Comments on: Ten Things You Need For Going To A Grand Prix

By: Friday Link Love « The F1 Fan

Friday Link Love « The F1 Fan — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:39:58 +0000

[...] Blog F1, Oliver White takes us through a few essentials for attending a GP weekend in this blog [...]

By: milos

milos — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:54:22 +0000

perfect timing for this post, just packing up my luggage for Canada

the Kangaroo TV I recommend too. It does not come cheap, but it is worth the price. And you get to keep the headphones and yes, with Kangaroo you do not need the earplugs

the water and food – I think this depends on tracks … In Malaysia or Shanghai you have pretty much zero chance to smuggle any outside food and drinks in …

By: zerogee

zerogee — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:33:46 +0000

Oh, yeah sun protection. Those of you lucky enough to live in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly Brits and those from the Scandanavian end of things don’t know how harsh the sun can be.

In Australia in particular, if you’re white, you can burn inside 20 minutes. Like me. So the further south you go, the stronger the sun protection you need. If that means a long-sleeve t-shirt, do it! Black is better because you can burn through lighter colours and just because there is cloud cover, you can still burn. The hole in the ozone layer is really big here!

I remember someone asking me why Australians were all so pasty looking – now you know!

By: Ago

Ago — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:59:59 +0000

Side note about camera(s) : Do not expect to have decent pics with a cellphone even with a 5Megapix sensor. Take a good old SLR with a 80-300mm telelens able to take shots at 1/500s.
You can have an “out of date” DSLR (such as a Canon EOS 350D) for almost nothing now and they will make much better pictures. The reason?
(1) THE LENS! The lens diameter of the average cellphone’s builtin camera is around 5mm where an SLR/DSLR will have 50mm. 10 times bigger means 100 times more light My EOS set to take 2meg pictures will deliver far better pics that what I’ll get with my Viewty’s 5megapix…
(2) the versatility. Can pickup the program you want to shoot (like sport 2/3 fps…)

Otherwise a Bridge cam with builtin 28-200mm zoom (Fuji / Lumix) will also do an excellent job for a fraction of the price and the weight. Do not hesitate to buy the old model (discounted!) anything with 4megapix is well enought for amator photography (most of the prints not exceeding A4 size)

By: sidepodcast

sidepodcast — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:07:03 +0000

“…but ear defenders look cool and are easier to put on and take off”

good point, and ear defenders will allow you to listen to kangaroo tv at the same time.

By: Pink Peril

Pink Peril — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:04:30 +0000

An umbrella ! Handy if it rains of course, but equally as handy if its a hot day. The Oz GP this year ran over 4 days of 40 degree heat and there is absolutely no shade up in the grandstands. If I had not had my trusty brolly working overtime I am sure I would have suffered a nasty bout of sunstroke (which I have had before and it is not pleasant, I can assure you)

I always take in my own food and water too. The prices are generally astronomical and the quality is dubious to say the least. Much prefer a nice salad sandwich ! I also bring a small picnic blanket – handy to cover hard plastic seats, for picnic lunch out on the course or in case of sudden cold snaps.

Nurofen can also come in handy too !

By: Alianora La Canta

Alianora La Canta — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:03:12 +0000

Essential number 11 is ear protection. Granted that the sound of F1 cars is quite a lot of the attraction, but it is loud enough to damage hearing if listened to “live” for extended periods of time. Ear plugs are quite sufficient, but ear defenders look cool and are easier to put on and take off (plus you can get them in different colours – perhaps to match the colours of the driver or team you support).

If you’re going to bring a notepad, bring at least two pens. There are few things more irritating than having something you want to write and something you want to write on it without having anything to write with…

It’s useful to take food into the race circuit if you are allowed. While the mark-up isn’t as severe as for water, it’s still cheaper, plus you can have a lot more variety. Having a mini-picnic in the middle of the day is a pleasant way to eat.

If you can find space and if you’re in general admission, a portable seat is handy.

By: Oliver White

Oliver White — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:26:58 +0000

Sound advice guys. Thanks for emphasising the sun protection Dank, it shows that even Britain can have good weather from time to time! Regarding the Red Bulletin, it really is limited in copies, so Sidey isn’t lying when he says “arrive early” if you want a copy. And how could I forget the humble notepad. Always handy for me and no doubt many others.

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:37:31 +0000

This may just be me cos I was an uber-geek that had to do a podcast about it afterwards, but it’s worth taking a notebook as well.

If you plan to blog the event or anything like that, making some notes is v. handy.

Plus, it’s useful as a communication tool because those cars are a little bit on the loud side

By: sidepodcast

sidepodcast — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:35:01 +0000

my advice is never, never, never waste money on a programme. the pics are awful, the writing dire, even bernie doesn’t like them!

arrive early and grab the red bulletin, it’s free and contains much, much better content.

By: Dank

Dank — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:37:55 +0000

I can’t emphasise enough in taking sun protection of some sort to any Grand Prix! My face got particularly burnt last year at Silverstone and it wasn’t really hot at all, very deceiving!

You can listen to Radio Five Live Xtra via Kangaroo TV this year regardless of what country you are in which sounds like a great idea. I used a Kangaroo set at Belgium and it was invaluable, just make sure you don’t spend more time watching the unit than what’s going on on the track in front of you! The only minus of hiring a Kangaroo set is the price. I *think* it’s about £60 for a weekend so best to go halves with someone.