24 Hours of LeMans...plan was to go this year but something got in the way. Then Goodwood Hillclimb and/or Goodwood Revival.
I'd LIKE to say the endurance race at SPA, but realistically, depending on who shows up, my tendency would be to hit the 12 hrs of Sebring. But if certain teams were to disappear, it would probably be a different event altogether, like a nostalgia drag race. I was on the 'inside' of the F1 Detroit Grand Prix, and once you have tasted events from the inside, anything else is a disappointment.
Spa Monaco, but VIP AND a hotel (so it'll be some time before I can realistically afford that lol). I don't want to do Monaco and stay in a hotel in Nice.
What would make Monaco so unattainable? I've been there several times. Great place. Just a transatlantic flight away. Anyhow. I have lots of F1 races on my list to do, nothing special really. But the "piece de resistance" to me is probably the 24 hours of Le Mans. Despite some good travel advice from Carol, I still think that is an absolute zoo. However it is also a must on my list. Another hard one to do is the Japanese GP. I'd love to see the F1 GP at Suzuka one year, but since it is so far away, that's another very long shot at best.
Belgian GP at Spa Francorchamps, Le Mans 24 Hours, Monaco GP, and a USGP in NYC (pipe dream but hopefully in my lifetime )
In order: Monza F1 Monaco F1 Le Mans I'd stay awake for the full 24 hours for the last one....I've always wanted to go there and do that.
For you maybe. There are some that simply can't (or won't) afford it. I can afford it, but will I, realistically? No, I have other races on my list I can see for a fraction of the overblown costs of attending Monaco. So this is why I said 'be realistic', I said nothing about 'unattainable'.
Monaco can be done on a budget: Flight to Paris, TGV to Nice. Hotel in Nice or its suburbs at regular prices. Take the train into Monaco and pick the castle hill as your viewing point. This way it won't cost you more than any other European race.
Cost for doing that for, let's say 5 days 4 nights? And availability? PS - this may also not be what someone has in mind, to attend a race and not be able to mill about in the crowds at the circuit.
say I want to go the F1 race in May - DFW-NCE (moderately convenient flt) $954 rt; Rocher (no seat, just the hillside) 210 Euro ($288) (Th, Sa, Su), hotel in Nice (what remains that is reasonable) figure $200+ night x 5 = $1000, train from Nice to Monaco (www.raileurope.com) $22 rt x 3, bus from airport to train station @ $7 x 2 - so add it up and it's about $2500 per person. To fly from DFW-CDG cheapest is about $888 but the TGV (according to raileurope.com) is 6 hr 38m and approximately $252 rt. (we're doing the Historics and it's way cheaper than this - anywhere in grandstand K was about 55 GBP for the weekend; hotel in Nice was about $300 for 4 nites; airfare was about $700+ pp DFW-NCE) - more racing and cool cars ! ! ! and less crowd, still walk the course, can get into the paddock area where the cars are after the race, can walk by the pit garages and look in if there's something there..... Carol
Carol covered costs nicely, thank you. Availability is no problem, plenty of hotels in Nice etc. You have to book early as in every city GP. Milling about the crowds is actually the one thing you can do more in Monaco than at most other GP since the town will be overrun by spectators. The moment they leave the track, they're in the streets/bars/hotels/discos. More than any other city GP because it is all very tight. If money is the issue, I think for us Americans the Asian GPs are the really expensive ones: You not only fly forever, you need to buy a lot of airfare and you end up in expensive locations (Japan, Singapore). Euro GPs aren't that hard. Including Monaco. PS: And as Carol mentioned, probably even better than a modern F1 in Monaco is watching the historic GPs there. Less expensive and probably more interesting.