This is my spectacting guide and review for Grandstand 8 at the Mexican Grand Prix held at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.
Contents
Grandstand 8 Mexico GP location
Grandstand 8 is also known as Grada 8 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit. It’s on the inside of the track (right-hand side) towards the end of the straight that runs between turns 3 and 4. It parallel to the track alongside the braking zone for Turn 4.
Entrance gate 12 is the nearest entrance to the grandstand. That gate is around a 10 minute walk away, and you have to use the bridge that crosses over the track just before Turn 4 to get to the stand.
You can also use entrance gate 9 which is a longer walk away, but the benefit of that is that the Puebla Metro station is just outside that gate, making it very easy if you are using public transport to get to the Mexican Grand Prix.
Zone
At the Mexican Grand Prix the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is divided in to different spectator zones. Grandstand 8 is in Zona Rosa (Pink Zone). However to get to this zone you have to go via Zone Azul (Blue Zone), meaning that you get access to both Pink and Blue zones. You cannot access any other zones around the circuit.
For more info on what these zones involve check out my full guide to the Mexican GP zones. But in summary, the Blue Zone is the best zone at the track as it includes the full F1 fan zone, so having access to that zone is great.
Grandstand details
Cover
This grandstand has no cover over the top. You’ll be sat in the hot Mexican sunshine all day long, so bring sun protection and dress appropriately for the weather.
Seats
The seats are plastic pads on a bench seat.
TV screens
There’s one TV screen visible from this stand and it’s directly opposite on the other side of the track. Easily visible from all seats.
Mexico GP Grandstand 8 tickets
The is one of the cheaper granstands at the Mexican GP, plus it gets you access to the popular Blue Zone. That means tickets will sell out fast, but don’t worry as you can buy tickets through ViaGoGo up until the day of the Grand Prix itself.
Plus you can get single day tickets on there which are cheaper and give you extra flexibility.
I’ve bought numerous Formula 1 tickets using Viagogo over the last few seasons and my experience has always been great. I managed to find my one-day tickets to the Canadian and British GPs on there and for considerably less than the official prices.
They also have a FanProtect Guarantee means that your money and tickets will be protected. That has always given me extra peace of mind when buying through them.
Mexico Grandstand 8 seating plan
Below is the seating chart for Grandstand 8 at the Mexican Grand Prix:
As the seating chart shows Grandstand 8 is made up four different sections numbered 101 – 104. Section 101 is the closest to Turn 4 and Section 104 is the furthest away from it.
Row 1 is the first row lowest down in each section, and the row numbers increase the further up and back you go. Row 23 is the back row in all sections.
Seat numbers start at 1 on the left side of each section and increase as you move to the right. That’s as if you’re actually stood on the track looking up at the grandstands.
View
This image show the parts of the track visible from this stand in green:
The view from Grandstand 8 at the Mexican Grand Prix is mainly of Turn 4 and 6, which are to the right of this stand. If you’re not in Section 101 you’ll struggle to see the Turn 5 apex as Grandstand 7 on the other side of the track will block your view of that slightly. But you’ll have a great view of the braking zone and any overtaking moves in to Turn 4, then the cars will reappear after Turn 5 as they go around Turn 6.
To the left of the stand are some trees which unfortunately block your view back down the straight towards Turn 3.
The videos below provide examples of the views from this stand taken from different seats.
This first video was taken from Section 101 Row 23. That’s the furthest section to the right, closest to Turn 4, and the back row. Because we’re in the furthest section to the right we can actually see around the grandstand and TV screen on the inside of Turn 4 and have a view of the Turn 5 apex as well. Only Section 101 has this – the other sections don’t.
If you watch this video right to the end you’ll see that being in the top row has another benefit. You can turn around and actually watch the cars briefly as they go through Turn 7:
This next video was taken from Section 104 Row 18. That’s the other end of the stand, as far to the left as you can get and as far away from Turn 4 as possible. You can see that from here we’re can’t see the apex of Turn 5.
This next video was filmed from Section 103 Row 5, so lower down and closer to the track. Being lower and to the left means you can see even less of Turn 5.
And finally this was filmed from Section 102 Row 10:
Best seats
Without a doubt you want to try and maximise how much you can see of Turn 5. So the best seats in Grandstand 8 at the Mexican Grand Prix are those in Section 101 Rows 15 and up.
As a bonus, if you can get seats in the very back row (row 23) then you can turn around and see the cars briefly at Turn 7 as well. So Section 101 Row 23 are the elite seats!
Is this a good place to sit?
Turn 4 is at the end of a straight and there’s often some overtaking here. Plus there’s normally lots of close action at turns 5 and 6 as well, and because the cars are slow here you’ll get to see them for a logner period which is great.
Plus tickets for this grandstand give you access to the Blue Zone which is the best zone at the track. So yes, this is a great place to sit.
