I sat in Family Grandstand (also known as Grandstand 33) at the Montreal Grand Prix last year. This is my review and guide to this grandstand.
In this guied I’ll provide a video showing the views from different seats, rows in section. I’ve produced a complete seating plan for the stand, plus give you my tips on the best seats and worst seats. There’s also info on getting tickets.
Contents
Family Grandstand Location - Montreal Grand Prix
The Family Grandstand, also known as Grandstand 33, is located on the inside (right-hand side) of the Montreal Grand Prix track next to Turns 6 and 7.
The grandstand is facing back up the circuit towards Turns 5 and 6. The cars will come directly towards this grandstand as they brake for Turn 6.
Right behind this stand there were a load of food and drinks vendors, but it is a bit of a walk (at least 25 minutes) to the F1 Fan Zone.
It’s also adjacent to Grandstand 32 which is positioned at 90 degrees to this stand alongside the braking zone for Turn 6.
Family Grandstand tickets for Canadian Grand Prix
Previously children under the age of 15 were able to sit in the Family Grandstand with their parents for free. Unfortunately that’s no longer the case. Now children under 11 will have to pay a slightly reduced rate (25% discount) and children over 11 will have to pay the full grandstand seat price.
Additionally people over 65 now have to pay full price too, whereas they used to be offered a discounted rate.
Tickets for the Family grandstand at the Montreal Grand Prix sell out very quickly on the Canadian Formula 1 website.
So if you’ve left it a bit last minute but still want tickets, I’d recommend doing what I did and buy your tickets through Stubhub. They will have tickets for sale right up until the last minute before the Grand Prix on the Sunday, even when everywhere else is sold out. They also have a range of 1, 2 or 3-day tickets which gives you more flexibility.
I used Stubhub for my trip to the Canadian GP and tickets for this grandstand. I paid $51CAD for a Friday-only ticket in this stand, which is very cheap. I bought it about 10 days before the race weekend.
Their FanProtect guarantee is very good and keeps your money safe which gives me extra peace of mind when using them!
Family Grandstand details
Cover
The Family Grandstand at the Montreal Grand Prix is completely uncovered. It’s open to the elements so make sure you bring suitable weather protection, both from the sun and the rain!
Seats
The seats are bleacher style bench seats with no backrests. These are pretty uncomfortable so bring a small cushion or something soft to sit on.
TV Screens
There are two large TV screens on the other side of the circuit that are visible to spectators sat in the Family Grandstand. They’re at a slight angle to each other meaning you can see one wherever you’re sat.
Family Grandstand Seating Chart Montreal Grand Prix
Below is the seating chart for the Family Grandstand at the Montreal Grand Prix.
As the seating chart shows the grandstand is made up of 7 sections. As you can see sections 1, 2 and 3 are higher than sections 4, 5, 6 and 7.
The rows are named with letters. The front row is AA, the second row is BB and that continues until row ZZ. After that the next row up is A, then B etc.
Sections 1 , 2 and 3 go up to Row V. Sections 4, 5, 6 and 7 only go up to Row E.
The seat numbers start from 1 at the beginning of each section and increase as you go to the right of the stand.
Family Grandstand views
The map below shows the areas of the track visible from this grandstand highlighted in pink.
As the map shows, you’re mainly able to see Turns 6 and 7. You lose the cars out of sight after Turn 7 as they pass the right hand side of the stand. Unless you sit in the extreme right-hand seat of section 7 where you can turn and watch the cars as they pass the stand.
If you sit in one of the sections on the left hand side of the stand (as you look at the circuit) you can see more of the cars as they approach Turn 6, and even as they exit Turn 5.
In the video below I filmed the view from this grandstand from a number of different seats, rows and sections to help you pick your tickets. The seats I filmed from in the video are as follows:
- 00:11 – 00:28 Section 1 Row BB Seat 1
- 00:28 – 00:41 Section 1 Row S Seat 1
- 00:41 – 00:55 Section 2 Row K Seat 1
- 00:55 – 01:09 Section 3 Row F Seat 40
- 01:09 – 01:19 Section 3 Row PP Seat 9
- 01:19 – 01:33 Section 4 Row EE Seat 38
- 01:33 – 01:49 Section 5 Row EE Seat 14
- 01:49 – 02:01 Section 6 Row XX Seat 21
- 02:01 – 02:17 Section 7 Row KK Seat 2
Best Seats in the Family Grandstand?
As the video above shos, the best seats in the Family Grandstand at the Montreal Grand Prix are those in sections 1 and 2. From those sections you can see the cars as they approach Turn 6 (and even exit Turn 5 in the distance). Any higher section numbers and you lose sight of that part of the track.
Personally I’d go for seats in the middle to upper part of section 2. I’d aim for anything above row C.
Is the Family Grandstand a good place to sit at the Montreal Grand Prix?
Turns 6 and 7 aren’t the most exciting or action-packed parts of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Not a lot of overtaking happens here but occasionally there’s some drama in the first couple of laps.
Now that kids no longer get to sit in this grandstand for free, you may as well look at some other options.
If you want to sit in a spot where you’re likely to see more overtaking, try one of the grandstands around the Hairpin at Turn 10. Grandstand 34 is pretty much the same price as this stand and offers great views.
Nearest entrance
The nearest entrance to the Family Grandstand is the Concorde entrance. Once you pass through the gates, you will have to walk for around 15 minutes on the infield of the circuit to get to the grandstand.
See my guide to the Canada GP entrance gates for more information.
For details on how to get to the circuit for the Formula One weekend, check out my full Canada F1 travel guide.
This has been tremendously helpful in buying our tickets today. Thank you!
Thanks for the comment, glad it was useful! Did you manage to get the seats you were after?
Yes we did! Thanks Townhouse!
Yes, my friends and I hopped on a Teams call to discuss. We were looking at 31 initially, then pivoted to 32 based on a friend’s desire to see some non hairpin action (ruling out 34). After reading you 32 write up and showing my friends your report, we decided that the Family Section was the way to go based on your recommendation.
We had to try a couple times but by some miracle were able to get 8 seats in Section 2, higher up, just like you recommended for the good views on Turn 5. We did have the option for a row AA in Section 5 for a bit which would have been pretty cool to be that close. But once the Section 2 seats were available we pulled the trigger.
Great job! 8 seats together, you guys did amazingly well. When I tried to get some tickets yesterday all I managed was single seats, despite joining the queue at 10am!
Hope you have a great time in 2024.
Hi, I’m looking at grabbing tickets from the family grandstand for my wife and I. How do we know which section we are seated when viewing tickets on stub hub?
Hi, some tickets on stubhub list the section / row / seat number and some don’t, it seems to vary from ticket to ticket.
I just sat here for the 2024 GP last weekend. Note: there were 10 seats across section 7 and 40 seats across section 6. I didn’t check the other sections (I sat in section 6). The rows went up to W. When the crazy rain/wind/hail hit on Friday we “sheltered” under the nearby Toundra (sp?) building overhang that is behind this section. There were a ton of porta potties behind this section too. I was in the front row, AA, and having the railing was nice. I brought one of those table purse hooks and hung my backpack off the railing in front of me, so I didn’t have to set it down in the puddles/mud on the wet stands (it rained all weekend). Bring hand sanitizer.
Thanks for the great info Janie!
does anyone have any info on section 2, how many seats are in each row? I see a comment further down that over in section 6 theres up to 40, wondering if it was similar or not, any info would be helpful, thanks!