General Admission at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix is a wild experience. It’s crazily busy. There’s lot of queing. There’s tens of thousands of people everywhere. And the views aren’t that great. It’s one of the rawest F1 experiences you can get, but it’s not for everyone.
This is my review, guide and tips for General Admission at the Italian Grand Prix. To help you get an idea of what to expect I’ve included some videos of the views from different viewing spots.
Monza General Admission - Prato
General Admission at Monza is officially called Ingresso Circolare Prato, or is sometimes just referred to as Prato.
A General Admission ticket does not get you a reserved seat. Instead you’ll be fighting with tens of thousands of other fans for a decent spot in one of the designated GA viewing areas.
You may have read about the chaos for fans at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix. That was a perfect storm of the Drive to Survive hype boosting F1’s popularity combined with the thrilling end to the 2021 title battle increasing interest in the sport, and the organisers at Monza being completely unprepared for the amount of tickets they sold.
Ever since then you’ll see people online saying “don’t do GA at Monza it’s chaos”. Things have got slightly better since, but over the years the GA viewing spots slowly get taken up by new grandstands, so the General Admission tickets become less worthwhile. Nowadays I would always recommend going for a grandstand seat at Monza over a General Admission ticket.
Gradinate Interno Parabolica
One of the spots that is no longer accessible to General Admission ticket holders at the Italian Grand Prix is inside the Parabolica, Turn 11 the final corner. This used to be one of the best places to view from, but now you need a seperate ticket to access it.
To view from inside the Parabolica you need to purchase a Gradinate Interno Parabolica ticket. These are usually a few Euros more than a General Admission ticket. The map above shows the area this gives you access to. You can also access all other GA areas with these tickets, so it’s worth spending the extra on them.
Monza General Admission Tickets
General Admissio tickets are the cheapest way to attend the Italian Grand Prix, which means they can sell out fast. But don’t worry – if you still need tickets for Monza and want General Admission tickets or the Gradinate Interno Parabolica tickets, then I’d recommend you buy tickets through ViaGoGo where there will still be a good selection of tickets available to purchase right up until the last minute before the race. And you can often find them at lower prices there as well.
I’ve used Viagogo to buy Formula 1 tickets numerous times over the last few seasons, including for my trips to the British, Belgian and Dutch Grand Prix. I’ve always had a great experience using them and have managed to find the cheapest tickets on their platform by waiting until nearer the race itself. I will happily use them again.
They also have a very good ‘FanProtect Guarantee’ which will protect your money and your tickets; that’s given me extra peace of mind when buying through them.
Getting to the circuit
As I mentioned above, Monza is always packed full of fans. It’s one of the rawest F1 races on the calendar, and that means it’ll be incredibly busy all weekend long.
The crowds begin before you even reach the circuit. Public transport will be busy and there will be large queues at the entrance gates.
Check out my guides below for more info on getting to the Italian GP and getting in through the entrances:
TV screens
General Admission viewing does not guarantee you a view of a TV screen, it depends when you go. Every grandstand has visibility of a TV screen, so a good tip is to try and find a viewing spot adjacent to a grandstand, then you’ll stand a better chance of seeing a screen.
Shade
Shade is pretty hard to come by in a lot of the viewing spots. There’s a lot of woodland on the inside of the circuit you can walk through to take a break from the sun, but most of the places you can see the track from are in directly sunlight.
So make sure you bring appropriate sun protection and clothing. The hot weather at the Italian Grand Prix is no joke.
See my guide on what to wear to the Italian Grand Prix for more info.
General Admission views
If you have general admission tickets you don’t get access to a grandstand. Most of the GA viewing areas are flat bits of grass alongside the circuit. In some places there are small bleachers that are a couple of rows high to give an elevated spot, but those aren’t very common and fill up immediately.
If you do get a good spot then you need to leave someone, or something (like a rug, towel or chair) in that spot if you plan on moving to use the toilets or get refreshments, otherwise the spot will be gone by the time you return.
Because Monza is flat, that means the views for General Admission ticket holders aren’t that great. My suggestion, if you’re going for the weekend, is to spend the Friday walking around to get a feel for the different areas. Then on Sunday make a dash for your favourite spot.
To give you an idea of what the views will be like, below I’ve included videos filmed from some of the most popular General Admission viewing spots. To help, I’ve annotated the map below with blue numbers which correspond to the exact location the videos that follow were filmed from:
1 – This video was taken from the outside of the circuit just after the exit of the first chicane, Prima Variante, just as the cars head towards Turn 3 Curva Grande.
2 – This video was taken from the opposite side of the track, again just after the exit of the first chicane. The best thing about this spot is that it’s shaded under the trees, as the view itself isn’t that great:
3 – This next video was taken from the inside (right-hand side) of Turn 3, also known as Curva Biassono or Curva Grande. It’s a little bit further along from where the last video was filmed. Here there’s a small set of bleachers, which this video was filmed from, that give you a slightly higher view. But these will be taken up by people very soon after the gate opens, so it’s hard to get a spot on them:
4 – This video was filmed from the right hand side of the circuit at the braking zone for the Roggia chicane, Turn 4. It’s under some trees and in the shade on a small grass bank.
Since this was filmed Grandstand 33A/33B has been built in this exact location. So now you’d have to go a little further to the left to view from here, but if you can get right next to the new stand you should at least be able to see a TV screen.
5 – This video was filmed from a little viewing spot between grandstand 9 and grandstand 10, at the Roggia chicane which is Turns 4 and 5. Because it’s between the two stands, you get a view of the TV screen on the other side of the track. I’m not sure if this spot is still available, but if you’re in that area of the track it’s worth a look.
6 – This video was taken from between the Roggia chicane and Lesmo 1, so between turns 5 and 6. There’s no bleacher here, just a grassy bank underneath the trees which helps provide some much needed shade.
7 – 1:44 – 2:15 in this video was taken from the inside (right hand side) of Lesmo 1, Turn 6. As you can see there’s very limied viewing here and you need to be right up against the fence to see anything. There are not normally any bleachers here to stand on for an elevated view, and nor is there a TV screen:
8 – This video was taken from the right hand side of the circuit between Lesmo 1 and Lesmo 2, turns 6 and 7:
9 – The next video was taken from the inside (right-hand side) of Turn 7, Lesmo 2, on the exit of the corner. This is one of the most popular viewing spots and get filled up with people incredibly quickly. If you’re not here within 15 minutes of the gates opening on Saturday or Sunday, you won’t get a good view.
Since this video was filmed grandstand 10BIS has been built directly in line with the apex of Turn 7 on the inside of the corner, but there should still be some viewing areas for GA ticket holder before it and after it. Again this was filmed from small bleachers.
10 – This video shows the view from the General Admission viewing area at the Serraglio corner, the fast left kink between turn 7 and turn 8. This spot is popular, busy and directly adjacent to the Serraglio grandstand.
11 – 0:00 – 0:40 in this next video shows the view from the right hand side of the straight just before Turn 8, the Ascari chicane. This was just before the braking zone for that corner:
12 – This next video is filmed from a little further down the same straight, right at the entrance of the Ascari chicane. You’ll be adjacent to / in front of grandstand 13 here which means you’ll get a view of a TV screen. This is one of the better spots for being able to see the cars for a good few seconds, as in most other spots they just flash past you at high speed.
13 – This next video was filmed from the exit of the Ascari chicane, just after Turn 10. You’ll be directly in front of grandstand 16 and grandstand 18 here, so will be able to see a TV screen.
14 – Finally this video was filmed from the left hand side of the straight between turns 10 and 11. As you can see there’s a large grassy bank that runs alongside the track here that gives nice elevated viewpoints, but it gets busy quickly!
Monza Gradinate Interno Parabolica Views
The videos below show the view from the Gradinate Interno Parabolica area that you now need seperate tickets for. This is inside the final corner, Turn 11, and there are bleachers to stand on here. Plus there’s a TV screen on the other side of the track that’s visible.
This first video was taken from the side of the straight, just before the cars reach the braking zone for the Parabolica (Turn 11):
And this video was taken from inside the corner itself, just after the start of the curve:
Best General Admission View Point
Personally I’d try and aim for the viewing spot by Lesmo 2. There is a screen visible from there, plus there’s the bleachers to give you an elevated view point. And it’s very close to Entrance Gate D, so you don’t have so far to walk to get there.
But if you want a spot on the bleachers you need to be one of the first in the queue at the entrance gate. That means arriving at least an hour before they open.
Overall, I’d probably pay the small amount extra for an Interno Parabolica tickets. They have more bleachers and views of TV screens and it should hopefully be a little less busy.
What time to arrive
To get the best spots, which usually means space on the tiered bleachers, you need to be at the entrance gates at least an hour before they open.
This year’s Italian Grand Prix entrance gate opening times are listed on my guide to the Monza entrances.
Monza track invasion
The post-race track invasion is one of the most iconic and legendary things about the Italian Grand Prix. Tens of thousands of fans will enter the track and run down towards the podium which hangs above the start / finish straight.
Each year the exact positions you can officially enter the circuit seem to change. But on the map below I’ve highlighted some of the points where they normally have gates which open up to allow you to enter the track.
On race day, with around 5 or 10 laps to go, fans will start gathering at certain areas near the fence. The regulars will know where the gates are that will be opened, so follow the crowds and you’ll get there.
If you want to get to the podium ceremony in time, try and get yourself to the main straight before the end of the race. Otherwise even of you run you won’t make it from some of the further points of the circuit.
Food, drink & water
There are a lot of food and drink vendors at the circuit who offer everything from coffee and soft drinks to beer (around 6 Euros) and energy drinks. You can buy snacks, burgers and other fast food. It’s not cheap, but there’s plenty of options. You can, however, bring your own food so I’d definitely suggest doing that to avoid having to keep buying at the track.
There are some water refill stations dotted around, but never enough. Sometimes it’s easier to just buy a new bottle of water for 2 Euros than it is to walk and queue at a water point.
What to bring
Here’s my list of things to consider bringing with you to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix:
General
- Tickets – Download an offline copy on your phone beforehand.
- Money – cards & contactless are all accepted at the track
- Backpack (small to medium size)
- Sun cream
- UV protection lip balm
- Sun hat
- Sun glasses
- Small umbrella to provide some shade
Electronics
- Fully charged phone
- Battery bank or power pack (no more than 300 grams)
- Handheld electric fan
Spectating
- Ear plugs or ear defenders, especially if you have young children
- Binoculars
- Picnic rug / waterproof blanket to sit on
- Fold up camping chairs / stool
- Small cushion (equally useful in grandstands)
Food / drink
- Refillable water bottle (as long as it’s not glass). Metal / plastic is ok, as long as it’s no bigger than 500ml.
- Small insulated lunch box / cooler bag with frozne ice packs in it.
- Food – you are allowed to bring your own food.
- Drinks – You can bring soft drinks but no alcohol. No glass bottles.
- Water – pack extra bottles if it’s going to be hot. Freeze one the night before.
- Electrolyte hydration drinks / supplements
- Bag for rubbish
- Tissues and wet wipes
See the Italian Grand Prix bag policy for a full list of prohibited items.
