First time will attend Monza race

As with all GP the best place to buy tickets is from the circuit itself

http://www.monzanet.it/eng/eshop_tickets2.aspx?IdManifestazione=803

Its many years since I did Monza so cannot help with stands but my recollection is seat numbers mean nothing - its first come first served on the day

 

Well, I have NOTHING constructive to add. Just huge envy! Of all the GP courses,
my all-time wanna go fave would be Monza. I drive that track in GTR2 on an almost
daily basis (best time 1:52 in a Murcie, 2.01 in a Ferrari 360). I'd give a non-essential
body part to take my 328 to Monza just for the thrill of hitting that first chicane! Or
trying to hold the speed and gears for the 2 Lesmos without hitting the gravel. All
time best track as far as I'm concerned.

When you go, wherever you end up in the stands, for GODS SAKE POST PHOTOS!!!!

Jedi

 

Monza is a super track, You are in for a great experiance.

 

I went 10years ago (tho cause its been 10yrs )

I bought the tickets the day b4 from a scalper so was stuck on the main straight. Would definitely pick a corner as 340km'h~ you don't see much. Ohh wait you bought the tix... Yeah Ascari is good enjoy Monza

Agree with greyboxer about the 1st come 1st serve on the seats haha.

 

Monza plain sucks.

Once you have mastered the traffic chaos, you will be sitting on grandstands where all you can do is a right to left head turn. You won't see anything else but the track in front of you as it is flat and boring.

The only reason to go to Monza is because it is holy ground for Tifosi. And because you're surrounded by Tifosi. But as a track it is a desaster for spectators.

There is a big difference between visiting a GP as a spectator, driving it as a racer (IRL or virtual) and watching it in the comfort of your home on TV.

Monza is F1 history and one of the fastest tracks on the calendar. It is Ferrari and no wonder drivers love it. For us TV watchers, it is also great, particularly for the dramatic podium ceremony, which is like none other.

But people visiting the GP experience it differently. There are many better tracks than Monza. Barcelona and Monaco are at the top of that list.

That said, enjoy the Italian hospitality. They are great people and know how to eat and celebrate.

 

I LOVE monza- don't worry about seating, just walk the entire track, eat the food, drink the wine and do some serious shopping. The best F1 race I have ever attened- and it was my honneymoon!!

 

Just out of curiosity: How many races have you attended?

 

Hi friends!!

This year will also be my 1st Monza GP.
I've only been to F1 races at Interlagos, as I live in Brazil.
3-day tickets for the Tribuna Alta Velocità 6A arrived yesterday.


Who else is going???
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Have fun, I had a great time in Monza last year... great city, great food, great people, great race, great track.

You will love it.

 

Is there anything that you strongly recommend (things to do, places to visit, restaurants to eat, etc)?
Any info is valuable...
Thanks!!

 

There isn't terribly much in Monza that's a must see. Of course there is the park and you should make sure you walk to the former banked curve. You could visit Milan, which is spectacular, particular its cathedral, where you can go on the roof.

There is a hotel nearby Monza where in the sixties/seventies all the racers stayed at, but I forgot the name.

Not to rain on your parade, but F1 wise there are many better tracks to visit. That said, enjoy it nonetheless, take in the atmosphere and join the tifosi at the podium ceremony. Walk up and down pitlane searching for some tear-off visors (we found one in Imola). Take a picture of yourself on the grid on P1.

 

Hmmm.... well I definitely recommend going all three days. The Thursday practice was pretty quiet and you could sit anywhere - I sat right on the start/finish line across from the pits.

As far as getting to the track... the first day we drove right there, and it was a very bad idea. We went through downtown milan and were in about 1 hour of traffic. Then we were in another 1.5 hours of traffic when we got near the track. The next 2 days, we parked in one of the off-track lots and took the shuttle bus. It was night and day... smooth drive to the parking lot, 10 minute shuttle bus to the gates. Even on race day after the race, it was about 30 minutes to walk from the track back to the bus stop, we were in line for maybe 15 minutes as buses came through, and we were back at the lot within an hour of watching Vettel celebrate on the podium. Not bad at all. The cops and the whole town have this race down pat - they know exactly how to run it and it's very efficient to get in and out. But I sure as heck wouldn't drive all the way there. You can take the train, but the downside to that is tons of folks take it, so it's a real madhouse, and you have a long walk, long wait, packed train ride, then another walk before you even get to your car. Not a bad idea, but wasn't for me.

As for stuff outside the track, I didn't have all that much time, but you definitely want to go to downtown Milan (duh!). The Duomo in the town square is breathtaking. We parked in a lot near the hotel and took the subway into town - very easy to get in and out. We checked out the central rail station which was very cool, built by Mussolini, IIRC. We had dinner in a nice quiet cafe in the town square, climbed to the top of the church (you have to pay but it's worth it). You can also go into the basement and see rome roman-era ruins for 1 euro or something, it was pretty neat too. On the adjacent edge of the central square, there is a little shopping street that is enclosed, with the statue of Da Vinci on the other end - across the street is the museum of theatre (or something), which was also pretty cool, especially the actual stage, very neat.

Maranello is about a 2-3 hour drive away. The Pagani factory isn't far and they are very good with tourists checking out the factory. Lamborghini isn't far either. Lake Como is a pretty short drive to the north and is amazing also. And Venice is only 1 hour away by high-speed train. It depends who you're with and how much time you've got, I suppose.

If you haven't booked a rental car, and you're planning it, book it early. There are tens of thousands of people showing up for the race and the cars go quickly. Same with hotels. I stayed in the Ripamontidue (sp?) hotel. It was pretty good - parking across the street, plenty to do. I didn't want to be in downtown Milan but I wanted to be close enough to the city that I could drive in when I wanted.

I definitely recommend getting lost in some of the small villages around the outskirts of Milan... find a little restaurant, get a giant steak, and down it along with lots of beer and wine. People were very friendly... although I found service in restaurants isn't like it is here... when I made eye contact, instead of coming over, they'd run he other way! I found that there was some beer festival down the street from our hotel on the race weekend (hotel was in Pieve Emanuelle). It was pretty rockin' when we stopped by, and was a good time.

People said to me about walking the old track... honestly, I didn't bother, when I arrived at the track it was pretty packed every day.

I found the fans to be amazingly friendly and cordial. The first day a group of Italian men who didn't speak a lick of English (and I don't speak a lick of Italian) became friends when they insisted we join them eating their homemade bread with some sort of home-made sausage and plenty of beer. They bought us Ferrari hats before we left - how cool was that? When people heard we were Americans, their eyes lit up and they enthusiastically told us the things they love about our country. I became friends with a greek father and son on qualifying day, and friends with an English honeymoon couple on race day. Very cool people. I also bought and ate more cannolis, schfuyendel (sp?), and various other treats than I should have eaten in a year.

Great trip, great people, great track, great race, great food, great scenery, great location - you will love it!

 

The Hotel De La Ville: http://www.hoteldelaville.com/

I disagree with Andreas. I understand all his quibbles about Monza, but I think the good far out-weighs the bad. I haven't been for a few years, but I have been 6 times and had an amazing time every time. I always camped in the campsite next to the 1st chicane. You can see the track and a TV Screen from there and you get a great view if you sit on top of a camper van so some years I didn't even have a race ticket!
Make sure you are near the podium during the last couple of laps so you can jump onto the track and get sprayed with champagne. I agree with what everyone has said about Milano. I remember walking up the stairs from the subway into Duomo square and turning round to see the Duomo. It is truly breath-taking. If you can fit in a day at Maranello you won't regret it even if you don't have a factory tour booked. Andreas was kind enough to let me accompany him on a factory tour one year and it was great, but I have been to Maranello without entering the factory and there is still plenty to see.
Learn a bit of Italian and enjoy the food and especially the wine. Remember "Un giorno senza vino è un giorno senza sole"!

You'll love it!

 

The problem with Monza is that it is totally flat, no elevation changes. That restricts the viewing experience to a small piece of road in front of you. You'll be doing the tennis match head movement (right to left and back) all day long. Compare that to tracks like e.g. Barcelona or Budapest where you can see many different parts of the track regardless of where you sit.

BTW I'm not the only one with this opinion: A good friend of mine who was invited to the Monza GP by Ferrari team members said exactly the same thing. Now imagine this for just a moment: He was surrounded by Scuderia members, but still wasn't happy with his viewing experience. And no, he isn't a snob, he liked other GPs.

 

I concur with your comments. Only difference for us was we been to Monza a couple times for the LMS race (I went to the Ferrari Finale Mondiali myself for the tribute to MS) which has the entire circuit open to where ever you want to go....and for practice, qualifying and a six hour race, we walked the circuit and came back to Ascari being the most favorite location. Pit out wasn't bad but as you say restricted viewing experience, also first or second variante was pretty good too - good viewing there as they were coming into the turn fast, had to break, turn and out of turn so you could see more than just a start finish line there too. You are absolutely correct about Barcelona and seeing so many different parts of the track. For us at Monza one of the best parts was walking the banking with the cars coming out below you, etc.......

We've stayed in Cinisello Balsamo at the now standard Hotel Milano, and it just simply going right out the street behind the hotel and down Viale Brianza, right again, left at the "T" and at the end of the park right (maybe 10 minutes max). There's a great Italian restaurant at the corner from the hotel - pizza is wonderful. If you are flying into Malpensa, we've found the best thing to do is turn your rental car in and stay at the Crowne Plaza there at the airport the night before you leave. Unfortunately there's not a hotel in the airport as there are at many airports.

Carol

 

I love your experience. You should be running something like GPTours (I hate those overpriced clowns).

 

+1, I have been to 20 F1 races since 1992 and Monza is at the top of my list, special atmosphere, easy to get to if you ride the train, beautiful Lake Como is only an hour away, Milan is a world class city with incredible sights and Monza has been know to produce a surprise winner. While it is true you are not be able to see the entire track from your grandstand; several of the tracks that provide great viewing of the track produce some the most processional boring races of the season, Spain has had 1 pass for the lead since 1992 that did not occur in the pits or because of the retirement of the leader. Monza is special, it is the "temple of speed" and has a beautiful park setting instead of the typical Tilke "6 Flags Over Bernie" feeling many of the new tracks have. Make sure you check out the banking of the old circuit that has not been used since the early 1960's, it is awe-inspiring to think how dangerous it must have been in those days. I am jealous and wish that I could make it this year to La Pista Magica'. FWIW, I also enjoyed Imola and 2003 was a special race seeing Michael win the day after his mother passed. Have a great time!

 

I was there as well. Along with Anthony Ferrari!

 

Forza Ferrari, those days seem so far away! Hopefully next year we can turn things around, cheers!

 

Andreas, you are right about all you say here, but I still don't think they are reasons not to go. I have been to Barcelona a couple of times (Although it was before the Alonso era) and I liked it but I had more fun at Monza.
At Monza I think about Rindt and Von Trips and Ascari who all died there. I think about that amazing race in the 70's when Jackie Stewart and a bunch of other drivers all finished within a second of each other. I think of Mika Hakkinen crying in the trees. Eddie Irvine finishing 3rd in his Jaguar making it a Ferrari 1-2-3 on the podium. I also think of the friends who are there every year and the new ones to be made each time. I remember the 2001 race which was so soon after 9/11 and the Ferraris ran with no advertising. I was stood against the fence, probably 10 feet away from the cars when they were on the grid. I can still remember the feeling in my chest as they all set off when the lights went out.
Monza is very special.