tbaker

I'm planning a trip with some buddies to go up to Montreal this June to see the race. I've never been to an f1 race before so I don't really know what to expect or what to plan for. Does anyone here have any advice for me (i.e. - what time to go, a good place to stand, etc....).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance guys.

Marco

Any seat is good, but the CAN gp forces you to buy a 3 day ticket thing.. same seats all 3 days, OR you can buy a general admission race day ticket.
Any seat will be good, depending what you want to see??
high speed? slow speed? most view of car? Best over taking location?

Look at a track map.. the above are self explanitory based on seats.
I sat on left hand of hair pin.. best passing location.. but only view of car for about 5 sec.. 2 they are going 30mph..accelerating to 150 plus before they vanish from view.

On race day, either take a boat to island or subway..PLAN on leaving for island( race is on man made island in middle of St lawerence seaway) at least 3 hr prior to start of race.
If you can spend more than just race day, you can accomplish all the race track site seeing/buying/pictures only Fri, Sat.
any other questions.. fire away, i and im sure the Angry Canadians () will chime in.

tbaker

It seems to me that the best deal is the three day general admission pass which is roughly 100 bucks. I don't expect to get a great view without seats, but at least if I can see something, I'll be happy. According to the F1 site, there are decent places to stand near the track, but they fill up fast.

How many people are ususally there for the first two days of qualifying? I figure those are my best times to figure out where I want to stand for the race day.

Marco

from what i can remember
for fri sat in 2000, there was say 40000 people, if there were 100000 on sunday

Triple-H

The true race fans...

I go to Indy each year, I'm there from Wednesday night until Monday morning.

Oh, and it is one day of practice and one day of qualifying not 2 days of qualifying.

kadeshpa

Leave EARLY in the morning so you can see the support races, practice, and the Drivers parade before the race day.

The standing locations, IMO aren't that great but if that's what you've got...it's OK. The Casino corner seating is best as you see the cars coming at you full speed and can witness the awesome braking/cornering/accelerating abilities of these cars.

Make sure you wear comfortable shoes and either bring earplugs or buy them at the track. It's also a good idea to pick up a few sandwiches at a cafe in town. The racetrack food SUCKS and lines are crazy long on race day.

If you take the subway, by the weekend pass...it's a better deal. Also buy one of those ticket holders you put around your neck, at the track. It's a cool souvenir.

Go to Les Halles for dinner at least once. It's my fav eatery.

s2ksimon

i used to go but now its simply a 'dump' to me
over inflated ticket prices to sit on a bench
poorly organized in how they set up minimal exits for thousands of people..
you end up sitting next to people who know claim to know everything and anything about F1
then u have the ginos from woodbridge wearing their cheap Ferrari branded non authentic stuff pestering anything that resembles a woman
simply too many "wanabe's" around..

no thanks..

I personally prefer the pre parties and paddock access only

Honda F1

I was there last season with my wife and Montreal is amazing! Very awesome atmosphere and a fun city too. They actually blocked off a whole section of public road with a mini car show, vendors and a BAR-Honda 007 on display along with the engine. Very cool. For the race, we sat at grandstand 12. It was extremely hot and humid though, which was the only drawback.

I'd suggest you get in on Thursday so you could do the pitwalk. Another tip that kadespa already mentioned is to buy the 3 day subway ticket. Saves you some hassle when you're footracing with all the other people underground getting to the race. You can just pass through and get your subway ticket stamped so you can hopefully find a decent spot on the subway and not get suffocated during the ride, haha.

Have fun

kadeshpa

It has gone down hill quite a bit from the first time I was there in the late 90's. There are more and more chavs there. Dirt balls that take away from an otherwise wonderful experience. There is ALOT of trash walking the streets during the night on race weekends.

Still, the sound of those F1 engines can make you forget everything else...almost.

Balzz

Key to having a great time in Montreal is not to be in a hurry to leave the track. Kick back, have a few drinks...enjoy...then leave the track in the evening. Good times. Been going every year for the last 8 except for last...I'm back this year.