I have been to Spa, Monza and Montreal and have to say that the organisation at all these Grand prix was dreadful. The recent Grapevine article in Atlas outlines just some of the headaches at Spa last weekend .... seems nothing has changed. It is a really strong article that gives a real insight into the hassles and cons at some Grand Prix. I remember turing up at Spa (from 20,000 KM away) for the lady at the desk to say that "Someone has taken your ticket already" .. needless to say i flipped and we eventually got in ..... but how could someone sign for my ticket??????? Read the article, excellent stuff.
I wonder what will happen to TV coverage if there is no one left in the grandstand ... it's going to look pretty bad for Bernie and Co.
Full Version: Grapevine: Poor organisation at races
makes you wonder why bernie makes such a fuss over silverstone which, despite being a little on the old-fashioned side, has become much more functional in the last couple of years
spot on alfisti. melbourne is how they should all be organised, including the variety and number of support races.
a major example of something that could be significantly improved without needing fia and teams etc to agree. another example where the idea that f1 is fatally flawed could so easily and cheaply be countered.
somehow the actual quality and value for the attending fan is completely ignored. I went to a european gp and was frankly appalled at the little racing on show for 3 days. but heh the attitude obviously exists from many quarters that fans attending are the dumb schmos who'll go to any olod thing and accept being charged any old price. the increasing reality judged by our sets is that this is dimishing rahter rapidly.
the pandering to the corporate client at the expense of the true fan is a scandal not unique to f1. heh go to a world cup rugby match and laugh at how much you've just been ripped off, ditto the olympics.
a major example of something that could be significantly improved without needing fia and teams etc to agree. another example where the idea that f1 is fatally flawed could so easily and cheaply be countered.
somehow the actual quality and value for the attending fan is completely ignored. I went to a european gp and was frankly appalled at the little racing on show for 3 days. but heh the attitude obviously exists from many quarters that fans attending are the dumb schmos who'll go to any olod thing and accept being charged any old price. the increasing reality judged by our sets is that this is dimishing rahter rapidly.
the pandering to the corporate client at the expense of the true fan is a scandal not unique to f1. heh go to a world cup rugby match and laugh at how much you've just been ripped off, ditto the olympics.
maybe they don´t really know what they are selling.
or they know and just don´t tell the person who buys it
or they know and just don´t tell the person who buys it
Having been to the British gp this year, the European GP in 02, I can give a comparison of them both.
Well the British GP did seem very well organized, except for the headless chickin, couldn't give a damn car park attendants. Friday was the worst day for getting in while Saturday and Sunday where flawless, no queuing for parking either. After the event on each day we got away without any problems and where always back in Oxford (where I was staying at a friends) within an hour.
For the European GP well we camped there so travelling to and from the track was not the biggest of issues as we walked. But on leaving day, oh nightmare. the park we where in they would not let traffic out as it had been decided that they would use the road going through it to let the VIP guests get to their helicopters. Told us it was a 2 hour wait before we could leave.
Lucky enough being at the bottom of the field a convoy of us in Dutch plated cars (our rental car being a scarlet red Fiat punto with bridgestones!!!
) decided to just follow the VIP's and the road went through the forest area surrounding with narrow tracks and small bridges barley enough for the punto to even fit over, but it eventually let to an opening to the main road further down. Now the traffic at this point was pretty rotten, 30 miles pretty much from nurburg nearly all the way to the autobahn, so that was about 2 hours getting through that.
As for things to do, Silverstone had the upperhand, what with the Jordan village providing evenings entertainment, the theme park and also the after race concert, although nurburgring had that his year that wasn't there in 02, there wasn't much of anything in 02 except the team sales vendors, bratwurst sellers and a mobile bar.
Oh yeah the seating for silver tickets at nurburg ring entitles you a guarantied sitting area, on a slab of concrete, identical to the bronze ticket area at luffields at Silverstone, So rawhide and being burnt to a crisp in a concrete oven was the result there.
Well the British GP did seem very well organized, except for the headless chickin, couldn't give a damn car park attendants. Friday was the worst day for getting in while Saturday and Sunday where flawless, no queuing for parking either. After the event on each day we got away without any problems and where always back in Oxford (where I was staying at a friends) within an hour.
For the European GP well we camped there so travelling to and from the track was not the biggest of issues as we walked. But on leaving day, oh nightmare. the park we where in they would not let traffic out as it had been decided that they would use the road going through it to let the VIP guests get to their helicopters. Told us it was a 2 hour wait before we could leave.
Lucky enough being at the bottom of the field a convoy of us in Dutch plated cars (our rental car being a scarlet red Fiat punto with bridgestones!!!
) decided to just follow the VIP's and the road went through the forest area surrounding with narrow tracks and small bridges barley enough for the punto to even fit over, but it eventually let to an opening to the main road further down. Now the traffic at this point was pretty rotten, 30 miles pretty much from nurburg nearly all the way to the autobahn, so that was about 2 hours getting through that.
As for things to do, Silverstone had the upperhand, what with the Jordan village providing evenings entertainment, the theme park and also the after race concert, although nurburgring had that his year that wasn't there in 02, there wasn't much of anything in 02 except the team sales vendors, bratwurst sellers and a mobile bar.
Oh yeah the seating for silver tickets at nurburg ring entitles you a guarantied sitting area, on a slab of concrete, identical to the bronze ticket area at luffields at Silverstone, So rawhide and being burnt to a crisp in a concrete oven was the result there.
I have been to Montreal over ten times and the only real complaint some years ago was the pedestrian traffic getting from the subway to the track was abysmal. That has changed now and it takes much less time. The grandstand seats have been reserved all weekend and strictly enforced for some time now, and the track organization is very good. The USGP is well organized, but not on par with Montreal. As for the events that happened at Spa, I can't imagine Bernie will put up with that crap. I'm surprised there weren't riots and fights with the fans and staff. Formula One can't tolerate that shit, I don't care if it's Spa, paying fans can't be treated like idiots. 
Shueyfan, Bernie doesn't seem to say anything derogatory about any of the tracks and faciklities other than those at Silverstone. So I'm sure that Bernie is more than happy to ignore the Belgians particular brand of crap.
I've visited quit some races by now.
1. Nürburgring 1997: Organisation was pretty good. But the view from the grandstand wasn't that good. It was quit a distance
2. Barcelona 1998. Perfect facilities everywhere and a perfect view from the grandstand.
3. Magny Course 1999. Also perfect facilities. And a great view
4. Zandvoort 1999 (Marlboro Masters) Great track, but to not enough grandstands. Sitting in the dunes all day is not my idea of a nice afternoon. The trip to Zandvoort is almost impossible to make. All the roads are blocked on raceday and the trains are completly full
5. Monaco 2000 and 2002. Everything is perfectly organised here. It's great to see how they can put thousands of people in no time on the train to Italy or Nice
6. Silverstone 2001. The roads were blocked on sundaymorning. But on the track is was perfect. Great view on all the stands. You could sit on every stand on friday. It didn't madder what ticket you had.
7. Monza 2003. Great atmosphere. Good facilities for the fans. Lots of toilets everywhere. There was one strange thing. After the race the send all the spectators, that where on the inside of the track, through one small tunnel. Which caused quit a delay
8. Spa Francorchamps 2004. A horrible weekend. A very bad view from the most expensive stand of the track, because of a VIP-building. Terrible facilities for the spectators, very few toilets and alot of mud
1. Nürburgring 1997: Organisation was pretty good. But the view from the grandstand wasn't that good. It was quit a distance
2. Barcelona 1998. Perfect facilities everywhere and a perfect view from the grandstand.
3. Magny Course 1999. Also perfect facilities. And a great view
4. Zandvoort 1999 (Marlboro Masters) Great track, but to not enough grandstands. Sitting in the dunes all day is not my idea of a nice afternoon. The trip to Zandvoort is almost impossible to make. All the roads are blocked on raceday and the trains are completly full
5. Monaco 2000 and 2002. Everything is perfectly organised here. It's great to see how they can put thousands of people in no time on the train to Italy or Nice
6. Silverstone 2001. The roads were blocked on sundaymorning. But on the track is was perfect. Great view on all the stands. You could sit on every stand on friday. It didn't madder what ticket you had.
7. Monza 2003. Great atmosphere. Good facilities for the fans. Lots of toilets everywhere. There was one strange thing. After the race the send all the spectators, that where on the inside of the track, through one small tunnel. Which caused quit a delay
8. Spa Francorchamps 2004. A horrible weekend. A very bad view from the most expensive stand of the track, because of a VIP-building. Terrible facilities for the spectators, very few toilets and alot of mud
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