Hi there,

I've been to Monza the past couple of years but have never made it down to the entry of Paribolica or on the inside of the corner.

We're going General Admission again this year, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the view of the Paribolica is like from GA?

Trying to save disappointment, and a rather long walk!

Cheers!

Never been to Monza, so can't answer the question.. but we're also off to Monza on GA tickets.. perhaps we should try organise a meeting point for those who frequent the forums.. What you think?

I'm also going to Monza, but I have seats in Alta Velocita which is at the end of the starting straight. Should provide a lot of action

For sure, let me know where.

I've been to Monza twice and it is totally awesome.

I've left some tips for first time visitors further down this thread.

We went to Monza in 1971, 1986, 1987 and 1997 and were at the Parabolica GA each time, at the exit onto the pit straight first year and at the end of the back straight/entrance for the other years. GA has rows of concrete seating at these points but it's a bit of a squeeze due to numbers. However, the Italians are a friendly crowd and took our two young children into the front row with them in 1997 so that they could see. Just get there as early as you can and stake a claim. Also in 1997, they had a free park & ride from a local football stadium which worked really well. I think there are a number of them and they're signed from all the approaches - we were coming from Lake Garda. As a gauge of the atmosphere, I'm sure that the temperature rose by 10 degrees in the last ten minutes before the start. You'll love it.

Thanks Longhorn!

I think I'll head for the Paribolica during qualifying and perhaps head back into the woods up by the Lesmo for the race.

I love Monza, sport doesn't get any better!

I went to Monza in 05', and again last year.. I watched the race last year on the outside of Parabolica, there is a screen opposite, you can see the much more of the preceeding straight, and you get a much better view of the drivers taking diff lines into Parabolica throughout the race..

Cheers Sith!

Great idea! I'm off to Monza for the first time this year; I'm just going on my own (I booked the ticket on a whim when I thought Schumacher was returning!) so would be good to meet a few people.

I'm sitting on the entry to the Parabolica I think, wishing I'd gone GA now though as everyone says that's the best way to do Monza.

Hah! That's exactly what I did, as soon as it looked like Schumi might come back, I booked a weekend ticket in GA. Only £12 for a return flight as well, so why the hell not! Sadly also going by myself, but what the hell, I'm sure it'll be awesome anyway!

Is everyone just going for the Sunday, or are any of you planning on seeing practice or quali? My flight gets in Thursday afternoon, so I'll be watching as much of the practice and qualifying as I can. Also, what is everyone doing about accommodation? I'm staying in Milan on the Thursday, but plan on camping at the GP Village at the circuit for the rest of the time. Anyone else camping?

I've got a 3-day ticket, but am flying in after work on Friday then going to the Saturday and Sunday sessions. I'm staying in a hostel in Milan for the three nights.

Fancy some beers at some point??

Ah, cool. what hostel you in? I'm staying at Central Station Hostel on the Thursday. I did look but they were all about €50 per night on friday and saturday, so I thought I'd better camp! might end up booking one Sunday night though, if I can't camp.

Could definitely do with meeting up for a few beers though. Funnily enough I think you replied to one of my threads on facebook last week. Either that or there's another guy called Kristian that booked for the same reason as you.

I just gotta ask: how did you get flights for 12 quid?

I really have no idea, RyanAir just seem to keep getting cheaper and cheaper. In fact it would have been £2 return if I had paid with a RyanAir credit Card. The extra £10 was for paying with a debit card. My previous best was a £11 one way flight from Malaga.

I'm staying in a new one just out of the centre called Misterbeem. Seems quite nice and I got it for 20 euros a night.

That was probably me indeed, I did the rounds on the groups seeing if anybody was going - I tend to go to races by myself as none of my mates are into F1 so I ususally try to find people to meet up with! I'll send you a PM with my mobile number and e-mail later in the week.

As for flights, I'm paying more as I'm going out on Friday (£40) but my return is £1. Ryanair are great if you know how to play their system - i.e. travel very light and uncheck all the boxes on the booking!

Ah man i need to use Ryanair form now on

Let us know how your weekend goes, im going to the Italian Grand Prix (changed from Belgium after Reading Potmotr's posts ) next year and need all the advice i can get.

NEVER fly Ryan Air anywhere.

They are the nastiest airline in the universe!

Do a search on Monza and my user name, I wrote a big essay on my first trip.

Yes they are pretty nasty, but if I'm getting a flight to another country for £1 I'm not going to complain too much. I pay more for the local bus and that's an even nastier experience...

Thankfully I've flown with them five times so far, and they've always been pretty good. But I am always prepared for the worst! Also, potmotr, you've camped before right? Can you camp Sunday night by the Lesmo campite, or will I need to book into a hostel/hotel/sleep at the airport?

And I know how you feel Kristian, none of my mates would ever go to a GP, and I've been watching F1 for 13 years, so I finally thought screw it, let's take the plunge and go on my own!

Yep, that camp is open on the Sunday night I think.

Though the year I camped (2007) I grabbed a hotel in Milan for the Sunday night so I could get my flight in the morning.

The difficulty I was try to avoid is trying to get out of Monza to Milan then from Milan to the airport on the Monday.

There's a train which leaves from right beside the Lesmo camping ground, but I don't think it runs very regularly.

But I'd recommend camping at the Lesmo site, it is awesome.

Make sure you take ear defenders if you want to sleep though!

The Dutch and Germans bring pretty massive party rigs with them and they're very noisy.

Here is a picture of the camp ground, with my awesome camoflague tent in the foreground. The trees on the right of this photo are right beside the track, so you're very close. You can be from your tent to the track in two minutes. No exaggeration.



A few shots of Monza 08...









And a few of Monza 2007



















Honestly, it is a great experience. Italy in the late summer sun watching F1 is so right!

I've been looking at the maps of the circuit, and it seems to me that Ascari is probably going to be the most "convenient" for all - those at the Lesmo's and those at Parabolica are equally far apart from Ascari... There is apparently a place to eat/drink close to the Ascari chicane.. This seems like the best place to organise a meeting..

As for a day/time - I'm open to suggestions...

Can't believe we leave tomorrow AM!!! WOOOOO!!!

Awesome photos potmotr!

Is anyone camping this year? Wouldn't mind finding some english speakers to camp near. I'm sure the Italians are fun, but the language barrier could be a problem.

I agree - brilliant photos!

Is the banking really easy to get to? Since I saw Grand Prix when I was a nipper I've always wanted to make a pilgrimage there.

Work is going soooo slowly this week.

rdebourbon - sounds like a good idea to meet at Ascard, though I guess it will be very crowded. Any suggestions for day, time, etc.? Saturday after quali could be good I think?

We are camping.. but not quite sure where yet at this stage.. we tried to book a campsite in the F1 Village and along the main straight and were told it was on a first come first serve basis...

As for meeting up.. I would say that Saturday after Quali probably suits most - but speaking for my group - thats the time we are most likely going to be heading to Maranello for a visit to the Galleria... Other options really are Friday after FP, or Sunday after the race.. Not sure how many people would be keen to give up their spots prior to the race/quali ;-)

There are heaps of english speakers around when you camp.

The Dutch and Swedes speak English like it's there mother tongue and the Germans do a pretty good job too.

Be prepared to party!

Sadly not.

The two guys you can see in that photo are security guards.

What you can't see is their big dog!

As soon as I jumped down onto the banking they shouted at me with their hound barking.

I had to beat a hasty retreat, but at least can say I stood on it!

Then again, a mate of mine went one other time and was totally sweet.

To find the banking walked between the Curva del Serraglio and Variante Ascari.

You'll come to a bridge with a massive Martini sign on it. This is where the cars race through a small tunnel.

The Martini bridge is the point where the old banking crosses the new track.

There is a pedestrian tunnel under the old banking.

On the Variante Ascari side of this, head up into the bushes and climb a bank.

Voila, the banking will be before you!

Here's where I mean...



Here is the Martini bridge I'm talking about. Notice the Honda emerging from the tunnel! At the top of shot you can see the concrete of the banking above the sign.

Cheers for that mate, I'll work on some italian charm phrases and see if I can blag a way past them then hehe.

Wear red and wave your hands around a lot when you talk and you'll no doubt be fine!

But look out for the Carabinieri, the Italian national police.

They're mean bastards!

I have watched (not a grand prix) from the old circuit where the Martini ads are. I doubt you can get up there on a GP weekend tho.

Im gonna thank you in advance Potmotr. Im not going to Monza till next year but i reckon you've pretty much planned me trip , all this advice is just what i need cos planning and organising stuff is not my strong point

No worries at all man.

Another thing to know is that there are trains running direct from the main train station in Milan and back.

Get there early to get a good spot on the platform.

Tickets are dirt cheap and theoretically necessary but once you're on there's no way they can ticket check a train rammed with Grand Prix fans.

The train stops just by the Lesmos, exactly where the camping ground we've spoken about is.

This is all great advice man thanks
All i gotta do is print out your posts so i dont forget (whihc i would) and im as good as in Monza

Tell us your impressions when you're back home.... I'd like to go there next year

Hi there, back from Monza, was a great time. I'll post pictures tonight.

Looking forward to seeing them.

Got back from our road trip last night... Had a great trip to Monza. Camping was a "breeze" - crowds were friendly and excitable.. Facilities at the campsite closest to main straight were a lot better than the porta-loos at the Silverstone campsite we used. Staff were really helpful despite language barriers. The only "problem" we had was finding ice for the cooler box - this proved to be close to impossible - but as we have since found out thats normal for Italy - we did however, eventually find a friendly supermarket manager who went above and beyond and gave us some ice from their freezers...

Finding a viewing point was a LOT easier on a General Admission ticket than at Silverstone. You can watch from pretty much anywhere along the fence - as long as it not part of the fenced off Grandstand areas.. So there is a LOT of places to watch the race from. The areas with a view of the TV screens naturally got a lot more crowded - but there were loads of good vantage points that were still accessible on the Sunday morning.. As well, unlike Silverstone - where we were queueing at 4:30am at the gates with our chairs - when we saw the tifosi preparing to sleep trackside, we decided to "chance it" on the Sunday morning with a good shady spot we found on Saturday - only to find our spot open and available a couple of hours before the race..

Had a blast - would definately recommend to any F1 fan and will definately do it again!

I went to Monza as well this year, really enjoyed it overall, but I must say that I was a bit disappointed with the facilities at the circuit for spectators... those at Silverstone are definitely superior in my opinion. Toilet wise it was a choice of ramshackle old toilet blocks or portaloos, no decent modern toilets. Also food options were poor I thought, when I last went to the GP at Silverstone (2007) and I'm sure I remember a wider selection of food on offer. Overall though it didn't lessen the enjoyment of the weekend!

Seat wise, for Qualy and the GP was in the Tribuna Laterale Destra grandstand on the main straight, was quite useful being in a covered grandstand when the heavens opened at the start of the GP2 race!!

A few of my pics from the weekend if anyone's interested















(more pics can be seen here)

It much easier to access the the banking at the other end near Parabolica. There's an overpass on the backstraight leading to Parabolica, keep walking along that road (away from the the track) It leads to the back straight of the oval.. Turn right, and that leads to turn 3 and 4 of the banking... I took pics there last year.. I must update the "Sith World Tour" thread..

Psymon, awesome pictures! If only mine were even slightly as good!

Sadly my little camera isn't much good at motorsport events.

Fits in my pocket which is handy, but that's about it.

For what it's worth..

Monza is quite rustic which is nice..


Self explanatory!


The run down to the Parabolica


Quick Nick in qualifying before breaking down. Good weekend for everyone's favourite German though...


Exit of Variante Ascari from general admission enclosure, a good spot for tall folk


Static McLaren in the Mercedes display. Must have filled with water during the Saturday afternoon downpour!


Pit straight. We snuck into this grandstand on Saturday afternoon...


Martini bridge. We watched the race from here..


Terrible shot of Rubens..


Terrible shot of Kimi...


'Art Shot' of a Brawn leaving the tunnel. ie: Didn't check shutter speed or any of that stuff!


Fluke of Quick Nick. This is at the exit to the tunnel so I had to listen to the engine note and guess when to hit the shutter!


Mrs Potmotr


James Allen


Lewis's motor


These guys put out


Entry to Ascari


Make mine a big Martini


Sign of the time..


Pit straight, post race

You do yourself down, you've got some good pictures there too

I did cherry pick some of the best ones to post here, and please bear in mind that from the weekend I had probably over 550 pics from the circuit to sort through so by the law of averages there had to be some good ones