I saw in The View Grandstand at last year’s British GP. It is right at the start of the lap on the Grand Prix circuit. It looks directly back down the Hamilton Straight, and is the very stand against which Zhou Guanyu’s car came to rest after his scary upside-down crash in the 2022 British Grand Prix.
This article provides all the details about spectating from here, including a grandstand seating plan, images and videos of the view from different seats , where the nearest big TV screens are, my tips on picking the best seats, tickets and more.
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Where is The View grandstand at Silverstone?
The View grandstand is on the outside of the track at Abbey corner, the first corner on the Grand Prix layout, at the end of the Hamilton Straight. It is positioned at 90 degrees to the straight, so it looks directly back down the track towards the start / finish line.
This whole grandstand is fairly large, but The View is only the right-hand section of it in th e turquoise rectangle, as we look at it in the image below. The left hand section is a BRDC members / media area so is not open to the public.
It is set back a little way from the track because of the large gravel trap that is on the outside of Abbey. The gravel trap is there to slow down any cars in case they go off track at the end of the fast straight.
This is exactly what happened to Zhou Guanya at the start of the 2022 British Grand Prix. He flipped upside down, launched over the tyre barrier and came to rest against the catch fencing right in front of The View grandstand.
Not only did the people in the grandstand have a scarily close encounter with his tumbling car, they also got a showering of gravel as his car careened towards them. A close call for everyone involved, but the high catch fencing did its job and Zhou walked away unscathed.
This grandstand is in a great spot to be able to easily explore some of the other attractions on offer. During the F1 weekend it’s only a very short walk from here to the F1 Fan Zone and main stages.
If you’re camping at Silverstone the sites nearest the main entrance will give the shortest walk to The View.
The View grandstand tickets
This is only a small stand so tickets often sell out fast for the British GP. If that’s the case but you still want to watch from here, I’d suggest buying tickets through Viagogo or StubHub.
They always have lots of tickets for sale, including single-day options. Often tickets will appear for sale on either site cheaper than list price in the run-up to the event.
I’ve used both platforms for Formula 1 tickets many times over the last couple of years, and bought my British GP tickets through them this year too. I’ve always had a great experience with them and will definitely use them again this season.
They also have a very good ‘FanProtect guarantee’ which means your tickets and money are very well protected.
Is The View grandstand covered?
The View grandstand at Silverstone is not covered, it is completely open to the elements.
Are there big TV screens visible from here?
There is one large TV screen just off to the right of the stand. This is visible from all seats in The View.
What's the view like from this Grandstand?
The image below shows the sections of the track that can be seen from The View grandstand highlighted in pink.
The main parts of the Silverstone circuit that you can see from The View grandstand are the Hamilton Straight, Abbey Corner and Farm Curve.
Watch my video below filmed at last year’s British GP from this grandstand to see how your view of the circuit changes depending on which seats you seat in.
The video shows your view from the following seats:
- Row R Seat 51
- Row O Seat 22
- Row R Seat 1
As the video shows, in the highest seat numbers (further to the right as you sit in the stand) you have an amazing view of the cars as they come towards you down the straight and take the flat-out right hander of Abbey. You can then see them as the track bends around Farm Curve to your left, before they disappear out of sight behind you.
If you are sat on the extreme left hand side of the stand in the lower seat numbers, you will lose sight of the start / finish straight. In fact, any seats numbers below about seat 45 will not have a view down the start / finish straight However, lower seat numbers mean you will have a better vantage point of the cars as they go around Farm.
As the video shows, if you sit in the extreme left hand seats (seat number 1 in any row) you have the benefit of being able to turn to your left to watch the cars for longer as they go around Farm and head to Village. You can’t see the apex of Village, however.
This video of Zhou’s crashed was filmed from The View, so it shows how much can be seen of the cars coming towards you (quite literally) as they head down Hamilton Straight and around Abbey corner.
Best seats in the View
If you’re sitting here you really want to see as much of the start / finish straight as possible, and to do that you need the highest seats numbers.
Ideally, aim for seat numbers 50 and above. The row you select isn’t too critical; even the front rows are quite high off the ground.
The View grandstand seating plan
Below is the seating plan for The View grandstand. Enter your name and email in the boxes below and the full hi-res plan will be sent straight to your inbox.
This is one of the smallest grandstands available to spectators so seats are pretty limited. The rows go from A (front / lowest) to T (back / highest) and the seat numbers go from 1 (on the left of the grandstand when seated in the stand) to 57 (on the right of the grandstand).
Seats 58 and up are the BRDC / Media seats, not available to the public.
Narest spectator entrance
The nearest entrance for spectators to this stand is gate 16. But the main entrance, gate 19, is also just a short walk away and entering there allows to you explore the entertainment and fan zones first before heading to your seat.
See our other article on all of Silverstone’s spectator entrance gates for more details, locations and a map.
Other Silverstone Grandstands
Check out my spectating guides for all other grandstands at Silverstone:
- Abbey grandstands
- Becketts grandstands
- Chapel grandstand
- Club corner grandstands
- Copse grandstands
- Farm Curve grandstands
- Hamilton Straight grandstands
- Luffield grandstands
- National Pit Straight grandstands
- Stirling grandstands
- Stowe grandstands
- Vale grandstands
- Village grandstands
- Woodcote grandstands
