If you’re heading to Silverstone for the F1 or another big event like the MotoGP there are a lot of different parking options to choose from. These include the official Silverstone parking areas near the circuit, the Silverstone park and ride service, and a number of private car parks near to the circuit.
This article provides a complete guide to all of the Silverstone parking options.
Contents
is there free parking at Silverstone?
There is no free parking at Silverstone for the F1 or MotoGP, unless you are arriving on a motorbike.
For all other events including the BTCC, Silverstone Festival (Classic) and club events, parking at Silverstone circuit is free.
official Silverstone parking
For the F1 and Moto GP there are two parking options you can choose when purchasing your expensive tickets online.
- Silverstone car park 1: this refers to parking in one of the numerous official on-site car parks around Silverstone circuit.
- Silverstone car park 2: this is the Silverstone park and ride option, from one of a number of different locations near both the M1 and M40 motorways.
Both of these are a little misleading as it makes it sounds like there’s only two car parks, but that’s not the case. Full details are below.
Silverstone on-site parking (car park 1)
When you book your tickets through the Silverstone website you can add the car park 1 option which is parking at one of the on-site Silverstone car parks.
This won’t actually be car park 1, it will be one of the many numbered parking areas around the circuit. The furthest of these is about a 20 minute walk from the nearest spectator entrance gate.
The Silverstone car parks map below shows the different car park numbers around the outside of the circuit.
You must pre-book this parking option before you arrive at the circuit. When you do so you will be asked whether you are arriving from the M40 or M1 direction, this is purely for Silverstone’s information in trying to manage traffic flow. You can arrive from either direction on the day.
You will not be able to choose which of the car parks around the circuit you end up in. This will depend entirely on where you are directed to by the parking marshals.
The Silverstone car parks are open 30 minutes prior to the spectator entrance gate opening times. Overnight parking is not allowed.
Silverstone F1 on-site car parking cost:
- Friday: £30
- Saturday: £45
- Sunday: £60
- 3-day weekend: £75
Silverstone MotoGP on-site car parking cost:
- Friday: £5
- Saturday: £10
- Sunday: £15
- 3-day weekend: £20
There are much cheaper parking options near the circuit from some of the private car parks. See the sections lower down this article for more info.
Motorbikes can always park for free at Silverstone and do not need to display a parking permit.
Also remember that parking in these sites close to the circuit means you will encounter much more traffic both on arriving at the circuit and leaving at the end of the day. Queues of up to 3 hours are not unheard of for cars trying to leave the Silverstone parking areas after the F1 or MotoGP.
Read our article on getting to Silverstone by car for more information on avoiding the traffic and the one-way systems in place.
Silverstone park and ride (car park 2)
There are four locations that have been used in previous years for the park and ride car parks to get to Silverstone for the F1. Two for people arriving on the M40 and two for those coming from the M1.
Silverstone M40 park and ride locations:
- Hinton-in-the-hedges airfield
- Turweston aerodrome
Silverstone M1 park and ride locations:
- Sixfields Stadium – Northampton Town FC stadium
- Towcester racecourse
You need to book the Silverstone park and ride service in advance by adding Car Park 2 as an extra when purchasing your general admission tickets.
When you do so you’ll be asked if you’re coming from the M40 or M1, and will be assigned one of the parking areas accordingly. (this will be confirmed when you receive your ticket details). That is the car park you will need to park in on the day.
The park and ride at Silverstone usually starts at 6am on the Friday and Saturday, and 5am on the Sunday of the F1 race weekend.
See this link for the 2023 Silverstone Park and Ride timetable:
| Car park to circuit | First bus | Last bus | Circuit to car park | First bus | Last bus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | 06:00 | 12:30 | Friday | 15:00 | 22:45 |
| Saturday | 06:00 | 12:30 | Saturday | 16:00 | 22:45 |
| Sunday | 05:00 | 13:00 | Sunday | 16:00 | 22:45 |
The timings do differ slightly depending on which of the park and ride car parks you are coming from / going to:
The drop-off point for the Silverstone park and ride buses are in coach park 22 near to Woodcote corner, where the other public transport buses will also arrive. This is only a couple of minutes’ walk from the main entrance.
Silverstone park and ride prices for the F1:
- Friday: £20
- Saturday: £30
- Sunday: £40
- 3-day weekend: £60
As well as being cheaper (the prices above are per vehicle), using the Silverstone park and ride service means you don’t clog up the roads around the circuit with another car. Whilst it’s still likely your bus will be sat in some traffic at peak times, at least you’re not the one driving.
parking near Silverstone circuit
There are a number of private or family run car parks near Silverstone circuit which offer cheaper parking for F1 and MotoGP:
- Silverstone schools charity parking
- Dadford Road parking (managed by Parkers Car Parks and Parking Silverstone)
- Windmill Farm parking
- West End Paddocks parking
- P1 parking
- Silverstone GP parking
- Apex Grand Prix Parking
- Podium Parking
Below is a map showing the location of each of these private car parks around the circuit. There are four different locations for the Silverstone schools parking.
Silverstone schools charity parking
- Website link
- Sunday F1 parking price: From £22
- MotoGP parking: No
These are 4 separate volunteer run car parks for the F1 dotted around Silverstone village. All proceeds from these car parks go to the local schools and youth projects, so do something good with your parking fee and chose one of these instead.
Being located around Silverstone village to the North of the circuit it can be a 25 minute walk to the main entrance, but it means you stand a better chance of escaping the worst of the traffic chaos around the circuit at the end of the day.
See the comment from Mark at the bottom of this page for more info on avoiding the traffic from here.
Dadford Road parking
- Website link
- Sunday F1 parking price: £20
- MotoGP parking: Yes
Just to the south of the circuit is Dadford Road parking at Silverstone. This is a big site with lots of parking spaces.
Some of the closest ones are only a 10 minute walk from the circuit but if you get there a little later on a busy race day you can end up having to park much further away and walking for over 45 minutes.
Being to the South of the circuit this is good if you’re viewing from one of the southern grandstands – Club, Vale, Stowe etc and you can use entrance gate 15 to get in.
Their car park is also run by Parkers Car Parks and Parking Silverstone and bookings can made through each of those through their websites here and here.
Windmill Farm parking
- Website link
- Sunday F1 parking price: £20
- MotoGP parking: Yes
Located only a short walk north of the circuit, Windmill Farm has lots of parking available. You do not need to book in advance, you can just turn up and pay on the day.
West End Paddocks parking
- Link to website
- Sunday F1 parking price: £30
- MotoGP parking: No
Only a 15 minute walk to the main entrance and situated just across the A43. Parking needs to be pre-booked online.
P1 Parking at Silverstone
- Link to website
- Weekend F1 parking price: £75
- MotoGP parking: No
P1 parking at Silverstone only offers a full weekend parking pass for the F1 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).
Silverstone GP parking
- Link to website
- Sunday F1 parking price: £40
- MotoGP parking: Yes
Apex Grand Prix Parking
- Link to website
- Sunday F1 parking price: £40
- MotoGP parking: No
Located near Silverstone village the parking is a 10 to 15 minute walk from Gate 1. They have two different parking sites available.
Podium Parking
- Link to website
- Weekend parking price: £60
- MotoGP parking: No
Located in Silverstone village, 10 to 15 minute walk from Copse corner. Book in advance, pay on the first day of parking. Cash preferred (dodgy signal for card machines).
driveway parking near Silverstone
During the big events local residents rent out their driveways or land for parking. Justpark is a great place to look for these options which are usually pretty cheap.
Below is the availability in Silverstone Village at the time of publishing this article, for the Sunday of the F1 weekend.
Silverstone disabled parking
There is a disabled parking area at Silverstone for blue badge holders located in car park 50 for the F1, directly outside the main entrance.
Blue badge holders still have to purchase Car Park 1 tickets and then email Silverstone a copy of their blue badge. They will then send you a disabled parking pass to be displayed during the event.
what happens if you forget to book parking at Silverstone?
If you forget to book parking at Silverstone you can log back in to your account on the Silverstone website and add parking as an extra item to purchase. This is for the big events where parking needs to be purchased.
If it’s too late for that, you should try one of the private car parks near Silverstone listed above. A number of these such as Windmill Farm and Podium parking usually have spaces available on the day.
Silverstone motorhome and caravan parking
The official Silverstone car parks and the nearby private car parks forbid you from sleeping in your vehicle overnight whilst it’s in the car park. If you want to do that in your motorhome, campervan or caravan at you will need to look at one of the options for camping at Silverstone.
If you are just looking for parking for your motorhome or campervan, if it is a normal sized vehicle then any of the above options would be fine. If it’s a large van get in touch with the parking provider in advance to confirm its suitability and whether there’s any additional cost.
Silverstone Paddock Club parking
There is reserved parking available for VIP guests who have Paddock Club passes, right next to The Wing building. See our article on Silverstone Paddock Club for more info and directions.
what time to arrive?
See the full Silverstone F1 schedule for the timings of all events across the three day weekend.
Check out our Silverstone general admission tips for an idea of how early you need to get to the circuit if you want to try and get a good spot to watch from on race day.
Thanks for the great content. Got my parking sorted.
Great, hope you have a good day! Feel free to report back here with any feedback on the parking situation afterwards.
Worth mentioning that if you’re at Silverstone Schools parking and need to head north or north-west from the track, you can travel on pretty quiet minor roads morning and evening, even on the Sunday after the race.
Check the local maps before you do so, since you don’t want to get funnelled into the traffic management system eg to the A43, where you’ll sit for hours. Some satnavs will try to route you that way. Be prepared to speak to police or marshals, and have some evidence of where you need to travel to available since they may try to channel you according to the traffic management system as well.
I stay with a friend who lives near Blakesley in that area, and this has worked several times for me.
Great info thanks Mark, I’ve added a note on the page above to direct people to your comment.
I see that some parking places (like Apex Grand Prix Parking) are very close to the A43. I’m wondering if the traffic jams in the morning also cause delays for these locations, or that the queues are only at the official parking sites.
Sorry, not been before but if I do 3 Day ticket parking. Can I get my car out at the end of each day and return the next?
Hi, yep you can leave at the end of each day and return the next!