The View grandstand at Silverstone is right at the start of the lap on the Grand Prix circuit. It looks directly 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 your view coverage, where the nearest big TV screens are 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, as we look at it in the image below. The left hand section is a 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. Just after the lights went green contact between Pierre Gasly and George Russell made George’s front wheel clip the back of Guanyu’s car. This immediately flipped Zhou upside-down and he skidded down the rest of the straight on his halo, at high speed, before tumbling through the gravel trap on the outside of Abbey. He 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.
how much of the track can you see from here?
The main parts of the Silverstone circuit that you can see from The View grandstand are the Hamilton Straight, Abbey Corner and Farm Curve.
As The View is positioned further to the left of the whole grandstand (as we look at the track) it means that you can’t quite see the whole way down the Hamilton Straight. You can see the start / finish line but not necessarily the exit of the final corner, Club.
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, as in the two images above, your view of the straight will be more limited but you will have a better vantage point of the cars as they go around Farm.
The Silverstone Website suggests that you can also see over the fence to Maggots and Becketts but I’m not convinced you can. I think the grandstand is too low and positioned wrong for this, so I wouldn’t book these seats if you are counting on seeing those bits of the track too. Go and book in the Becketts or Chapel grandstands instead. Drop a comment below if you know any different.
The image below shows the sections of the track that can be seen from The View grandstand highlighted in pink.
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.
is The View a good place to sit?
If you want to see the F1 cars or MotoGP bikes start the race and head to the first corner then The View is a great place to sit. You will be front-row for any first corner action that takes place here. For the Formula One it’s also a good place to see the speed of the cars, as Abbey is flat-out in the dry and you can see their downforce in action.
The total view coverage is a little limited compared to some other grandstands. Apart from the straight, Abbey and Farm curve there’s not a lot else to see. You can see the pitlane, but the pit boxes are potentially a little obscured so you’ll have limited visibility of any pitstop action. The podium is only a short walk back down the Hamilton Straight at the end of the race.
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 Entertainment Village, Main Stage, Concert Zone and F1 Fan Zone. So it’s a great place to easily make sure the whole family is entertained all weekend.
If you’re camping at Silverstone the sites nearest the main entrance will give the shortest walk to The View.
This section of track is only used on the Grand Prix layout. It is not used on the National layout which is used by series such as the BTCC and other, smaller club events.
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 as you look back down the Hamilton screen. This is visible from all seats in The View.
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 viewed from the track) to 57 (on the right of the grandstand).
nearest 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.
nearest car park
The best car parks to use are the ones closest to the main entrance. This would be 49, 50, and the three across the main road 43, 44 and 45.
