Discovering the World with D

From Friday, 6th July, until Sunday, 9th July, the 2023 Formula 1 British Grand Prix was held in Silverstone – and it was my first visit to a Grand Prix. I’ve been hooked on the sport for just over a year and like any other fan it was a dream of mine to attend. So I settled on Silverstone and here is everything you need to know if you decide on going too.

Choosing the right race for you

The 2023 calendar held a total of 23 races scattered all over the world, so choosing the right one might become a challenge. Obvious aspects to consider are dates, costs and travel time. As I’m based in Europe, I had a lot of options that didn’t involve to much travelling. I also had my mind set on a circuit with a somewhat important historical value (be aware, this will probably also come at a certain price). So I narrowed it down to Monza, Monaco, Silverstone and Spa. I finally settled with Silverstone, being half British myself and actively supporting the British drivers.

Cost of a Grand Prix Weekend and where to save money

Silverstone is one of the most expensive races to attend in Europe, so be prepared to spend. We opted for Grandstand tickets, as the British weather can be very unpredictable and we didn’t fancy sitting in the pouring rain. Plus it allowed us to be more flexible on race day – we didn’t have to arrive at dawn to secure a spot. The great thing about choosing Grandstand tickets for the weekend in Silverstone is that your seat will only be reserved for the Sunday, the others days you can sit in any Grandstand you want and experience different views of the track. We chose Abbey B as our Grandstand and tickets for the weekend costed around 600€.

The next thing you need to decide is whether your camping or staying in a hotel in the area. We opted for the second and stayed in the Premier Inn in Oxford Botley. It’s a 40 min drive from the track, but it allowed us to sleep in a comfy bed at the end of the long days spend outdoors and it was reasonably priced. A room costed us around 600€ for 4 nights.

We then had to decided how to get to and from the track. Silverstone offers parking directly next to the track or the option of a park and ride, but I didn’t like that I had to stick to the departure times of the buses. I looked around a bit and found Silverstone School Parking – they have 4 different sights in the village where you can park your car and you simultaneously support the local children. They are super friendly and very well organised, even sending detailed instructions on how to get to them best without running into to much traffic. We chose them for the three days (Silverstone offers free parking on Thursday) and I would recommend them to anyone! We paid a total of around 65€ which is a little cheaper than booking with Silverstone directly.

Let’s get to the food and drinks. On track you will find an enormous amount of stalls (200+) selling everything that you could dream of – form burgers, to Fish & Chips, to Pizza, to English Breakfast, etc. However, it comes with a price, an average meal setting you back 15-20€. On the bright side, you don’t have to spend a penny if you don’t want to. Silverstone allows you to bring as much food and drinks in as you like, although it does say on their site to not go over 6 cans of beer/premixed drinks or one bottle of wine per person (although they don’t really check it). Just be aware not to bring any glass, as that won’t be allowed. In the end we only ended up paying for one big meal per day and not buying any drinks apart from the occasional coffee in the morning. It saved us a lot of money.

Last but not least, you can easily get overwhelmed at the sheer amount of extras you can find on the Silverstone website. Let me tell you, you hardly need any of these! We opted for the radio voucher (14€) and for the Launch Party on Thursday (140€). The radio is not bad if you want to listen to commentary during the race because with the cars being so loud, you won’t hear it over the speakers. However, I got so involved in all the excitement going on around me that most of the time I forgot to listen. It is very valuable though in case of accidents or red flags.

The Launch Party was new this year and although it was a little expensive, it was worth every penny! With that ticket we had access to the Launch Party in the evening with concerts from cat burns, Jess Glynne and Calvin Harris, to a pit walk and to the museum. When booking, you could choose the time of the pit walk, which I didn’t see so we got put on the first one at 4 p.m. – and it was probably the best as there is no limit to how much time you spend there so while we spend about 2 hours there, others only spend around 30 minutes. You get to see all the cars up close, pit crews might be practicing their pitstops and if you’re lucky you get the chance to see some drivers up close (we saw Max Verstappen, the two McLaren drivers and the two Ferrari drivers). The concerts in the evening as well as the atmosphere were fantastic, with fireworks closing the night. It was the perfect way to start off an unforgettable weekend.

Overall experience

Even though I kept complaining that there was so much money involved, thinking back I don’t regret a single moment. I firstly have to applaud Silverstone for their organisation. We were never in a queue for very long, the worst being on Saturday where it took us about an hour to get in. However I’m pretty sure if we would have tried a different gate we would have gained time, as on Sunday, the actual race day, it only took us about 10 minutes. The facilities were clean and again, there was hardly ever a queue.

I also have to underline how much there was going on apart from the races. You had different stages all around playing music, you could lounge around in the sun with perfectly mixed cocktails, try out your skills on a simulator, experience historic F1 cars race around the track, watch Brad Pitt in his modified F2 car being filmed for the upcoming movie, witness the iconic red arrows and see parachuters do a show in the sky. The list just goes on and on. Even a non F1 fan would have enjoyed the time spent at the track.

The atmosphere on track was electric. People were super friendly and keen to start up a conversation. I never felt unsafe throughout the entire weekend. The only thing I have to point out is the disapproval of Max Verstappen clearly shown by the fans. Coming into this weekend I knew that the British drivers were obviously going to be the Fan favourites. However, that isn’t a reason to treat the Dutch driver the way that they did. Every time he was mentioned, people around me booed so loudly, you couldn’t hear anything else. The worst I experienced it was during his national anthem, which in my opinion is just plain disrespect. I felt really uncomfortable. I get not liking a certain driver, however we must not forget that he is a human being like all of us who has genuine feelings. And this goes for all aspects in life.

To end things on a positive note: It’s definitely a weekend I won’t forget and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the sport. I loved it so much that you will se me next year at the Hungaroring!

Until then, don’t forget to “Explore. Dream. Discover.” (Mark Twain)

D.x