating WAY earlier before you get to the track Furthermore, traffic was ridiculous, but also in a single direction, Milan. Fortunately, our hotel was not in Milan (also because the cheapest hotel in Milan during those 3 days was 500 euro/night), it was in the opposite direction, towards lake Como, near Bellagio. If you ever come to the race, I strongly recommend that you NOT stay in Milan for the reasons mentioned above. To get an idea: one of the three days we were there, we didn’t go back to our Hotel, we went to Milan.... it took us over 3 hours. And I’m sure it can be even worse, since we exited through Biassono. Buses came about every 30 minutes and it was impossible to get in one. Not that it made a difference because the traffic was so bad, we were walking faster than the bus was advancing. At one point we actually found a shuttle bus from the circuit to the train station. By chance, although to their credit there were some people explaining in the bus station that the bus was a shuttle was going to the station. The train station is 6 km away from the circuit so it’s at least a 1.5hour walk. Bus took about the same. IF you managed to get in one. And then there was the train... again, to their credit, they tried adding extra train for the race. But they had huge delays and were so crowded they made indian trains seem empty. On the other hand, the other day when we came by car and left by car towards bellagio, we lost almost zero time. On the day of the race, there was maybe 15 minutes of delay. Inside, the atmosphere was indeed nice and I really didn’t see people acting like a-holes making MV fans take their shirt off and such. That, I think was an isolated incident. Also, there were quite a few stewards, but we did have grandstand tickets. May have been another story for general access. Speaking of general access, there were a few spots on the back straight where you could watch, but other than that I genuinely have no idea how you’d be able to see jack shit, but the circuit is huge so maybe there were a few other spots. There was also quite a degree of freedom in terms of roaming around. The token system was even worse than Matt said. You’d either wait in line an hour (some even waited two hours) or go out of the circuit to have a drink/bite to eat. Fortunately for us, like I said above, the walk wasn’t too long. Inside, a burger cost 10.5-12 Euro, a beer cost 7.5 euro (5 tokens) and water cost 1.5 euro. There were vending machines that gave out free water if you had a glass or a bottle, but the queues were over 100m long. I genuinely don’t think people had enough time to get a drink between FP1 and FP2 or between FP3 and quali. This shit token system is so that you buy a ton of tokens just so you avoid the line and then throw them away because you didn’t get to spend them. On sunday we had to buy like 8 bottles of water (2 people) because we had too many tokens left and also because I would never sit in such a line again in my life. Weirdly though, they took our drinks on Friday but then didn’t give a damn on Saturday and Sunday. Could have probably brought the entire fridge with us. Even with parking, we parked in Biassono, about 10 min away from the track. I’m sure if you’re coming from Milan you would driver around for 2hrs and still find nowhere to park. Overall, the organization could have been better, but it could have been much worse. Maybe I just have low standards in terms of organization coming from eastern Europe 😅. But tbh, if you go to an event with about 150.000, you should also take some time to document yourself on how to get around

Considering how expensive it is to go to a race that’s really disturbing to hear how bad the experience is for some folks

I had a great time at the Mexico GP last year. It was as well organized as could reasonably be expected and you could take the metro to and from the track. The metro was crowded but they had the most efficient trains I have ever seen. The crowd was great and there was a big tv screen right across the track from us. Also the tickets were pretty cheap so that made everything better. Hopefully it's as good this year!

Australia was fantastic! Some areas had long lines to get drinks and food but it wasn't too crazy when you factor in there was half a million people in attendance . Great viewing experience, great food, public transport to and from albert park was pretty good. They were giving out rehydration tablets for free. Definitely going again next year

I was at Zandvoort and the organization was amazing, very little lines anywhere

I feel so sad to hear this video, as for the first time in 21 years of being a fan of F1, I finally went to a grand Prix, the British grand Prix, and honestly it was one of the best few days of my life. F1 needs every fan to feel as I did. Not good enough.

On a positive note I went to the Hungarian GP this year and the organization was great. Most wait times were less than 15min and food was always available for semi reasonable prices. Traveling to the track is probably the worst part but honestly not bad as long as you are willing to walk for about 40min and take trains. Or you could take a taxi

I know a lot of F1 fans only watch F1 but i‘d still recommend to go watch some other series as they are often more chill in terms of crowd size but still pretty entertaining. Last month i went to watch the 24h of Spa and it was really fun without the pain and stress of a 100k+ crowd. I went to the circuit on Sunday morning as i couldn‘t go on saturday an it was so chill. Free parking close to the circuit, a less than 5min walk, 35€ entrance fee (70€ for 2 days), access to the entire circuit + paddock + all of the grandstands. Kemmel straight was basically empty and the photo spots were pretty much all accessible. And best of all, 1h after the whole thing was finished you could easily leave without hitting any traffic jams.

Very accurate. I went to Melbourne F1 '96 & '97, Singapore 2015, several Indycar races and even a track marshal at Indy Detroit the year Mario Andretti hit the safety truck. All of those were fine. I went to Barcelona this year, wow. just awful. Had to pay a scalper site because it's like a specific crime family profiting. Crowded buses from the city dumped us 3km from the gate, when there's a perfectly fine road loop around the whole track. Massive queue to get in with barcode readers that took 30 seconds to correctly scan. Took one look at the food and drink lines, gave up. Sat on the side of a 45 degree slope on hard ground, packed in like sardines. And so hot, unbelievably hot in the direct sun. A mass of humanity trying to get on buses back to the city while I counted over 30 buses behind a fence not being used. I'll never do it again. If everybody stays home, F1 might just get the idea that this sport is for the fans and not the companies who profit from it. Hey I was so traumatized I forgot I made a RU-vid video about the experience: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hdTIKyk-CqQ.html

I went to Budapest F1 race this year and genuinley had a great experience despite there being no security at all. A 3 day grandstand ticket cost me 150 quid so I'm assuming this is one of the cheaper tracks of the year too. The transport out and in to the track wasn't ideal but I just put that down to the sheer amount of people looking to get there. Aside from that everything was great

Went to Hungary this year, GA views weren’t terrible, you could see a lot of the track, it was difficult to get a spot with a view of a screen, and if you got a view of a screen, it was near impossible to hear any commentary. There was not that long of a queue to get into the track. Security at the gate I entered on the Sunday was taking bottles of water off people, no matter the size, luckily it wasn’t anywhere near as warm the Friday and Saturday (might I add they were not confiscating anything on the Friday or Saturday) then security was a shambles abusing fans on the Sunday (didn’t see anything the other days). Transport to and from the track was woeful, you were waiting in a queue for 3-4 hours for a taxi or 1-2 hours for a shuttle bus to the nearest train station which also took another 1-2 hours between waiting for the train and getting back to Budapest. Most taxis bar the company that was set up at the track were scamming fans by costing them upwards of €100 to make a 25-30 minute journey from the track back to the city. The taxi company that was set up at the track were doing it for €15-€20. Luckily it wasn’t my first time at a Grand Prix so I know it can be so much better organised

THANK YOU for sharing this. I wasn't sure if I just was used to german organisation (I was at Hockenheim 2019) or if Monza was really that awful. This was really the worst event experience I've ever had. In Germany we would call it "under all canons" ^^. My experiences: - Thursday: No Events - Hockenheim provided a little bit of an trackwalk, Fanzone stuff but not the worst problem. - Parking at the parking lot not for free (Friday 20€, random price increase at Saturday 30€, Sunday for online reserved only) at Hockenheim it was free but fine, I guess. - 4ish ticket checks to the grandstand - 2 times should be enough (one at the "Fanzone" and one at the grandstand) - Only allowed to bring 0.5L Bottles without a cap becaus "you could throw it at the track or pollute the park", BUT at the food & drink stands you get Bottles WITH a cap. - As mentioned in the video there were queues everywhere to purchase tokens, to get drinks and food (I didn't get anything there because I wanted to see the event I came for and not for queues!) - Ridiculous paths: There are tarred paths but ok, they block them so the police etc. can pass easily. But the alternate route was a desaster - over a meadow or muddy path, passing trees where you have to duck so you can go through, 2 Meter wide stairs for both directions!, in the "infield" you had to go over a parking area which you only were able to access by passing Fangios statue (2 Meter left and right, but everybody wants to take pictures with it so it gets tight as hell) instead to use the road right beside it,........ - Instead of offering a little discount for beeing at the track with expensive tickets, the F1 shops were expensive as hell - There're for sure things I forgot but I think that's the major part you needed to hear In summary I just went there to watch the action and went back into the hotel because everything else didn't make fun at all. Really a shame for such a iconic track. I hoped for such an amazing weekend but it wasnt. Thank you once again for giving us a voice!

The Hungarian gp left pretty much everyone stranded in the Hungarian countryside. The track experience was great but the only way to get back to the city was by a f1 sponsored taxi company. So, before the podium celebration had even started on sunday, the line for the taxi stand line was 18 rows long. Over the course of 1 hour, we moved up two rows in that line, meaning that at that rate the line would have been 9 HOURS LONG. The Hungaroring is not close to the city of Budapest, so we had to walk down a bunch of narrow countryside roads until we found a cab heading to the track that was willing to take us. The only other way would have been to wait 9 hours in the taxi line, or walk back to Budapest at dark, which would have taken around 3 hours.

Barcelona earlier this year was exactly what people described; No directions or signage made it so people would easily get lost, restrooms were outright abysmal, and getting to and from the track in scorching heat was terrible. Public transportation was a nightmare as only one train station in or out meant people waited hours in line. Taxis and rideshare apps stranded us, we waited over 4 hours on Friday to finally hitch a ride back to our hotel and the only reason we had rides for the rest of the weekend was because we begged for our taxi driver to do us a favor (Shout out to Omar, hands down the nicest human being I have ever encountered). Austin the year before was a very similar experience, with only a few single lane roads leading in and out of COTA meant most people walked 30-50 minutes in dirt and heat just to find out their rides had canceled the trip. Once again, we had to rely on the kindness of one Uber driver who we begged to help us. Traveled to both from California and although both GPs were overall a good experience, it is clear that more must be done from an infrastructure and organization point of view. F1 cannot allow poor planning to sour fans’ experiences, especially since so many fans travel from different corners of the world and pay a good amount of money to watch “the pinnacle of motorsport.”

Refreshing note, Spa was very busy but the worst thing we experienced was a 15min qeue for the toilets, ridiculous food prices and after the race we had about an hour of delays. In conclusion, not bad at all and what a weekend to remember!

I’m looking forward to the Singapore GP and it’s my first time watching a race irl. Good to know that things like this exist at every race and I really hope things go well for me!

I was in queue at 3 am outside the track, slept there while waiting, got in and ran to the nearest viewing point with a screen, you have to expect this at monza

I am still in shock. I have been to GPs before and Monza was a bucket list GP for me and it was the worst thing ever. Missed the entire Prosche Race on Sunday because security blocked a small gate (entrance to inside parabollica, General Admission, Bridge to paddock club) the only satisfying thing about this was that for 1-2 hours everyone GA all the way up to VIPs were treated exactly the same because not even the VIPs were allowed to get through. But after that no one wanted to leave their seat to get water and everyone around me including myself drank as little water as possible to avoid goining to the toilet (the reason I left my seat in the first place) and it was hot we were sitting in the sun no shadow... People fainted and Saturday we ended up watching quali from the fanzone because speakers were not turned on. And after the race the only place to get water was the fanzone because everything else was abandoned, No water refill stations in the upper half of the circuit, didnt manage to open the track on time (not +10 min more like plus 1.5-2.5 hrs later) no powerbanks allowed but not electricity to charge phones (and if i wait for hours in line i atleast want to hear some music)... on the bright side I only got yelled at on saturday for wearing RBR and Sunday i was sitting in a small bubble of really friendly people who did not only leave me alone but shilded me from others at the grandstand and I had a screen and the speakeres were sort of working for the F1 race :) still SPA is usually my go to and I have to keep looking for alternatives Austria and Hungary are the only tracks left in my region so I will go there next year and hope it will be better

I was at the Austrian GP this year and it was fantastic! I was lucky (as a female and a hardcore Lewis fan, fully decked out in gear every day!) not to experience any of the harassment that some fans reported (the sector I was in was not one of the orange army sectors, though). The organisation was seamless, there were no long toilet lines and even the food lines weren't too bad. You could also take all your own food and water into the area (in quantities for self consumption); also if you wanted to buy food/drinks there, you could either pay with a prepaid card available for purchase there or with your ATM/debit card. I was there by car and arrived early enough to avoid all the queues and the traffic and it only took me about 45mins to get away after the race, I expected 2+hrs. I already booked my tickets for next year and hope for a similarly great experience. Edited to add: the screen were pretty well placed, too.

I went to my first Grand Prix in Australia this year and it went as expected, long lines for some things but nothing unreasonable for an event like that I’d say 10 to 15 minute waits for food but you could easily get 2-3 minutes waits if you when at a good time. No bad behaviour and honestly I had a great time as everyone going to a Grand Prix should.

I was at monza and the queue for tokens and drinks was absolutely insane. 2 hours was not uncommon. I understood from a staffer that the general disorganisation as described in the video had to do with outsourcing of management which meant nobody had a clue what was going on. Crazy considering they were celebrating their hundreth anniversary

I had a great experience for my first ever in person race at Albert Park, only issue I had is that most grandstands have no shade. It's Australia! This race was in a cooler part of the year and it was still hot enough that we left the grandstands whenever we could to sit in the shade underneath it.

I went to Spa this year and especially for the bronze tickets which were around €150,- it took us around 3-4 hours to get there by car because there was a massive traffic jam and with bronze tickets it is basically goodluck finding a spot between the stands to watch the race where at eau rouge there was a line of + - 4 hours. eventually we found a nieche spot to watch the race but quite a lot of people had no way to properly watch the race which is a shame. You either need to get a silver (€300,-+) or gold (€500,-+) to watch the race properly.

Barcelona, here we go: Friday: - Drinks stands closed shop before the end of the day and refused to serve water even though there were 36 degrees Celsius as 6pm - Public transport was a total fiasco, with 2 km of queueing to the railway station, and only 3 trains scheduled for the neat 2 hours! We ended up fighting for taxis… Upon arrival, taxies would just refuse the trip and expected to be paid extra! Prices were 20-100 Euros/person! Saturday: - beer queues were 30-45 minutes at a minimum, food ran out - transport improved by introducing more busses, but it still took 2-3h hours to reach the circuit from the city center. - going back to the city was a complete chaos, no organized queue, everyone for him/herself. Sunday: - queued for more than an hour to cat h the bus, despite already having tickets - another hour to get into the circuit - more than an hour to get beer and food. Some options were already sold out 1h before the race. - left the race 10 minutes before the end to make sure we catch the buss back. Still queued for 45 minute. Paid for the full weekend but ended up attending the main events. There were no more transit options at the end of the day (last event ended at 6-7pm, last bus left at 5pm)! Scorching heat, long queues, zero to no covid19 protection (my hand sanitizer was thrown away at the gate as it was considered dangerous!)

I've been to Monza and Austria in 2018, Singapore in 2016 and 2019 and this year I was at the Dutch GP. I would say that Singapore still ranks as the best organisation, just so smooth and flawless everywhere, and Monza indeed the worst. Why in Monza they take your bottle caps and you're not allowed to bring power bank is just bullying people into spending more money on the track. In 2018 the queues were not that bad at Monza but indeed on Sunday you had to "fight" for a spot to actually see the track (for general admission).

Yeah, being in the states Ive pretty much resigned to probably never going in person. The tickets are insanely expensive when combined with I would still need to travel for it by plane, and Id assume the majority of fans would as well. And then, add on all of these horror stories about what the general admission ticket experience is like and it's ruined my ideal of what it would be like. Just not worth it sadly, would rather watch on the couch with 5-6 of my buddies and hang out for sure.

When you guys mentioned in your podcast that you would talk about what happened in Monza in a separate video, I thought you would talk about the bad fan behavior. (Like the media kept doing to the orange army.) Instead, it’s mostly about the logistics… Just a small mention about one fan that misbehaved and using that as a segway to talk about the lack of security. Even though a lot more bad stuff was going on. This video was not what I was expecting.

The italian way of doing things... They couldn't even organize a WRC rally properly without complications. They wouldn't let fans on track, some Polish-Slovak group finally ranted the gates and people still barely got to their seats on time. And WRC is nowhere near the crowd of F1. Monza is one of the worst circuits in general when it comes to organization and fan experience and it has nothing to do with the number of people attending the venue. And this year people were scandalously robbed, a lot of fans exchanged money for wristbands that didn't work

Went to Monza this year for my first F1 experience, and it was an absolute shitshow. Once in the grandstand the atmosphere was amazing, but pretty much everything else was bad. The queues to the track, toilets, food, drinks and refilling stations were extremely long. I stood in line to get a beer for over an hour, and the queue barely moved. People were cutting in line and pushing each other, and no visible security anywhere. You had to scan you ticket every time you entered AND left the grand stand, leading to even more queuing. Don't even get me started on the token system used for paying on track... Honestly don't know how they were thinking when planning this event...

This year was my first F1 at the Red Bull Ring and it was a very good experience. The cheapest tickets at the stand, no queues at the entrance, many screens, so I could see from anywhere. Yes, the toilets for that many people were tragic and the queues for refreshments and drinks were quite long, but there were so many stalls that it spread quite a bit. But the biggest advantage was that you could bring your own food and drink, so you didn't have to spend a single euro inside the circuit. There were plenty of parking spaces and not so far from the circuit itself. The police always corrected the traffic after the end of the main program. But what surprised me the most is that the whole weekend is one big party, many young people my age (approx 23yo) and those girls oh my god, so beautiful girls everywhere. In short, Austrians know what they are doing, and I think Redbullring race weekend is one of the best in terms of organization.

My experience at my first ever F1 race in person at Austin last year was mostly good. Me and my sister got to see the cars from the GA area next to the main grandstand and there was a giant TV screen where I could also see what was going on in the race. The only criticisms I had was that it was a bit overcrowded (since Austin 2021 broke the record for attendance), and that my sister took like 1-2 hours to get food due to the long lines while I was in charge of our spots. Fortunately my sister came back with pizza just in time before the formation lap began. Although my parents picked us up after race ended, I did hear that the parking situation was mayhem and COTA should make improvements to accommodate crowds like Austin 2021. The same should be said for the lines at the concessions and attractions

This video makes me feel extremely fortunate that I got to experience f1 at Indy in 2007. $62 3 day GA ticket. GA grandstands were along side the start/finish line and I wandered practically the entire track and got to see racing at almost every turn. Including the incredible feeling of the cars at race pace traveling under the bridge from the outfield to the infield. Also got to bring in my own lunch/drinks. I can't imagine what it will be like to try and attend Vegas next year.

I went to the French GP. Bought the tickets second hand a couple of days before the start. It was one big drama to get to the circuit as you werent allowed to drive to it, and all park-and-ride facilities were full. Left my holiday spot at 09.00 to a train station, by train to the station that had busses. Stepped in, at the circuit we arrived at exactly the opposite site of the circuit. Had to walk shoulder-to-shoulder till halfway, crossed the circuit and walked to our seats. Arrived at 14.00h, so that took me 5 hours. had a small drinking break. Watched the race, everything was great. Then, we tried to get away, the lines to the busses were absurdly long and from there back to the station, got a train in like 5 mins and the drive back to the holiday spot was good aswel. however, we were back at 23.00h. So we were 14 hours away from 'home', for a race of 1,5 hours? haha. Lines were ridicilous, probably an hour or so aswell.

My 3 experiences were: Brazil (my home country), Monaco and Imola. Brazil has a really bare bones structure due to the lack of space, you’re there to see racing and nothing else. But queues are fast and viewing is good enough, also be very careful of going by car as traffic gets horrific near the track since it’s the only circuit in the middle of a city. Monaco was also very good but there were two problems: one was the lack of concessions, which caused food shortage on Saturday. On Sunday I got there at 9 a.m and stocked on food for it not to run out. The second was the train but it is the SNCFs fault. Monaco’s station is underground and therefore it cannot hold constant trains, so the police had to basically hold people in groups outside of station until the next train arrived. On Saturday we waited from 5 to 8pm for our train and on Sunday we left 5-7 laps early so we only had 30mins of waiting time. Imola was the best by far, great and multiple concessions, good fan zone and multiple trains coming in and out. My only main issue was the lack of concessions once you got out of the inside of the track (tosa section). One more thing to keep in mind in Imola, the tosa grandstands are the highest and furthest part of the track, so it is a 20 min walk only uphill, so beware of that. One thing I would also recommend at Imola and Monaco is to stay on the opposite direction of the main city of the gp (at Monaco, that means stay in menton and ventimiglia and in Imola, I’d say stay in faenza, cesena, forli, Ravenna or Rimini for less crowded public transport)