This is my spectacting guide for Grandstand 3A at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit for the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Mexico.
Contents
Grandstand 3A Mexico GP location
Grandstand 3A, also known as Grada 3A, at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit is positioned on the left hand side of the track at the end of the very long start finish straight, right in the braking zone for Turn 1. It’s adjacent to Grandstand 3 which is to its left.
This grandstand is right next to entrance gate 9, less than a 5 minute walk away. And directly next to that entrance gate is the Puebla Metro station, which is the one you should aim for if you’re planning on using public transport to get to the race.
You can also access this grandstand via entrance gate 12, but that’s much further away.
Zone
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is divided in to a number of different spectator zones for the Formula 1 weekend. This grandstand is part of the Blue Zone (Zona Azul). Tickets for this grandstand mean you can only access the Bue Zone. You cannot access any other zones around the track.
The Blue Zone is arguably the best zone as it’s the only one with the official F1 Fan Zone. There are countless food and drinks vendors, bars, merchandise stalls, sponsor activiations, stages playing DJ sets and music, and big TV screens dotted around so you can watch the action even when you’re not in your seat. Plus they have F1 simulators, the F1 pitstop challenge and other activities like the F1 Blast Lane.
There’s lots of seating and lots of shade, either at tables under umbrellas or under some of the trees in the area.
You won’t get bored in this zone for the weekend. Highly recommended.
You can only access the Blue Zone via gates 9, 11 or 12.
Grandstand details
Cover
This grandstand is NOT covered. You’ll be fully exposed to the sun all day long. So bring a hat to protect your head, and make sure everything else you wear is appropriate for the weather too.
Seats
The seats are metal bench style bleacher seats with a little plastic pad to sit on. The metal benches will be hot – bear that in mind in case you have any bare skin that touches them.
TV screens
There is a big TV screen directly opposite this grandstand.
Mexico GP Grandstand 3A tickets
The Blue Zone is very popular, and so is this grandstand, so tickets can sell out fast. But don’t worry if that’s the case as you can still buy tickets through ViaGoGo right up until race day itself.
Plus if you wait until nearer the time you can often find tickets for cheaper than their official price, which is what I’ve done before.
I’ve used Viagogo for my F1 tickets on a number of occasions over the last few years. That includes my recent trips to the Las Vegas and Canadian Grand Prix. Each time I bought through them I managed to get tickets cheaper than the list price.
They also have a really good ‘FanProtect Guarantee’ which will ensure your money and your tickets are protected, which is always good for extra peace of mind. I’ll happily use them again next time I need tickets.
Mexico Grandstand 3A seating plan
The image below shows the seat plan for Grandstand 3A at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend:
As the seating chart shows this granstand is made up of a number of different sections, numbered 101 – 104. Section 104 is closest to Turn 1.
Each section has rows which start at 1 lowest down at the front and increase up to Row 32 higher up at the back.
Seat numbering starts from 1 in each section, and increases as you go from left to right (if you stand on the track and look up at the seats).
View
On the map below the areas of the track you can see from this grandstand are highlighted in green:
As the image shows, not only do you get a view of the braking zone at the end of the incredibly long main straight, but if you sit in the right place you can also see all the way through turns 1, 2 and 3 which make up the first chicane, known as Curva Moises Solana.
To give you an idea of the view, and how it differs depending where you sit, the videos below were taken from a number of different seats within this grandstand.
This video was filmed from Section 102 row 1 (front row). As you can see, being at the front of the stand in this section means you can’t see much past Turn 1:
This video was filmed from Section 103 row 19. Now that we’re higher up and slightly closer to the first corner, we have a great view all the way through turn 1, 2 and 3.
This video shows the view from Section 101 Row 24. Even though it’s further away from Turn 1, because we’re high up here we can still see most of the way through the first chicane:
And this video shows the view from Section 102 Row 25 Seat 1, again because it’s a high row we can still see through the chicane:
Best seats
You want to be able to see through the chicane, that’s the most important thing when choosing your seats here. So ideally you want to be in sections 103 or 104 to do that, and in the higher rows – ideally row 20 and up.
If you can’t get those sections, then go for row 25 and up in section 102. Basically the higher row you can get, the better.
Is this a good place to sit?
If you can get those seats above then yes, this is a fantastic place to sit. You’ll have a great view of the first chicane where most of the action happens on the opening few laps, plus you’re in the Blue Zone where the F1 Fan Zone is so there’s plenty of other stuff to see and do all weekend.
If you can’t get seats which will give you a view of the first three corners, then try one of the other granstands in the Blue Zone near turns 1, 2 and 3.
