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The “Crofty”/Brundle/Kravitz/Herbert comedy team don’t appeal to me. They sound like a 1960’s Radio 1 DJ team – remember Smashie and Nicey from the Fast Show? I don’t want to hear about who ate a hard boiled egg on the plane, or whose son knows how to do what latest dance. They embarrass me. “Crofty” is the worst, he just witters on and on about what’s on screen but adds nothing that we can’t see for ourselves – and sometimes subtracts from it as he tries to work out the obvious. Brundle looks and sounds stressed and worried, and who wouldn’t be if they had to spend that much time with “Crofty”. Kravitz is a poor man’s Chandhok and again looks and sounds embarrassing when he joins in the “Crofty” banter. Ant Davidson can be good, but he allows himself to get sucked into the silly matey routine which lowers his credibility.
What really annoys me is “Crofty” and Brundle commentate as if they’ve never seen a F1 race ever before in their lives. They’ve got to be smarter than they sound, so why are they dumbing it down for the viewers?
On C4, Ben Edwards is so perfect you’re not really aware he’s there most of the time – he adds value to what’s on the screen and isn’t silly or hyper; when he gets excited it’s because something exciting is happening. I think he and David Coulthard work really well together, analysing the action and strategy, and I thought Mark Webber did really well standing in for Coulthard this weekend. Not quite as smooth, but then Coulthard wasn’t smooth to start with and only really grew into the role after Brundle left the team. Which is weird because he’s a very quick thinker and very funny off-air.
Paul Di Resta is a breath of fresh air on the Sky team, as is Karun Chandhok and all the others who don’t get drawn into the matey blokey banter routine but focus on the sport. I’m not watching it for a Sunday Night at the London Palladium routine, I’m watching it because I’m fascinated by the strategy and the technology, as well as the rivalry. Having said that, I enjoy the more sophisticated humour on C4 before and after the race; it feels classy and doesn’t make me cringe.
I always watch the C4 highlights too, because the C4 team are capable of observing, analysing and commenting in real time, and show an understanding of what the strategy might be. The race might have been long-gone by that time, but I value what they have to say.
So, yeah, basically a long-winded agreement to what’s been said before. PdR is knowledgeable and has grown in confidence and seems able to filter out the irritating Crofty buzz in the commentary box.
Regarding the parking ticket, it’s a 3-day circuit pass for 1 vehicle/2 people. Cost price £65, will sell at a discount as Silverstone are still selling them directly at that price.
A quick report after a day in the Montjuic Club (aka Piso Box) for pre-season testing.
We got a taxi from downtown Barcelona to the accreditation centre at the circuit, where we needed to collect our passes. The taxi cost less than 40 euros, which was good value considering we were held up by a strike/demo. The taxi driver was confident getting to the circuit but I’d recommend printing out the circuit map to locate the accreditation centre. Once you’ve picked up the passes it’s a 10-15 minute walk to the Montjuic Club, just past the Paddock entrance. On the way back we decided to take a short taxi ride to Montmelo station to catch the R2 train back to Passeig de Gracia. Taxis are plentiful at the circuit but I’d recommend asking the price in advance; our trip wasn’t metred and we were charged 15 euros.
The Montjuic Club was directly above the Mercedes garage, opposite the main grandstand. The food was excellent this year, catered by the Fairmont Rey Juan Carlos hotel, and available from 9am to around 3pm. There’s plenty of beer/wine/cava/soft drinks/coffee/water. You get a paddock tour (plenty of familiar faces) and a bus ride round the circuit. I was thinking of skipping the ride this year but was glad I didn’t. You get great views of the cars running right next to the bus, and we also saw several drivers and commentators standing by the turns watching the action.
There were cars on track almost all day, and you get a great view of the pitstops because you’re standing more or less overhead. You can explore the whole circuit, checking out all the grandstands, and also go onto the roof to stand above your favourite team’s garage.
I’m interested in Debs advice above, and am wondering whether to just do the circuit tour next year rather than hospitality. I do like being right above the garages; the photo opportunities are great, especially when the Truck of Shame rolls into the pitlane. And the food is excellent. But if money is an object then I think the circuit tour would also give a really good experience.
I’ve been for the last 4 years and have had a great experience. Mind you, it hasn’t rained when I’ve been there, but I do plan my trip to allow for a second day if the first is a washout.
I go for the corporate package – £250 from someone like JDC Promotions (where you may end up in a smaller box over the pitlane, over 1 garage), or slightly less if you buy direct from the circuit (where you’re more likely to be in a bigger space over a couple of the garages). You get a good view of the pitlane and pit straight from the box, and have access to the roof of the corporate complex which gives you a view of much more of the circuit. At the back of the corporate boxes you can see into the paddock, and you get at least one escorted paddock tour during the day ( 1 if you buy directly from the circuit, and the possibility of more if you’re in a smaller box) as well as a bus ride around the edge of the circuit while the cars are going round. You can walk the pitlane at lunchtime but you don’t get to see too much of the cars. Ferrari in particular are very secretive, but you might end up in a box over their garage in which case you get to see quite a lot of their car.
If you go for the second testing week the cars are more reliable and you should see more action.
If you don’t go for a hospitality package you can walk around the track and try different grandstands (which you can do with the hospitality package but it’s tempting to be lazy and stay where you are). You get a good idea of which cars are handling well – it was clear to us that Ferrari were going to be strong, last year. And I think you can book various tours. The grandstands aren’t busy and it looks fun – the DIY approach is my fallback if the first day has bad weather.
The cars start running at 9am. I’m not sure what time they end but it’s a good full day. Public transport is trickier than during the race weekend because the shuttle buses don’t run.
Club Corner tickets purchased
Woodlands (lively) motorhome pitch and electric hookup booked
Motorhome bookedAll set :)
I will have a spare circuit car park ticket (2 person) if anyone’s interested.
I haven’t had any luck with finding a company that drops off and picks up, at least not one that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg. So like you, I’m investigating self-drive motorhomes now, and any recommendations would be handy
I’ve got Club Corner tickets and have booked cancellable accommodation just outside Milton Keynes but am now looking into motorhome hire to avoid getting snarled up in traffic each day. Some motorhome companies offer to drop off and pick up, so I’m investigating those, although driving shouldn’t be a problem.
So it’s a question of choosing a good place to park it. Does anyone have any recommendations or, more importantly, places they wouldn’t recommend. Or links to places where these things are discussed? I’m more interested in a good night’s sleep than a party atmosphere, but somewhere with facilities (bar, food etc) would be good.
Thanks. Camping does sound tempting but it’s been 50 years since I last slept in a tent and I’ve got used to my creature comforts, especially the use of a hairdryer :) My friend (similar age to me) is concerned about how convenient the conveniences are. Is it suitable for a couple of females who’re getting on a bit and who’re not very outdoorsy?
Hi Colin. I’ve just booked Club Corner block 1 too! Row N – hope it’s not too high up.
We’ve booked a cancellable hotel in Milton Keynes but I’m wondering whether to glamp in order to be closer to the action
Interesting post, thank you. What a great idea for exploring the circuit.
When you say you can chain it near to the seat, do you mean at the back of the stands or actually within sight? I could bring my Brompton folding bike, but I’m always worried about it being nicked. Or I could bring my battered old hybrid, then it wouldn’t matter if it was stolen.
Yes, the Piso boxes have limited paddock access. I’m not sure how the paddock passes are allocated, but when I’ve been in a small box managed just by JDC itself we were allowed a couple of visits throughout the day, and in the bigger box that JDC customers shared with others this year it was a more formal arrangement where you booked a timeslot. I suppose it might have been possible to blag another visit if there were spare slots.
The views down into the paddock from the Piso box balconies are excellent; you can see (and get decent photos) of drivers walking from the garage to the paddock and doing media interviews. We also got good views down onto the front of the garages, with several drivers and team principals wandering past. Zak Brown, patiently waiting for the McLaren to be brought back on the truck of shame, was good photo material.
Just to feed back after our trip, we had quite a long wait for a taxi from Montmelo station to the circuit, in the morning. There was some some spectacular queue jumping. Taxis do eventually turn up if you don’t have a booking, but you may have to wait a while. I’ll try to pre-book a cab next year.
We tried to direct the driver to the “in4” car park which is where we’d have been allowed to park (if we’d been self-driving). He took us to the accreditation centre instead, which is where you collect the hospitality passes. As we already had our passes we didn’t need to go there, so I asked him to take us to the paddock and he knew immediately where to go. We were dropped off at the mini-roundabout just by the paddock and piso box entrance (between “in2” and “in3” on this map: http://f1destinations.com/tickets-spanish-f1-grand-prix/spanish-grand-prix-circuit-map/). This is also where we were directed at the end of the day, when we had an approx ten minutes wait for a cab. As we drove off we passed the “in4” car park up the hill from the mini roundabout; several taxis were parked there, so next year we’ll just walk up there instead of waiting at the roundabout.
Taking the train to and from Montmelo was simple. We used a 10-strip 2-zone ticket that covered the four of us there and back, with 2 trips to spare. The train trip cost less than 2.50 euros each, return from central Barcelona. The taxis cost around 11 euros each way.
It’s a great experience; I highly recommend it. We had around 25 minutes in the paddock, a bus tour of the circuit while the cars were on track, a pitwalk at lunchtime, and access to whatever parts of the circuit were open. The best views of the pit straight were from the roof of the hospitality building.
Food and drink is included in the piso box entry price; it was pretty good and very plentiful.
If you keep your eyes open you get to see a lot of familiar faces.
The cars are louder this year than last. I needed earplugs towards the end of the day to prevent pain.
