I sat in the Vale Grandstand at last year’s F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This is a great spectating spot and one of the most popular place to watch the Formula 1 from.
To help you choose your seat tickets, this is my guide to spectating from the Vale stand. It includes my tips on the best seats, videos of the views from a number of diferent seats, a full seating plan, tickets and more.
Contents
Vale grandstand location
Vale corner is a left-right chicane near the end of the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit configuration.
It’s directly after the fast Stowe right hander. It is a very tight and slow chicane which leads on to the faster right hand corner of Club, before crossing the start / finish line on the following Hamilton Straight.
The Vale grandstand is on the outside (left-hand side) of the circuit, adjacent to the track just before the left hander of Vale. There’s a large grassy General Admission spectating area in front of the stand, so it’s set back a little way from the track.
Whether it’s the Formula One, F2, F3 or MotoGP, this spot is always a great place to see some overtaking. The heavy braking zone in to the first left hander of Vale always invites drivers to dive up the inside of their competitors. So you’ll definite be in for some action.
Plus there’s a big Fan Zone behind the Stowe stands just a short walk away, where there’s lots of food and drink options, plus toilets, water fill stations and more. Very convenient.
Vale grandstand tickets
Vale stand is incredibly popular so tickets usually sell out fast for the F1. If that’s the case but you still want to try and sit here, I’d suggest buying tickets through Viagogo or StubHub.
They always have lots of tickets for sale, including single-day options. Tickets can appear for sale on either site cheaper than list price in the run-up to the event.
I’ve used both sites for Formula 1 tickets lots of times over the last couple of years, including for the British GP this year. I’ve always had a great experience with them and will definitely use them again.
They also have a very good ‘FanProtect guarantee’ which means your tickets and money are well protected.
What's the view like?
The image below shows the areas of the track visible from this stand highlighted in pink:
As you sit in your stand, to your right you can see the cars as they apex and exit Stowe Corner. They will speed along from right to left in front of you as they hit the brakes for Vale.
You can see them through both the left and right sections of Vale, and will be able to follow them all the way around Club Corner as they enter the Hamilton Straight. The cars will go out of sight as they pass by the start of the pit wall and pitlane buildings. You also have a great view of the pitlane entry.
I filmed the video below to show the views from Vale. The clips in this video were taken from the following seat positions:
- Row U Seat 1 (back row furthest seat to the right)
- Row E Seat 110
- Row C Seat 206
- Row U Seat 297 (back row furthest seat to the left)
Best seats
Definitely aim for the highest seat numbers possible (further to the left as you sit in the stand and look at the strack). Aim for seats 250 and above and ideally in Rows M to U for a higher / better view.
The further left you are the better your view of the TV screen, pit entry, Vale and Club. And your view of Stowe is just as good. So everything gets better as you go to the left.
Avoid rows G – U in seats 1 – 30 as the big TV screen to the right of the stand will block your view of Stowe.
Is Vale a good place to sit?
At big events such as the F1 Vale always has a great atmosphere as there are so many spectators here.
The views gives you a range of experiences; firstly the F1 cars coming around Stowe at high speed with their downforce pinning them to the track is a sight to behold.
Secondly, Vale corner is one of the best overtaking corners at Silverstone, where the most overtaking moves are likely to happen. Perhaps the only other spot on the track that sees so much overtaking action is the tight right of Village corner.
As well as the on-track action, the podium is only just out of sight. If you wanted to see some celebrations at the end of the race it is only a very short walk to the Silverstone Wing building where the podium is located.
For those camping at Silverstone campsites such as the Golf Club, Woodlands and the Ridings are the shortest walk to Vale corner.
Is Vale grandstand covered?
Vale grandstand is not covered, it is completely open to the elements.
Are there big TV screens visible from here?
There are a couple of giant TV screens on the other side of the track that are visible from here. The first is as you look back towards Stowe on the inside of the circuit, but that’s pretty far away and only really visible to those on the right hand side of the stand (lowest seat numbers).
The second is as you look towards Vale on the inside of the track right at the turn in point. There were actually 2 separate screens here, but only the right hand of these was angled towards Vale. Bringing a pair of your finest binoculars is never a bad idea.
Additionally there is one extra screen just for the general admission spectators. If you’re in the grandstand you cannot see this as it’s pointing the other way, but it does get in the way of some of the seats. See the video and my seat recommendations above.
Vale grandstand seating plan
Below is the seating plan for Vale grandstand. Enter your name and email in the boxes below and the full hi-res plan will be sent straight to your inbox.
Vale is a one of the biggest grandstands at Silverstone. The rows go from A (front / lowest) to U (back / highest) and seat numbers run from 1 (closest to Stowe) to 297 (closest to Vale). There is no row I (eye).
Nearest spectator entrance
Entrance gate 15 is the closest to Vale, it is directly behind the grandstand and spectating area. Gate 10 (near Stowe) and gate 16 (near Abbey) are both only a short walk away too.
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
- The View grandstands
- Village grandstands
- Woodcote grandstands
Given a choice betwen Abbey, Vale, or Becketts, which grandstand would you chose?
Vale – likely to see some overtaking in to the club chicane.