Silverstone : Sunday 7th July 2024

Race day
The most exciting day of the entire weekend

By now we felt we knew Silverstone well and knew that if we wanted to be able to go on track for the podium then we needed to be at Vale as soon as the gates opened at 630am to get an access wristband. But everyone else knew too. So, we were up at 3am and at the gate by 4am, and no, we weren’t the first there!!!! Remember that smaller gate that following Lando’s car on Friday had shown us? There were only 6 people there so that was the place to be. It was fun actually, we sat and chatted with some lovely people and met one of the sniffer dogs that had already been working the circuit that morning. Security is taken very seriously.
Gates opened at 630am and we ran for our lives to Vale. Wristbands were secured and we got our favourite spot at the front of Vale opposite the Marshall post and pit entry.

It was sunny, we had lovely people around us, all we had to do was wait. The good thing about Silverstone is that there are so many support and feeder series there.

We saw the F3 feature race, the F2 feature race, historic F1 cars and the Porsche super cup all before 12.30pm!

The weather was constantly changing but that just made it more exciting and thankfully the sun started to shine in time for the drivers parade. Again, seeing the drivers as real people had a profound affect and Lando and Lewis both played up to their respective grandstands. By now the entire crowd was absolutely buzzing, the atmosphere created by so many like-minded people was incredible. I’ve often found that motorsport fans are some of the most friendly, helpful and lovely people and of course, British fans are the best in the world!! And then the race started and literally no one was sitting down anymore. We’d turn to watch the cars go past, see how they were setting up the final corner for some possible overtaking then turn back to the big screen behind us to watch the rest of the lap. We cheered on our favourites and shouted for every single one of the 70 laps. We didn’t care about the weather anymore, it only mattered for strategy, not for how we felt. To a man, we were pacing, biting our lips, crying out when our drivers were overtaken, exclaiming when they pitted and shouting strategy calls at them. The collective experience was unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed and it was the quickest Grand Prix of my life!!! It honestly felt like it lasted only 30 minutes and, although the entire crowd had different favourites, every single one of us cheered when Lewis won !!!

Getting onto the track was a bit fraught, the track team didn’t handle it that well and the exits were way too small for the amount of people but we made it and ran as fast as we could to the podium. We saw most of it and what a moment for British motorsport to have two of our own up there. You’re allowed to stay on the track until 530pm so we wandered down the main straight, gathering tyre rubber as souvenirs, taking pictures of the grid and then continued to see the pits. The track walk is something I highly recommend. Without paddock passes it’s the only way to see how the pits actually work, you can see the mechanics packing up, some celebs still hanging around and sometimes drivers will come out to the pit lane. It can be a long wait but again we got lucky and saw the McLaren team photo being taken for Lando’s P3 which meant we saw Lando, Oscar, Zak and Andrea.
What nobody tells you is that, as soon as you are asked to leave the track, you realise that it’s all over. There are no more events, reality is approaching fast. The sheer exhaustion of the weekend will hit you but also, when you’ve been at the circuit for three days, that becomes your reality. The thought of going back to real life is heartbreaking.
So you start planning for the following year, because there is no way that this experience can be a one off.

So what did we learn?
Firstly, you don’t need to spend a a lot of money beyond the price of the tickets. I know Silverstone in particular has come under criticism for being overpriced but we were left feeling that very penny we spent was worth it. We camped to save money but it put us so much closer to the action and to be part of the community was wonderful. From the people who helped us blow up our air beds with an electric pump, to those who invited us to party with them, to falling asleep to the sound of LANDOOOOOOOOO, being amongst fellow fans gave us a real feel of community and family.

Plan but be flexible as well. We knew our nearest gate, we downloaded the Silverstone app to have the schedules and we wandered to know our route but we also got very lucky with who we saw on stage, we explored as much as we wanted to and just joined in with everyone else, particularly for the football match. We sat in different areas for different sessions until we knew where we wanted to be for the race.

Get grandstand tickets if you want to but we would definitely just go for general admission again so that we can experience different areas and viewpoints.
Prepare to be exhausted. There’s a lot of walking to be done but also the exhilaration, stimulation and length of the day will take it out of you. If you can take an extra day before heading back to reality then do so.
Take phone banks so you can take as many pictures and videos as possible. Trying to process and remember your weekend will be impossible and photos help a lot with it.

And finally just absorb everything. The sights and sounds of F1 cars is like nothing else on earth. You think you’re prepared from watching on tv but I promise you, seeing them in real life will be emotional and something that will live with you forever.

Silverstone, thank you! We’ll see you next year xx