Surviving/Thriving at the Monza GP
(Your comprehensive travel guide to the Italian Grand Prix)
Slightly impulsive, mostly out of budget but well worth every single penny, I decided I was going to go to the Italian GP about 2 months before the event.
Yes, I may have only been watching F1 for about 2 months when I made the decision but as the proud owner of an Italian passport and having grown rather weary with the never-ending rain of Manchester regardless of what season it was, I felt a little bit less bad about cheekily treating myself to a 3-day General Admission ticket to the Monza GP.
This ticket set me back about €120 which I felt was a decent price for 3 days. Word of warning here though, if you opt for the 3-day package, you won’t be able to take advantage of the upgrade option when it becomes available closer to the race weekend. To upgrade to a Grandstand, pay the difference between your GA ticket and selected stand ticket – this option is only available for the individual day tickets so if you think you may prefer a grandstand for one of the days, you might wish to reevaluate your ticket option. I bought them straight from the track’s website and whilst I did have to bust out my rusty italiano to be able to navigate the payment page, there were at least tickets available here (which were sold out at the time on the F1 website).
After excitedly posting on my Instagram story my confirmation email, it was time to do some research – where’s good to sit? What sort of items should I bring with me? Where do I need to be to get onto the track? There are some videos on YouTube and a particularly good article I read was on F1Destinations.com which I link here. You can also join their ‘Going to the Italian Grand Prix’ Facebook page – yes, you will have to sift through repeat questions/complaints at times but there are some great nuggets of information on there from more seasoned travellers and some last minute sales that can make things easier for you.
I’d also recommend sorting out your accommodation and flights sooner rather than later – I had gotten astronomically lucky here as of course, most options had been taken up by people who planned their GP a lot earlier than myself. I booked a place in Milan which leads me to an important pointer about transport.
Advice: Getting There In One Piece
Milan has 2 airports, Malpensa and Bergamo but to be honest, it doesn’t really matter much. The main difference was with Bergamo we had to get a coach to Milano Centrale, whereas when we flew out from Malpensa, we were able to get a train from Milano Centrale direct to the terminal so do with that information what you will. You can stay in Monza if you wish, but that gets booked up rather quickly as you could imagine. Some stay in other areas in the region such as Bergamo but just double check what your route would be, how long that will take you and if you can truly be bothered to wake up early bearing in mind that the action normally starts in the morning around 9ish. This is where the grandstand thing comes into effect – as your seating is reserved if you’d rather have the lie in and sack off some of the feeder series events, it matters less but if you plan to slog it in GA, or if you want to watch all of the events, do consider how strong your will is to wake up so early every day.
More important to your GP experience than the locations of the airports are the locations of the train stations – the major train stations to take note of are Milano Centrale and Milano Porta-Garibaldi if staying in Milan. Whichever one you’re staying closest to might sway what ticket offers you may wish to take advantage of. Trenord put on a variety of deals and additional services over the GP weekend which can take some of the stress out of travelling.
If not staying in Milan, you may wish to take advantage of the Trenord Day Pass GP Monza ticket which includes a round-trip train journey from any train from Lombardy to Monza or Biassono-Lesmo (which may be more convenient a stop depending on where you are seated).
If you do stay in the city, there are additional no-stop services put on on Sunday from Milano Porta-Garibaldi to Biassono-Lesmo station which again are useful if sat in that area. I personally opted for the Trenord + Shuttle ticket – this €10 ticket includes both outward bound and return tickets from Milan to Monza plus the Black Shuttle. Take note – it is specifically only the black shuttle which brings me to my next bit of advice:
Advice: Be early and be prepared to WALK.
This was during my track exploration on Friday
On the walk to GA (featuring an older portion of the track)
I took advantage of the shuttle ticket, but it only lets you take the Black Shuttle but as that picks you up directly at Monza train station, it’s by far the most convenient option. That being said, it only takes you partially into the park. There’s still a hefty walk before you get to any of the gates and that’s still not the end of it. After the gates where you do initial ticket check and bag search, you still have to walk most of the perimeter of the track to get to the GA zones and cross the bridges and THEN find your spot.
I’ll state this very clearly from the offset – General Admission is cheap for a reason - there is no reserved seating. There are some metal seating banks dotted about the track that are for GA but there aren’t as many rows as with the grandstands so if you’re not early, you may find these get taken up rather quickly. Some portions of the track have reduced visibility if you’re sat as the barriers are solid, some have no view of the televisions, have no audible radio or both - and if you find yourself arriving quite late you may find that even then those spots are being taken up too. For all the reasons listed above, I’d also advice having alternative spots in mind.
This is why I would recommend using Friday as your day to explore the track and the FanZone. I spent the Free Practice and other racing series sessions to walk around and note spots I liked on my map so I could return to them much quicker on the Saturday and Sunday. Friday’s a great day to do it as it isn’t quite as busy and by the time FP2 is over, most people will look to depart so you can really explore. Friday, you can get away with being pretty late to be honest as people are a bit more blasé about Free Practice Sessions. Saturday, you could also get away with being a little liberal with time. Whilst I did arrive quite early, I did note to my travel partner who had opted out of coming due to how early I wanted to leave the flat, that realistically she could have gotten away with arriving around 11AM despite the first event (the Formula 3 Sprint Race) commencing at 9:30.
Sunday though – not a chance. Whatever time you think you need to be there, you need to be there earlier. I found that despite being there 10 minutes before the departure time of my train, said train was already full and I had to wait a further 50 minutes for the next one. The shuttle took even longer to board as it was much busier and when you factor in the walk it does really impact the time it takes to get seated and settled. Surprisingly, despite how busy it was, I will say bag check was actually rather fast even on race day so credit to the staff. As I arrived at the bridge whilst the F3 Feature Race was on, I was unable to cross meaning I was delayed further from securing a good spot and this is why I truly emphasise the need to explore the track.
And even if you don’t, you will be getting your steps in – on the Friday, I had done about 14km at the track overall during my explorations. On Saturday, I mostly stayed put and according to my Strava (and what a great opportunity to get a cool map there by the way), I had hit around 18,000 steps. Which brings me onto my next bit of advice…
Advice: What To Wear – AKA, The Fashionista’s Guide to F1
Given the walking, take this also as advice to wear suitable clothing – especially in GA, don’t sacrifice comfort for fashion. On this occasion, it was quite dusty so my white trainers certainly didn’t come back white. I did wear my hiking boots on the other two days which are a good option if you have comfortable ones. I personally would not opt for open toed shoes. Asides from my general dislike, given the dust and the walking it just might not be all that comfortable. It was also 31°C degrees – so I would say loose shorts are the way forward, preferably something lightweight and breathable. Same principle with what you wear on top. I took it as an opportunity to show off some of my Ferrari tops.
Now, I was advised by a friend who had gone to Spa to bring a jumper that could be used as a blanket during colder mornings but to be honest, it wasn’t necessary at all on this occasion as it was still quite hot as I had left but do check the weather forecast daily before departure. On the first day, I did end up using a hoodie as a blanket but for the same reason as why I should not have opted for white trainers, I should not have opted to put my hoodie on the floor to sit on. By Saturday, I learned my lesson and brought a rain jacket – it’s something waterproof you can sit on so will be easier to wash off the dust and grass than a fabric blanket or sitting on your jumper (provided you put the WATERPROOF side on the grass instead of the inner lining like I stupidly did). Alternatively, you may wish to bring a camping chair – this might be a convenient choice especially if you’re driving. For the items I will be listing, bring a backpack, not a tote. Truly, I must emphasise the importance of comfort here.
Fit Check for Quali - I did in fact lose this hat. Distraught. Was a very comfortable fit this.
Advice: What’s In My Purse - AKA, The Perfect Pack List
You may wish to have some insect repellent as you walk through the woods to the track, but bear in mind you are not permitted to carry items that are flammable or aerosols. I only sprayed in the morning before I left the flat and was fine so you may be fine without. Suncream however, is not so optional. This year there were some dispensers, but these are not so close to the actual track so not very convenient when you’ve parked yourself in GA to watch the action. I would also bring a little bit of spare loo roll just in case you find yourself without in one of the cubicles and for the same reason, some hand sanitiser/wipes. This is a bit of an odd one because the one I had did have a flammable label but they let me keep it at bag check but that might have just been lucky. A power bank is also another good idea but do make sure yours complies with the restrictions. At the time I went, it had to be under 300g. To bring up the walking yet again, you may wish to bring some kind of chub rub lest you absolutely ruin the rest of your weekend due to the discomfort. And if you’re using public transport especially, save your fellow passengers some discomfort and remember to pack some deodorant (no aerosols though, bring a roll on - don’t claim ignorance, you were reminded here!).
Continuing with my style guide – sunglasses are a must. A hat is also a great idea and can also be used if you want to take a quick kip. Umbrellas are also a useful thing to pack, rain or shine and again, was a fantastic napping aid.
There are sometimes gaps from 30 mins to over an hour between races so it might be worth catching some Zs especially given how early you’ll potentially be getting up, how late you might be getting back, how much walking you’ll be doing and how tired the heat can make you. I don’t say this to discourage at all, in fact I recall taking a cheeky nap during one of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup sessions and found it rather blissful. For similar reasons, you may wish to bring a book or some playing cards so you can have something to do during the downtime.
To cap off this list, earplugs are also probably worth bringing but can be purchased at the track. I, in a bit of an impulsive pay-day move, opted for the radio headset ear defenders which proved themselves well worth the cost by race day.
As I was sat in an area where the radio wasn’t very audible and there weren’t any screens during the race, having a radio headset really helped me keep on top of the action. When your view is confined to one corner round the track, it can be hard to clock what’s happening, who is pitting, who has retired and when they really cluster, the actual positions of the drivers. Mine cost €100 which is rather steep – I took the plunge however as they can be used at other tracks if I was to go to another GP so I’m considering it an investment. You can use them to tune into other radio stations and also with Bluetooth to connect to your phone. To be frank, the audio quality isn’t so fantastic I’d consider it my first choice for those purposes but it’s nice they can be used that way in a pinch. When trackside at Monza, the commentators will switch between Italian and English. I swotted up on my Italian F1 phrases prior so I could understand it quicker, but don’t fret if your Italian isn’t up to scratch. You can also use the F1 app if you already pay for the premium version but do be aware that your connectivity might not always be consistent given the number of people trackside. I did find that the radio did occasionally cut out but the live timings were able to keep up. Some people around me did also tune into Sky Sports however, if like me you’re a Now TV customer, your Now TV subscription is based on the country you’ve bought it in. As my subscription is UK based, it was annoyingly geo-locked so completely unusable. Besides hearing the races, you’ll also be able to listen to the live music in between, Drivers Parade interviews and the interviews with drivers and Team Principals on stage in the build-up.
Advice: Food & Drink (And other ways to cut costs)
Once more, I will raise the point that this is a GP in Italy during summer, (yes - the tail end of summer, but summer nevertheless) so water is an essential item on this list.
Water bottles must be plastic and no larger than 500ml, so whilst you can’t be as efficient and eco-friendly by bringing your Chillys/Stanley, you can bring a few plastic bottles. People in groups would send one of their party to go refill for everyone so the others can keep a hold of their spots and avoid the swarm around the water stations between races. I didn’t have that luxury as I went on my own so I kept a hold of my empties after each day, and refilled 4-5 bottles at the refill station in the FanZone every morning as I’d walk through there to get to my spot. I did also freeze some water bottles overnight which I thoroughly recommend doing to have an extra refreshing drink in the midday sun. Food and drink can be pricey if you consider that you’ll be at the track upwards of 8 hours a day and the walking about may very well work up an appetite. Save at least some of your cash for the merch stands and bring your own grub. And if the economic reasons don’t bother you, I’d also advise bringing your own food to avoid the excessive queues – in between races especially, they can be quite lengthy.
A bit of bonus advice as someone who went to a GP solo, if you find a spot but need to pop to the loo, people are quite nice (generally speaking). I’ve asked many a neighbour to look after my belongings whilst I popped to the loo or got some more water and they’ve been happy to oblige.
Inside one of the Ferrari merchandise outlets inside the track. There are opportunities to buy also prior to the gate (but I believe aren't official outlets)
As you can see, it's rather pricey inside the store. I actually got that hat a lot cheaper at an F1 store in Sorrento (about €50).
The Track Invasion
To reiterate, General Admission is cheap for a reason. You will have to put in a bit of a graft to get yourself a good spot, but where GA truly pays dividends is the track invasion. Full disclaimer, I’m half-Italian and a Ferrari fan so of course being able to see Charles Leclerc win and to be able to belt the ‘Inno di Mameli’ with my compatriots is going to be one of the greatest highlights for me but truly, a Ferrari home win is a spectacle to behold regardless of where you are from and who you support - the atmosphere is absolutely electric.
On race day, I was somewhere around ‘Curva Biassono’. When we had gotten to around the final 2 laps, when Leclerc’s win looked more or less certain, I made my way down towards the gate, somewhere around ‘1a Variante’. Already, a crowd had amassed which I could tell from the growing chants and cheers before I could even see them. I waited by the gate, my Italian flag around my shoulders, listening to the final bits of commentary as they passed the chequered flag. I was grinning ear to ear as the excitement built. A track marshal stood by the gate being goaded by the tifosi urging him to open the gate, shouting, ‘Apri! Apri! Apri!’ until he finally gave in, and then we surged onto the track. At that point I felt I really understood that phrase ‘a sea of people’, because it felt like being swept by a current with all the pushing – not that I remotely minded. I will to my eternal shame admit I gave up running the whole way to the podium, my lack of stamina a result of me slacking on my cardio training, but if asked, I’d say I was ‘soaking up the atmosphere’ – and what an atmosphere! There were flags and flares as far as the eye could see. I’ll also admit, I very nearly did cry at the end of the national anthem but I don’t think I can be faulted for that. Ferrari have not won much recently and it is a damn good anthem after all. Once the celebrations are over, it takes a while to vacate the track anyhow so if you have the time, you can try and explore a bit more of the track, on the track whilst they open up more gates for people to leave. It’s not like you get to be at a Grand Prix often so you might as well try and make the most of the experience.
And even if you do in fact get off the track quite quickly (or you opt out of the track invasion), you’ll still have to wait for a shuttle and for the trains so enjoy. Check out the FanZone, try the Pit Stop Challenge, have a crack in the sim, get a load of pictures, have a boogie to one of the DJ sets – enjoy.
FINAL REMARKS
I should hope this was comprehensive enough given this has now exceeded the word count of half the essays I submitted in uni. To summarise though, TL;DR – arrive early, prepare to walk, bring your own food & drink, dress for comfort not for fashion, enjoy everything on offer and once more, prepare to walk.
