I sat in the GC02 grandstand at the Madring circuit for the new Spanish F1 Grand Prix in Madrid.
I’ve put together this review of the GB02 grandstand based on my experiences here. I’ve included videos of the views from a number of different seating positions, my top tips on choosing the best seats, a full seating plan and information on how I got cheap tickets for the Formula 1 weekend in Madrid.
GC02 grandstand location
The GC02 grandstand is on the right hand side of the circuit (inside of the track) along the long straight that runs between Turn 3 and Turn 4. It’s pretty close to the edge of the track, so you get a great sense of speed (and noise) as the cars accelerate past you at full throttle.
But this is not an overtaking spot, cars tended to just drive down here single file.
Zone
This grandstand is in the Madring Sur (South) half of the circuit, and is part of the Barrio Fan Zone which is one of the smaller zones at the track. Sadly, at the first race you weren’t allowed to move between different zones (they need to change that!) meaning you were limited to just the activations in this zone.
This grandstand is most easily accessed via gate C1, which is a fairly short walk from the Feria de Madrid Metro station. That’s the easiest way to get here using public transport. Just expect there to be tens of thousands of people trying to leave using the same metro station at the end of the day – it will take ages!
GC02 is also part of the Zone C (previously called Alta Velocidad) zone, and is shown as the Bronze Straight 3 stand on the map on the Madring site. But confusingly, Bronze 3 is actually made up of both GC02 and GC01.
Grandstand tickets - Madring F1
I bought my tickets around 10 days before the race through ViaGoGo. I bought a 3 day weekend ticket for around half the official price. On ViaGoGo you can also get single-day ticketss which are cheaper and allow you to try different grandstands on different days.
ViaGoGo is a great option if tickets are sold out elsewhere, which happened pretty quickly with this Grand Prix. They’ll usually have tickets for sale right up until the start of the Sunday of the race weekend. I used ViaGoGo for this trip, and I’ve used them my other recent F1 trips to the British and Canadian GPs, and will do so again next time.
Plus they have a ‘FanProtect’ policy to protect your tickets and money, which gave me extra peace of mind when booking with them.
Grandstand details
TV Screens
There’s one big TV screen visible from this stand, right across the other side of the track. The more central you sit (left to right) in the stand then the more directly opposite the screen you will be.
Seats
The seats are plastic chairs.
Cover
This grandstand is completely uncovered so you’ll exposed to the blazing hot Spanish sunshine all day long. It’s South-West facing, so the sun will be in your face for most of the day.
It was too hot to be honest, in between F1 sessions I had to go and find shade in the fan zone to cool off, as did almost everyone else.
Grandstand GC02 seating chart
Below is the seating chart for Grandstand GC02 at the Madring F1 circuit.
As you can see the grandstand is 23 rows high. Row 1 is the front row lowest down, Row 23 is the highest at the back.
Seat numbers increase from left to right (if you are stood on the circuit looking up at the stand).
View
On the circuit map below I’ve highlighted the parts of the track you can see from this stand in green:
As the map shows, all you can see from here is the F1 cars going full throttle along the straight between Turns 3 and 4. You can’t see the Turn 3 exit and nor can you see the entry to Turn 4.
To be honest it’s quite a limited view. Even when the cars are right in front of you it’s difficult to see them because the safety fencing is quite obstructive. Thank goodness the big TV is easy to read.
In the video below I’ve filmed the view from a number of different seats to give you an idea of what you can and can’t see from here. The clips in this video were filmed from the following seats:
- Row 23 Seat 1
- Row 22 Seat 18
- Row 4 Seat 50
- Row 18 Seat 70
- Row 20 Seat 100
- Row 8 Seat 115
- Row 10 Seat 180
- Row 15 Seat 221
- Row 23 Seat 225
Best seats
It doesn’t really make a huge difference where you sit because how much of the track you can see stays the same regardless. For me though, the best seats were those directly in front of the TV screen in the higher rows. I’d aim for seats 60 – 90 in rows 15 and up for the ultimate TV view.
Accommodation
Here are some accommodation options near the Madring circuit during the F1 weekend:
