F1 ticket questions

Seriously thinking of attending the Korean F1 in October. I see that the Grandstand tickets are $1101 per person. Is there any tips on getting cool behind the scenes passes for the weekend? I guess you would call them VIP?

Also is taking my 3 year old son a mistake. He is a wild child, which I love but is it safe for a small child. I was thinking of leaving him with the mrs to shop around town and just take my 7 year old daughter.

Thanks

 

$ 1100 for the grandstand? That sounds insane. Particularly for a race with zero history and prestige.

A GP is no place for a 3 year old. 7 years is pushing it, but probably doable.

You can buy Paddock Club tickets for around 4k, which give you the "behind the scenes" access.

Personally I would wait how things pan out. I'm no fan of going to an inaugural anything as the audience is the guinea pig for the organizers processes. Unless it is Korea you want to see, I'd rather pick the Japanese GP: Similar time and region, lots of history and organization down pat.

 

I wonder how many people can afford to pay that kind of money in that part of the world to make this event, which shouldn't exist, successful? Seems like the first year, the tickets would have been discounted to gather interest.

If you can afford it, go for it.

I used to take my youngest daughter to the races when she was three, but she had something to cheer about with the "Skittles" candy sponsored car. I also knew that the moment she got bored, we would leave even if the race was not over. I had attended enough events that it did not matter to me. If we did not leave, she would have hated going back in the future.

Luckily, the only race we left early was a CART race, I think MidOhio. We attended races together until she was 11 or 12, and then it was just not cool to be with dad.

So I would not take a 3 year old to this race, especially not knowing what kind of view you really have.

 

Great pointers guys.

Yeah, you know, I have been to Korea many times and thought I would watch the race to pass the time. Not going just to watch the race. I'd rather do Monaco for my first F1.

Yeah $1101 sounds kind of high. The won is much stronger now but still not sure if it is worth it. But I would pay more for a grand experience. Ah... 4K times 2 is not in my budget for a race. To hang with Schumi and Alonso, maybe.

 

You won't.

Paddock Club tickets are cool, but they rarely give you a chance to "hang" with the drivers. You might bump into one of them and get lucky with a foto and/or autograph op, but that's about it.

I once got those tickets as a guest of the Williams team. JPM or "the other" Schumacher were to make a guest appearance in the tent where we had lunch. Anticipating, that this might get tight I waited outside the tent (letting a nice lunch go to waste) behind a tree. As Ralf came towards the tent, I jumped in front of him Sharpie and artwork in hand. In order to get into the tent he had to sign. He did, but wasn't thrilled. As soon as he was in the tent, the host announced that Ralf will not be signing anything. So even 4k don't guarantee you a sig unless you're a real pest like me.

 

You ruined a perfectly good picture with a Ralf Schumacher autograph? Shame on you!

I agree with the above

-$1100/ticket is insane. I've always gotten the best seats available and the most I ever paid was something like $650/ticket - and IIRC that was for Eau Rouge at Spa.

-3yo is way young to be at a race. It will hurt his ears and he will be unhappy. There is a lot of crowds, a lot of waiting in lines, a lot of being squeezed into tight places, a lot of noise. I don't think a 3yo will like any of those things.

-Paddock club is the only way to pay for better access, and it's $$$$$$$$.

 

The irony was, that the picture was of JPM in the Williams.

 

I just checked the web site Korean-Grand-Prix.com, which claims to be the offical on-line ticket agent for the GP. The tickets are all discounted and the range for Sunday is $113-583. This seems to be in line with numbers I had seen a few weeks ago on another site where there was no discount. Before buying at a site like this you should probably take steps to boost your confidence that this is for real. Since the GP is a ways away, and the tickets are apparently not in high demand, you might try to e-mail FIA to see if this is indeed an offical site. You could also consider that walk up option, if tickets are so available and you are going to be there anyway. As far as taking a 'wild' three year old to a GP, you might want to consider the people around you who have paid all that money and done all that travel to get there and see the race.

 

That's too much money for grandstand. Don't take 3 year old, it's actually not fair to the child, WAY too loud & confusing, regardless of the kids personality.