Wow, what an event!  Our trip to the Belgian Grand Prix was something.  This one’s been on my bucket list for a long time, and you often hear that if you can only go to one race, the Belgian Grand Prix is the one you want.  Now I know why: beautiful surroundings, historic track, wonderful layout, great fans, fries & beer, and of course the racing…

Belgian Grand Prix – The Logistics

Getting to Belgium, down to the Spa Francorchamps area, and into the circuit were all easier than I expected.  Of course, coming from California, you can only make it so easy getting to Belgium, but one relatively short stop thru Atlanta on Delta was as straightforward as can be.  From Brussels Airport down to Francorchamps was a little over 1.5 hours drive in our rental Renault.  Because we confirmed this trip pretty late (didn’t get race tickets until less than two weeks before the race) we had to pick up our tickets at the main F1 Ticket Collection Point in Francorchamps instead of having them shipped, so we went there first late Thursday morning in case there were any hiccups.  There were none.  With less than two weeks to go, the only way to get other than General Admission tickets was thru a broker.  I was a bit nervous about dropping over $1000 for race tickets with a broker on the promise they’d be there at will call when I arrived.  After a little research, I chose to buy my tickets at Gootickets.com.  They seemed to be legitimate, AND they had the best seats at the best prices.

My nervousness was completely unfounded.  I called them twice, once before and once after I placed my order, and both times I reached very helpful, English-speaking ladies.  At the F1 Ticket collection point, Gootickets.com had their own desk, again staffed with helpful young ladies, and my ticket packet was complete, correct, and ready for pickup – two tickets in the Gold 3 covered grandstand at Eau Rouge.  I would not hesitate to buy from them again; Gootickets.com gets a big thumbs up from me.  Getting two tickets to the Belgium Grand Prix within two weeks of race day at one of the best grand stands and at a reasonable price was definitely a good score.  I also had ordered a three-day parking pass directly from the F1 site, and they also had everything ready for pickup (parking passes & maps) at the same place as my tickets.  Within 5 minutes, I’d found a place to ditch the car, run across the street pick up my tickets and parking passes, and get back to the car to find a cash machine a proper parking place.  Gootickets.com certainly helped make it easy: along with my ticket voucher, their site had explicit and simple directions to the collection point as well as pictures of the what the building looks like from the street.  So far so good for the Belgium Grand Prix.

Belgian Grand Prix – Friday Practice

Picking up the tickets and parking passes on Thursday was definitely the right call.  Traffic for the main exit (#10) to Francorchamps off the E42 even for Friday practice was really heavy with a long backup.  Who knows how hard it would have been to get to the ticket collection point on Friday.  Fortunately our parking passes allowed us to take a separate, seemingly temporary exit for those with ‘official’ parking passes.  We were directed along a couple of miles of narrow country roads, all moving one-way inbound toward the track.  Our lot (#15) was in a great location just northeast of La Source, and it was a short walk to the grandstand area outside the run down to Eau Rouge.  Moving around at the Belgium Grand Prix was quite easy, and there no frisking, metal detectors, or bag inspectors so common at US events.  Our tickets were quickly scanned at the entrance to the parking lot, and that was it.  We could have brought in a cooler of food and drinks, chairs, anything (if we had them) – and many people did.

We stopped for a bit to walk around the F1 Village behind the grandstand, and then we made our way to check out our seats overlooking Eau Rouge.  Here’s the view from our seats, about one-third from right to left as you sit and about halfway up:

Another thumbs up on our Belgium Grand Prix experience so far.  We’d get a great view of the run from La Source thru Eau Rouge, we’d stay dry if it rained, there was a refreshment stand within our private grandstand area, and we could see a big screen TV down the hill right in front of us.  While we were at the Gold 3 grandstand, I was able to poke my camera thru the hole in the fencing to snap these:

We spent the rest of the day on Friday walking the General Admission area around the entire track, first clockwise from Eau Rouge, up the Kemmel Straight, past Les Combes, down to Pouhon, across to Blanchimont, and up to the Bus Stop Chicane, and then back the same way counter-clockwise.  We really enjoyed this walk and being able to see and feel the elevation changes and see just about the entire Circuit de Spa Francorchamps.  Of course, fries and beer were consumed along the way.  The weather changed pretty dramatically throughout our walk, and by the afternoon practice session it looked like this:

Here’s a recording of cars downshifting near the end of Kemmel Straight, not too far from where the above picture was taken.  I’ll miss the sound of these awesome V8s:

Belgian Grand Prix – Saturday Qualification

Traffic getting into the circuit was quite a bit heavier than Friday, but was still manageable. Having official parking was a big advantage.  Crowds in the General Admission areas were also heavier than Friday, so we decided to watch some practice from just up hill from Eau Rouge and watch the cars charge up the hill thru Raidillon and on toward the Kemmel Straight:

The compression of the cars thru the apex of Eau Rouge and beyond was amazing.

For the qualification session, we decided to watch from our grandstand seats as the crowd was building.  The changing weather conditions throughout qualification added to the excitement – and to a certain extent confusion.  In Q3, at first it seemed like perhaps Paul di Resta was the only person to complete a lap on slicks when in fact, he was the first person to go out of intermediate tires as the rain began.  His time held as the best until the final minute or so of the session as a dry line appeared and the track got faster with every second.  First Nico Rosberg, then Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, and finally Lewis Hamilton successively went to the top of the time sheets.  The top ten spots were:

 1.  Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes               2m01.012s           
 2.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault       2m01.200s  + 0.188s 
 3.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault       2m01.325s  + 0.313s 
 4.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes               2m02.251s  + 1.239s 
 5.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes   2m02.332s  + 1.320s 
 6.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes       2m03.075s  + 2.063s 
 7.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault          2m03.081s  + 2.069s 
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault          2m03.390s  + 2.378s 
 9.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari                2m03.482s  + 2.470s 
10.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari                2m04.059s  + 3.047s

After the F1 qualification session was over, we watched the GP2 race from up the hill toward La Source looking toward Eau Rouge & Raidillon:

For an added bonus, fellow Californian Alexander Rossi took a spot on the GP2 podium.

Belgian Grand Prix – Race Day!

The exits from E42 to the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps were jammed on Sunday morning, and getting to our parking lot was a long slog.  We still got to the circuit with plenty of time for the race.  Sunday was the coolest day in Belgium so far, and the forecast called for a possibility of rain before the race was over. People were filling every spot with a decent sight line of the track:

When the lights went out, the front-runners except for Webber got off to good starts; Alonso had a great start, moving from ninth to fifth in the first lap.

Vettel had an extremely powerful run thru Eau Rouge, Raidillon, and onto the Kemmel Straight where he passed Hamilton well before Les Combes to take a lead he would never relinquish. Alonso gradually worked his way forward, taking second place before long, which is where he finished. Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton took the final spot on the podium.  Here’s a video from our seats of first Vettel and then Alonso toward the end of the race:

The final results for the Belgian Grand Prix were:

 1.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault          1h23m42.196s
 2.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari                       +16.869s
 3.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes                      +27.734s
 4.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes                      +29.872s
 5.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault              +33.845s
 6.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes              +40.794s
 7.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                       +53.922s
 8.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault                 +55.846s
 9.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes        +1m09.547s
10.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari          +1m13.470s
11.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes            +1m21.936s
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari          +1m26.740s
13.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari              +1m28.258s
14.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari              +1m40.436s
15.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault            +1m47.456s
16.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault                +1 lap
17.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault                +1 lap
18.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth               +1 lap
19.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth              +2 laps

Paul di Resta, Kimi Raikkonen, and Charles Pic all retired and were not classified.

Belgian Grand Prix – Final Thoughts

For a Formula 1 fan, the Belgian Grand Prix is a must see.  The whole of the experience exceeded my expectations, which were high going in.  What would I do differently?  I would lock in my trip much earlier so that I could stay in one of the charming villages in the vicinity of the track.  By the time we committed to the trip, anything very near was either sold out or far beyond our budget.  We stayed in Liege, which has plenty of lodging options for any budget and would normally be less than an hour from the circuit.  During race week, travel time depends on how early you set out and which route you take (depending up parking/destination).  Booking early would also provide many more ticket options, but I was very happy with the Gold 3 seats we got from Gootickets.com.  For first timers, EnterF1.com has a great seating guide that I recommend.  I would certainly have an iPad with the F1 timing app along (along with a compatible data plan, of course).  Folks sitting right behind us had one, and it made the race much easier to follow and more interesting.  After each day, I would try to spend time at the surrounding towns like Francorchamps, Malmedy, Stavelot, and Spa, and I would certainly try to drive the ‘old’ circuit on the public roads linking Les Combes with Malmedy and Stavelot.  This is a trip I really can’t wait to repeat.

Note: many more pictures posted at my Belgian Grand Prix 2013 gallery.

Belgian Grand Prix – Resources

Gootickets.com – my ticket broker

Spa GP – Belgian Grand Prix promotor’s site

Circuit de Spa Francorchamps – circuit site

EnterF1.com – Belgian Grand Prix seating guide

Booking.com – excellent site for finding accommodations

UPDATE: for those interested in history, you must watch this video of the 1955 Belgian Grand Prix commissioned by Shell: