I have to say not enough money is spent on the majority of fans. Its great if you are in the paddock and people assume you are 'somebody', but the fans who have paid close to £200 to camp and get into the perimeter of the circuit, the organiser couldn't care less.
Hard to argue with this. It seems that the trend in the past 10 or so years has been for spectators to get 'less bang for their buck' despite ticket prices increasing (cheers Bernie). From speaking to long-time racegoers at various venues, common complaints include a significant reduction in the number of General Admission vantage points (as in Montreal) and ever-decreasing numbers of support races (which I think applies to a few GP venues).
However, I'm still willing to pay what they charge (for now). I've had some of the best days of my life on my F1 holidays. Spend a week in a vibrant city (such as Melbourne, Singapore etc) with the lads, doing the touristy stuff before the action starts, having a great time at the track and then hitting the bars/clubs at night. Love it!
It's a great circuit, well-situated...last year I ran out of credit on my phone (before I set up the automatic thingy), got a pass-out of Gate 1, stepped on a tram, five minutes later, walked into the newsagent at Southern Cross Station, bought credit, walked out, stepped on a tram, and five minutes later was back at the track...on Race Day, I might add. Every day we walked to the track from where we were staying - a nice, leisurely walk. Brilliant.
Yes, the Aussie GP is a superbly-run event. It's so simple to get around. Great fun. The organisers actually make an effort to entertain the crowd - on and off-track. Silverstone, for example, was nowhere near as enjoyable - it was good, but not great. Almost everyone I have spoken to who has attended both events agrees that the Aussie GP weekend is streets ahead of Silverstone. I'd like to hear from other forummers who have been to both events and find out what their impressions were.
Much happier that my 'home' race is now at Albert Park! I wonder if many people in the UK have been put off attending other F1 races due to a previous bad experience at Silverstone...
Having said that, I'll probably be at Silverstone this year as I'm in the UK for a wedding that week...
Very keen to do canadian GP holiday.
Do it - you'll have an incredible time. There's a reason why it's one of the few races to sell out and why the drivers/teams love going there.
If you go once, you'll want to return every year!