I sat in Grandstand 47 at last year’s Montreal Grand Prix. This is my review and guide to spectating from this grandstand.
The stand is located on the Casino Straight of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It doesn’t provide the most exciting views of the F1 cars in action, but it’s usually the cheapest stand at the Canadian Grand Prix.
In this article I will provide videos of the views, a seating chart, information on how and where to buy tickets and my tips on selecting the best seats.
Contents
Grandstand 47 Montreal Grand Prix Location
Grandstand 47, also known as Tribune 47, is located on the inside (right-hand side) of the circuit along the Casino Straight of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
On the map below the grandstand is facing downwards, towards the section of track just after Turn 12.
Canadian GP Grandstand 47 tickets
Tickets for the Montreal Grand Prix Grandstand 47 sell out very quickly through the official Canadian Grand Prix website.
So I’d recommend doing what I did and buying them through Stubhub instead as there’s always a good selection of tickets available there when they’re sold out elsewhere, even right up until the Sunday of the GP weekend. Plus you can find a lot of one-day tickets for sale there which are more affordable options.
I used Stubhub for my Grandstand 47 tickets at the Canadian Grand Prix and had a great experience. I bought my tickets about 10 days before the race weekend and for a single day Friday ticket I paid just $38CAD – what a bargain!
They also have a FanProtect guarantee which seems very robust at protecting your money, and they always seem to have a big inventory of tickets available for the Canadian Grand Prix. So definitely check them out.
Grandstand 47 details
Cover
Grandstand 47 at the Montreal Grand Prix is uncovered. There’s no roof over the top so it’s fully exposed to the elements. Make sure you bring suitable weather protection from the sun or rain!
Seats
The seats are bleacher style benches with allocated ‘seat’ numbers. There is no backrest.
TV Screens
There is one giant TV screen visible from Grandstand 47 at the Montreal Grand Prix.
This is located on the opposite side of the track, just to the right of Grandstand 46 across the circuit.
Everyone in Grandstand 47 will have visibility of this TV screen and will be able to keep up with the Canadian F1 action when the cars are on other parts of the circuit. It’s easier to see from the lowers section numbers.
Grandstand 47 Montreal GP Seating Chart
Below is the seating chart for Grandstand 47 at the Montreal Grand Prix.
The grandstand has four sections. Section 4 is directly next to the adjacent Grandstand 34 (read more on how this blocks your view lower down).
The rows are given letters. The front row lowest down in the stand is AA. The second row is BB, and that continues all the way up to row KK. After that, the next row is row A and they continue up to row P at the very back.
Seat numbers increase from left to right (as you stand on the circuit and look at the stand). The seat numbers start from 1 on the left hand side of each section.
Grandstand 47 views
The image below shows the sections of the circuit that can be seen from Grandstand 47 highlighted in pink.
The grandstand is adjacent to the large Grandstand 34, which is to the left of it as you sit in the stand. From pretty much all seats, that grandstand blocks your view to the left of the exit of the hairpin at Turn 10 and the slight kink in the track just after it. That’s why that part of the track isn’t completely pink on the image above.
To reduce the amount the adjacent stand blocks your view, you want to sit in the lower to middle rows, as my video below will show. There’s a few points where you can just about see past the stand down towards the exit of the hairpin, but it’s pretty difficult.
Sitting in the sections further to the right of Grandstand 47 (as you look at the circuit) will give you a better angle to look past the other stand from higher rows. The further to the left of the stand you are, the nearer to the front you need to be.
As the cars accelerate along the Casino Straight you’ll have great view, albit a short one, of them passing in front of you from left to right. You’ll lose the cars out of sight to the right once they go under the pedestrian bridge next to the stand.
In my video below I’ve filmed the view from this grandstand from a number of different positions. The clips in this video were filmed from the following seats:
- 00:11 – 00:22 Section 1 Row DD Seat 19
- 00:22 – 00:35 Section 1 Row N Seat 20
- 00:35 – 00:50 Section 2 Row J Seat 13
- 00:50 – 01:07 Section 2 Row AA Seat 34 (can see exit of hairpin)
- 01:07 – 01:21 Section 3 Row JJ Seat 22 (can see exit of hairpin)
- 01:21 – 01:34 Section 4 Row E Seat 12
- 01:34 – 01:43 Section 4 Row P Seat 20
Best Seats in Grandstand 47
Normally I’d suggest sitting as high as possible in a grandstand for a Formula 1 race to give you a better vantage point. That isn’t the case for Grandstand 47 at the Montreal Grand Prix.
As my video above shows, if you sit too high up in the stand your view of the exit of the hairpin is blocked by the adjacent grandstand. As such, the best seats are those in rows DD to JJ. In those rows you should be able to see down towards the exit of the hairpin. I’d avoid the front couple of rows if possible as the safety fence makes it harder to see from there. I’d aim for Section 1, 2 or 3 in those rows.
Sitting further forwards also helps you see the cars for slightly longer before they disappear off to your right.
Is Grandstand 47 a good place to sit at the Montreal Grand Prix?
If you have a view that’s unimpeded then at best you can see the exit of the hairpin. But almost all of the overtaking action at that part of the track happens on the way in to the hairpin, which you won’t be able to see from this stand. Apart from that you’ll see the cars fly past you briefly as they head down the main straight.
Overall, the view from this grandstand isn’t great. But it’s the cheapest grandstand at the Canadian Grand Prix, and as it costs about the same as a General Admission ticket it’s a good value way to get a reserved seat for the weekend.
Nearest entrance
The nearest entrance to the Grandstand 47 at the Montreal Grand Prix is the Cosmos entrance. From there you can walk back towards Turn 9 and use the pedestrian overpass to get to the inside of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where Grandstand 47 will be right in front of you.
See my guide to the Canada GP entrance gates for more specific information.
For full details on how to get to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the Formula 1 weekend, check out my Canada F1 travel guide.
Other Canadian GP Grandstands
Check out my guides to all of the other Canadian Grand Prix grandstands as a comparison:
Which one do you recommend, 46 or 47?
Personally I’d go for 46, slightly better views
Thanks. But I thought 47 has the hairpin view which 46 doesn’t right?