I sat in Grandstand 46 at the Montreal Grand Prix. This is my review and guide to this grandstand, which offers some of the cheapest reserved seating at the Canadian F1 race weekend.
The view may not be the best from this stand, but I think it does offer a good value way to watch the GP.
In this article I’ll provide videos showing examples of the views from different seats, a full seating chart, information on tickets and my tips on getting the best seats in this stand at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Contents
Grandstand 46 Montreal Grand Prix Location
Grandstand 46, also called Tribune 46, at the Montreal Grand Prix is located on the outside of the circuit near turns 11 and 12.
It’s located a short way after the hairpin at Turn 10 and sits along the Casino Straight, right at the start of one of the DRS Zones on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It’s directly opposite Grandstand 47 and Grandstand 34.
Grandstand 46 tickets - Canadian Grand Prix
Tickets for the Montreal Grand Prix Grandstand 46 sell almost straight away on the official Canadian Grand Prix site.
So I’d recommend you do what I did and buy them through Stubhub instead as there will be a good selection of tickets still available there right up until the day of the Grand Prix itself, including lots of single-day options which are cheaper and give you more flexibility. You can even select different stands on different days with single-day tickets if you want to change it up.
I bought my ticket for this grandstand through Stubhub and had a great experience doing so. I purchased it around 10 days before the GP weekend and paid just $50CAD for a Friday only ticket – absolute bargain! Their FanProtect guarantee gave me enough confidence to buy from them, and you can often find them at lower prices as the race approaches.
Grandstand 46 details
Cover
This grandstand is completely uncovered. There’s no roof or protection from the sun or rain, so make sure you bring suitable clothing!
Seats
The seats are bleacher style bench seats with no backrest. Your ticket will give you a reserved space on these.
TV Screens
There is one large TV screen directly opposite this stand attached to the side of Grandstand 34.
The track is narrow here with little run-off on either side, so it means the screen is very close to the stand and easy to see.
The screen is directly opposite the middle of this grandstand. Sections 4 and 5 are directly in line with it and have the best view of the TV.
Grandstand 46 Seating Chart
Below is the seating chart for Grandstand 46 at the Montreal Grand Prix.
There are now 8 sections within this grandstand. Section 1 is the closest to the exit of the hairpin, Turn 10. Section 8 is the furthest along Casino Straight.
The seat numbers increase from left to right (as you stand on the track and look at the stand). They start from 1 at the beginning of each section.
The rows are lettered. The front row lowest down is AA, the second row is BB and that continues until row KK. After that the next row up is row A, then row B, all the way to row Z highest up at the back in sections 1 – 7. In Section A the back row is Row J.
Grandstand 46 Montreal Grand Prix views
The map below shows the sections of track that are visible from Grandstand 46 highlighted in pink.
As this grandstand sits parallel to the little kink in the track after the Turn 10 Hairpin, unfortunately it means that is doesn’t actually have a view of th Turn 10 Hairpin itself. There are some trees directly to the right of the stand that block the view of Turn 10, as you can see in my video below.
Your view from this stand mainly consists of seeing the cars accelerate past you from right to left as they leave Turn 12 and head down the long final straight. You’re unlikely to see much action or overtaking here as it’s just an acceleration zone.
If you sit higher up you stand a better chance of seeing over the barrier in the middle of the track to get a brief view of the cars as they head towards the hairpin where you might see the start of a passing manouvre. However, sitting higher up means the trees will block your view to the right more.
If you sit low in the stand the safety fence starts to get in your way. When you’re in the front few rows it blocks your view badly because you’re so close to it, as my video below shows.
In my video below I’ve filmed the view from this grandstand from a number of different positions. It includes views from the following seats:
- 00:11 – 00:31 Section 1 Row S Seat 1
- 00:31 – 00:44 Section 1 Row K Seat 10
- 00:44 – 00:56 Section 2 Row J Seat 25
- 00:56 – 01:10 Section 2 Row Z Seat 13
- 01:10 – 01:20 Section 3 Row KK Seat 15
- 01:20 – 01:30 Section 4 Row L Seat 2
- 01:30 – 01:43 Section 5 Row L Seat 3
- 01:43 – 01:53 Section 6 Row Z Seat 13
- 01:53 – 02:07 Section 6 Row AA Seat 25
- 02:07 – 02:18 Section 7 Row L Seat 2
- 02:18 – 02:31 Section 8 Row AA Seat 15
- 02:31 – 02:37 Section 8 Row F Seat 1
Best Seats in Grandstand 46
Unfortunately, wherever you sit in this stand you can’t see the Hairpin at Turn 10 which is where most of the action would happen at this part of the track.
So the best seats are about maximizing what you can see. If you sit in the middle sections – 4 and 5 – you’re directly opposite the TV screen so it will be easier to follow the action on that from there.
If you sit in the higher up rows you can see over the barrier and watch the cars as they’re about to enter the Hairpin, but the trees to the right will block your view more.
I’d hedge my bets and try and get seats in the middle of the stand. I’d aim for section 4 and rows in the lower middle, somewhere around A – D.
Avoid the front 5 rows if possible as the safety fence really blocks your view.
Is Grandstand 46 a good place to sit at the Montreal Grand Prix?
You don’t get to see much exciting racing from anywhere in this stand. As you can’t see the Hairpin, all you get to see is the F1 cars accelerating along the long Casino Straight. Great if you want to hear them at full throttle, not so great if you want to see some overtaking.
The saving grace of this grandstand is its price. At just $50 CAD more than a general admission ticket last year, it’s worth the extra 50 bucks just to have somewhere to sit for the weekend.
If I had a choice I’d pay a few extra dollars and get a seat in Grandstand 34 instead. That has a wonderful panoramic view of the Hairpin.
Nearest entrance
The nearest entrance to the Grandstand 46 at the Montreal Grand Prix is the Cosmos entrance gate.
From there you can take a short walk towards Turn 9 and use the pedestrian bridge to get to the inside of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. You can walk across the infield and use the next spectator bridge to cross back over to the outside of the track. That second bridge puts you right next to the grandstand.
See my guide to all of the the Canada GP entrance gates for more information.
For details on getting to the circuit for the Formula 1 race weekend, check out my full Canada F1 travel guide.
Other Canadian GP Grandstands
Check out my guides to all of the other Canadian Grand Prix grandstands as a comparison:
A few strange stories have popped up on reddit about 46 and 47 where some GA holders take advantage of more lax security coverage, sneak in right at race time, park in a seat, and are just obstinate enough during the race to annoy everyone in the vicinity and force weird compromises. If you’re in 46/47 it might be a good idea to park for an hour beforehand or so.