Image credit W F on YouTube.
The Gold 7 Spa Francorchamps grandstands give spectators a great view of the apex and exit of the La Source hairpin, Turn 1 on the Belgian Grand Prix circuit.
As of 2023 there are now three different Gold 7 grandstands to choose from – Gold 7, Gold 7 TER and Gold 7 BIS. This article explains the differences between their location, views and facilities and provides a full guide to spectating here.
Contents
What is the Gold 7 Spa Francorchamps grandstand?
The Gold 7 grandstand at Spa Francorchamps is made up of three different sections:
- Gold 7 La Source
- Gold 7 BIS
- Gold 7 TER
Gold 7 La Source is the main grandstand and has the BIS and TER stands on either side of it. The official Spa Grand Prix website counts the BIS and TER grandstands as extensions of the main stand, but the reality is they’re seperated.
Being part of the gold group of grandstands, these stands should have some of the best views of any grandstands at the circuit, and put the fans closest to the action. It also means they’re likely to be the most expensive.
For the 2023 race a ticket for the Gold 7 TER grandstand cost almost 500 Euros for the whole race weekend. The Gold 7 La Source stand was closer to 600 Euros.
Spa Gold 7 grandstands location
All of the Gold 7 grandstands are located on the outside (left-hand side) of the circuit on the exit of the La Source hairpin. They’re on the fast straight, which has a slight kink in it, where the cars are accelerating at full throttle as they run down the hill towards Eau Rouge.
The La Source hairpin is the first corner on the Belgian Grand Prix circuit. It’s the tightest corner at the circuit and often sees some wheel-to-wheel action and crashes at the start of the race.
The Gold 7 BIS grandstand is closest to the hairpin. Gold 7 La Source is in the middle of the other two stands and Gold 7 TER is furthest from the corner.
Tickets
Tickets for any of the Gold 7 stands usually sell out fast on the Spa GP official site. If that’s the case but you still want some tickets for this stand, I’d recommend purchasing them through P1 Travel. They’re an official Formula 1 ticket reseller, have a great reputation, get really great reviews and sell at very good prices.
A weekend grandstand seat ticket also gets you full access to the whole circuit, meaning you can explore the track and all of the General Admission viewing areas. You cannot go in any other grandstands.
Gold 7 grandstand details
Cover
- Gold 7 La Source: Covered with a roof over the top but no sides
- Gold 7 BIS: Uncovered
- Gold 7 TER: Uncovered
The roof on the Gold 7 La Source grandstand is quite high at the front, so if you’re in the front row you might be slightly exposed to the elements. As you will be if you’re on the ends of the stand.
Seat type
All three of the Gold 7 grandstands have individual seats with fixed seat backs and seat bases.
TV screen
There is one Giant TV visible from these stands. It’s positioned just before the apex of Turn 1 on the outside of the circuit. It’s a little distance away from the stands but it’s a huge screen so should fine to see. You will have to be looking through the fencing though.
Spa Gold 7 Seating Chart
Below is the seating chart for the Gold 7, Gold 7 TER and Gold 7 BIS grandstands at Spa.
As the seaing chart shows, Gold 7 BIS and Gold 7 have just one section each, section A. Gold 7 TER however has three sections, named A, B and C.
The seat numbers increase from right to left as you stand on the circuit and look at the stands. Seat numbers start from 1 at the beginning of each section.
The front row lowest down is numbered row 1 on each of the three grandstands. The back row in Gold 7-BIS is row 15, row 21 in Gold 7 and row 15 in Gold 7-TER.
Spa Gold 7 grandstand view
The view from each of the three Gold 7 Spa Francorchamps grandstands is pretty similar. You’ll have visibility of the apex and exit of the La Source hairpin and the start of the run down the hill towards Eau Rouge.
As the cars go around the slight kink in the downhill run they’ll disappear out of sight, blocked by the concrete wall that lines the historic pitlane. They’ll then reappear briefly on the steep uphill climb through Eau Rouge and Raidillon.
The map below shows the parts of the circuit visible from the Gold 7 grandstands highlighted in pink.
The further to the left (as you look at the circuit) in the three stands you sit, the longer you’ll be able to see the cars as they drop downhill towards Eau Rouge, but the less you’ll see of La Source. Sitting in the Gold 7 TER grandstand will give you the longest visibility of the cars as they go around the right-hand kink.
Sitting on the right hand side, in Gold 7 BIS for example, will give you the best view possible of the action at the La Source hairpin. You can’t see much of the main straight and the run in to the hairpin (for that check out the Spa Gold 8 grandstand), but you will have a great view of the action at the apex and exit of the corner.
The stands are tiered. The back rows are high enough to see over the fence and have a much more elevated vantage point than the front rows.
The video below was taken from one of the back rows and shows that you also get a little more of a view of the cars as they enter the braking zone for La Source.
The video below shows the view from a number of different points in the Gold 7, Gold 7 TER and Gold 7 BIS grandstands:
- Gold 7 Section A, Row 20, Seat 36
- Gold 7 Section A, Row 4, Seat 16
- Gold 7 BIS Section A, Row 15, Seat 33
- Gold 7 TER Section A, Row 15, Seat 20
- Gold 7 TER Section A, Row 5, Seat 20
Is the Gold 7 Spa grandstand a good place to sit?
All three of the Gold 7 grandstands give you a very similar view of the apex and exit of La Source where there’s always likely to be some close action, overtaking and maybe even some crashing. You won’t see the start of any of those crashes or passing moves as you don’t have much visibility of anything before the apex, but whatever happens at corner exit will be right in front of you.
From that point on your view is pretty limited. You get to hear the cars accelerate at full throttle down the hill but they quickly disappear out of sight.
If you do choose these stands, I would go for Gold 7 La Source with the roof over the top. In the notes box I’d request seats in the top row in the centre of the stand, to make sure you’re under the protection of the canopy and to get a higher vantage point.
In my opinion though the Gold 8 grandstand is a much better option. Being positioned a little further to the right (as you look at the track) it gives you a view down the whole start / finish straight and coverage of all of La Source. The seats are slightly higher up so it also gives a better vantage point for seeing the cars for longer as they go over the top of Raidillon and on to the Kemmel Straight.
Nearest parking area
Blue parking area 14 is the closest to the grandstand, but it’s usually reserved for VIPs and people with accessibility requirements. The Yellow Spa parking areas are second closest and will be around a 20 minute walk from this grandstand if you use the La Source entrance gates. Check out our full guide to Spa Francorchamps parking for more info.
Tickets for the parking can be purchased directly through the Spa Grand Prix website.
Nearest campsite
The Yellow Spa Francorchamps campsite is closest to the Gold 9 stand. You can walk from the campsite to the La Source circuit entrance in around 15 minutes, then it’s only another couple of minutes to this stand.
Other Spa grandstands
Check out our spectator guides to the other grandstands at Spa Francorchamps:
- Max Verstappen stand
- Speed Corner grandstand
- Combes grandstand
- 17 – 27 area grandstand
- Gold 1 pit grandstand
- Gold 2 GP2 grandstand
- Gold 3 grandstand
- Gold 4 grandstand
- Gold 6 grandstand
- Gold 8 grandstand
- Gold 9 grandstand
- Silver 1 grandstand
- Silver 2 grandstand
- Silver 3 grandstand
- Silver 4 grandstand
- Silver 6 grandstand
Hi Alex, have new sections been added to the gold ter 7 for this year. Our tickets state bloc E.
Hi Mark, yep they may well have done. I imagine E will be further along the track (closer to Eau Rouge, further from La Source). Should be good!