Grandstand F (Tribuna F) at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya offers a brilliant view of the first few turns of the track, but is a little limited for views of TV screens and the circuit infield.
Read my guide below for more info, tickets, my advice on where to sit and better grandstand options.
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Grandstand location at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Grandstand F at the Circuit de Catalunya is on the outside (left-hand side) of the start / finish straight, right where the cars enter the first corner on the circuit.
The grandstand is adjacent to Grandstand E (to the right) and Grandstand T1 (a little way to its left).
The circuit is in the area of Montmelo, around 20km North of Barcelona. It hosts the Spanish F1 Grand Prix and the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix, amongst other events.
Buy Grandstand F tickets for the F1 and MotoGP
Formula 1 tickets
This is a popular grandstand and even though it’s one of the more expensive places to sit at the Spanish GP, tickets can sell out fast.
But don’t worry, you can do what I do and buy tickets on ViaGoGo where you can often find them for sale right up until the Sunday of the F1 weekend. There will be a good selection of single day ticket options there, plus some of them might be cheaper than the original price too.
MotoGP Catalunya tickets
As well as the Formula 1 you’ll be able to buy MotoGP tickets for Catalunya on ViaGoGo as well. Again there will be lots of 1, 2 or 3-day tickets available right up until the last minute, and you can find some bargains.
I’ve bought motorsport and F1 tickets a number of times from ViaGoGo, including when I visited the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, and have always had a great experience using them. Plus their Fan Guarantee makes sure your money and tickets are safe which has always given me added peace of mind!
Tickets can go fast on their platform, however. So my advice is if you see good tickets there, snap them up quickly!
Grandstand details
Seats
Tribuna F has hard plastic seats with fixed backs and fixed bases. No padding. Bring a cushion or something soft to sit on!
Cover
This grandstand is uncovered and completed exposed to the elements, so make sure you’re prepared for the weather come rain or shine.
It does, however, face North-West, so the sun will be behind you for a lot of the day and move around to your left later in the afternoon.
TV screens
There is one TV screen visible from Tribuna F and it’s on the far right hand side:
If you sit on the right hand side of this stand (lower Zone numbers) it’s fairly easy to see:
However if you sit on the the left hand side (higher Zone numbers) then it’s quite a way in the distance and much harder to see. That’s something to bear in mind.
Seating plan
Below is the seating plan for Grandstand F at Circuit de Catalunya Barcelona:
As the seating plans shows this grandstand is split in to 6 different zones. Zone 6 is closest to the first corner and Zone 1 further from the first corner.
Each of the siz zones are split in to an upper and lower section. The lower section has rows which go from F1 – F11 and the upper section’s rows go from F12 – F22.
F1 is the front row lowest down and F22 is the back row highest up.
The seat numbers start from 1 at the beginning of each zone and increase from left to right (if you stood on the track and looked up at the stand).
Zones 1 and 6 are roughly 45 seats wide and Zones 2 to 6 are around 28 seats wide. There are a few more seats in the back row as they span the stairwell gap between each zone.
Views from the grandstand
The image below shows the areas of the Barcelona circuit visible from Grandstand F highlighted in pink:
Being located at the entrance to Turn 1, as the map above shows this stand gives a brilliant view of the first few corners where there’s often a lot of overtaking and incidents, especially at the start of a race.
You’ll then lose the cars or bikes out of sight as they get about half way around Turn 3.
You can’t quite see the start / finish line to the right as you’re too far away, plus the safety fence and the adjacent grandstands to the right will block your view of it.
The image above also shows that you can see a little bit of the infield section, around Turns 6, 7 and 8. But no more than that. In my opinion you get a better view from one of the adjacent grandstands that’s actually cheaper, more info on that below.
Now though, here are some examples of the view from Tribuna F from different seats.
This first video was filmed from Zone 1 Row F3, the furthest zone to the right and the third row from the front. From here you still have a view of Turns 1, 2 and 3 but pretty much zero visibility of the infield:
This next video was filmed from Zone 1 Row F22, the furthest zone to the right again but this time the back row highest up. It gives a slightly better view of the first few turns, plus more visibility of the infield around Turn 7:
This next video was filmed from Zone 2 Row F21 seat 8, the second zone from the right and the second row from the back. You can see the high row gives a good view of the infield, covering Turns 6 to 8. Note that the TV screen shown in this video is no longer there:
This next video was filmed from Zone 6 Row F1, the furthest zone to the left and the front row. From here there’s pretty much zero visibility of the infield:
In comparison, this next video was filmed from Zone 6 Row F22 seat 3, the zone furthest to the left and the back row. Being high up massively improves your view of the infield and as you actually have great visibility of Turn 5, then lose the cars and bikes out of sight after Turn 7.
This 360 degree image shows the view from between Zones 5 and 6, Row F22 (back row). Click and drag the image to pan around:
Best seats in the grandstand
As the videos above show, regardless of which row you sit in the highest seats are best for increased visibility of the infield.
However, I’d definitely chose to try and get seat tickets in a lower zone, zone 1, 2 or 3, in the back few rows. You still have a good view of the first few corners from there but you can see more of the infield (as long as you’re in a high row), plus you’re closer to the TV.
The higher zone numbers restrict your view of the infield, even if you’re in a high row.
But I think this grandstand is slightly overpriced. Instead, I’d try and get seats in the adjacent Grandstand E which is cheaper, has much better views of the infield, is closer to the TV and you can still see the first few corners if you get the right seats.
Other grandstands
Here are my viewing guides to all grandstands at Catalunya:
