How to Save Money at an F1 Race: 10 Tips for Formula 1 on a Budget
There’s an unfortunate yet incontrovertible truth about Formula 1: it’s an expensive sport. It’s an expensive sport to participate in in any capacity, and it’s an expensive sport for its fans, who spend money on TV subscriptions, pricey team kit, and yes, traveling to F1 races.
On the surface, some F1 race weekends might look fairly affordable if you’re just looking at general admission ticket prices. But when you factor in those ticket prices plus food plus getting to/from the track plus any potential travel costs, it starts adding up pretty quickly. (And if you want better tickets than just GA? Well, you’ll be paying for them, too!)
As Formula 1 gains popularity around the world (and especially in the US where people are used to paying a premium to attend pro sporting events), the fact is that it’s not going to get any cheaper. The days of being able to walk the grid for free or buy day-of tickets for a race are probably over, I’m afraid.
BUT, if attending an F1 race weekend is on your bucket list, there are some things you can do to make it a bit more wallet-friendly.
F1 on a budget tips
I’m not sure Formula 1 will ever be considered a “cheap” sport to watch live again, but there are always ways to save money if you’re smart about your planning.
Here are some of my top tips for saving money on an F1 race weekend:
1. Consider overall affordability
Going to an F1 race isn’t solely about the price of tickets. You also need to take into account travel costs, transit costs, accommodation costs, how much time you’ll need to take off work, and more.
I highly recommend researching all of this before you book any part of your trip; a race with affordable tickets might be in a destination that’s very expensive to fly to, or might have limited hotel options that will all be very pricey. In my tips for planning an F1 trip, I recommend researching everything to ensure you can actually get tickets AND a place to stay before booking any part of your trip.
There are definitely ways to save money on every aspect of an F1 trip, but it’s important that you consider them all together when deciding whether it fits into your budget or not.
2. Target races close(r) to home
Formula 1 teams currently race in two dozen different cities on 5 continents around the world, so there’s a decent chance you might be close(ish) to at least one of them. If you are, then that’s going to be the best race for you to target, since you can potentially save money on travel costs.
If you can drive your own car or take a local train to a race destination, it will obviously be more cost-effective than flying. And if you live close enough to stay at home and avoid booking a hotel, that will save you even more money, since hotels in race destinations always see highly inflated prices during F1 race weekends.
If traveling is absolutely necessary, then consider destinations that have more plentiful or affordable flight options, as well as places where your home currency might stretch further.
3. Don’t stay in the host city
Most likely you’ll have to travel to your chosen race destination and perhaps stay at least a couple nights at a hotel. Hotels closest to the circuit (and whatever town/city is closest to it) will always be the most expensive, and the first ones to sell out.
If you’re planning to go to a race in a country with a good public transit system, keep in mind that you probably don’t HAVE to stay right in the town where the circuit is. For example, we went to the Italian Grand Prix last year, and hotels in Monza sold out very quickly (or were exorbitantly priced). Hotels in Milan were even pushing our budget. So instead we stayed in the town of Como, which sounds far away but is actually only a 30-minute train ride away from Monza. The trains to/from Como were never overly packed, and it ended up being a fun base for us — and we didn’t overpay for accommodation.
In some cases, staying further away might add to your travel time to/from the track, but in many cases it might be very much worth it if it means saving quite a bit on accommodation costs.
4. Buy single day tickets
This is not available at every race, but at many you can buy single-day tickets. If you really can’t afford the 3-day weekend tickets, look for races that sell tickets separately for each day.
If you only go to the circuit one day, it also means potentially being able to save on accommodation costs, too!
5. Skip race day
This one might be slightly controversial, but an F1 race weekend spans 3 days, and tickets for Race Day will always be the most expensive (like, sometimes double the price of other single-day tickets). And guess what? You don’t *have* to go on Race Day!
If the race you want to go to offers single-day tickets, you can absolutely skip Race Day and get a ticket for another day during the weekend. There’s on-track action all 3 days of a race weekend, including from F1 cars and other support series, so it’s not like going on Saturday would be a let down (honestly, Saturday is lowkey my favorite day of an F1 weekend!).
Tickets for Friday (or whatever Day 1 of race weekend is) will always be the most affordable option — and the circuit will be the least busy on this day. The downside is that, unless it’s a Sprint Race weekend, you’ll only see F1 practice sessions on Friday. But you’ll still see F1 cars on-track!
Saturday (or Day 2 of race weekend) will also be less expensive than Race Day, and while the circuit will be lively, it won’t be as packed as it will be on Race Day.
Going on a Friday or Saturday is also best if you want to potentially see driver Q&A sessions, as they don’t do these on Race Day.
And if you skip Race Day, many race host cities now throw F1 events and set up fan zones/watch parties away from the circuit that are usually free for the public to attend. See if you can find one of these on Race Day to still feel the F1 vibes without the F1 price tag. (And doing it this way ensures you can actually see the whole race!)
6. Consider GA or a mix of tickets
Now, is general admission my favorite option for enjoying an F1 race weekend? No, probably not. With very few exceptions, the GA areas around a circuit are typically crowded and don’t usually offer the best views. Plus, you have to arrive very early to claim a good spot, and you’ll be sitting on the ground.
BUT, they are always going to be the cheapest tickets available on a race weekend. And, in most cases, GA is going to be just fine if you’re there more for the atmosphere. (Plus, GA tickets get you into the fan zone at every circuit, and you can always hang out there to watch the race, too.)
An option at *some* circuits (namely, the ones that offer single-day tickets) is the ability to buy different tiers of tickets for different days. For example, maybe you want to see the cars from a grandstand at least once — then buy grandstand tickets for Friday or Saturday, and get a GA ticket for Race Day since it’s always the most expensive day anyway.
(Again, this mix-and-matching of tickets won’t be available at every race, and many circuits only sell GA tickets in 3-day bundles. But it’s worth looking into!)
Similarly, if you want to experience a bit of F1 hospitality on a “budget” (“budget” here being relative, of course), find a circuit that offers single-day tickets and book VIP or hospitality tickets for Friday (the cheapest day by far), and then grandstand or GA tickets the rest of the days you want to be at the circuit. We did this for the upcoming race weekend at Spa, and yes, the hospitality tickets are still pricey, but buying them just for Friday made it more affordable for us.
7. Book tickets as far in advance as possible
Regardless of what ticket type you decide to buy, you’ll want to buy your F1 race tickets as far in advance as possible. Some races go on sale very far in advance (Monza, for example, usually goes on sale almost a full year in advance of the race), while others only can be purchased 3-4 months ahead.
This is something you’ll need to research during your trip planning phase so you can get your tickets as close to when they drop as possible. For races that don’t sell out straight away, the ticket prices will only increase as time goes on. So you’ll get the best prices when you book early.
8. Buy direct from the circuit
You’ll also find the best ticket prices when you buy directly from the host circuit. Yes, lots of verified resellers for F1 tickets exist (and I’ve used some of them myself!), but they’re all going to charge a bit more than face-value for your tickets.
Cut out the middleman (and the extra costs associated with them) and buy direct from the circuit whenever possible.
9. Know what you can/can’t bring
Every circuit has slightly different rules about what you can/can’t bring with you. Alcohol is mostly prohibited everywhere, but many circuits allow spectators to bring water (and sometimes other non-alcoholic drinks), and even food.
If you’re going to a race that allows you to bring in food, snacks, and water, definitely consider doing this so you can save some money at the circuit. Food and drinks at an F1 race are often pretty expensive, so if you can bring your own lunch you’ll save a bit of cash.
(We try to cover what you can/can’t bring in all our race guides!)
10. Don’t buy merch at the track
Lastly, avoid buying team merch at the circuit at all costs. Unless it’s truly something you can *only* get at the track on race weekend, I guarantee you can buy it elsewhere (either at a pop-up in the host city, or online before/after the race) for less.
They mark up the merch prices at the track pretty significantly; for example, a special edition Ferrari hat at Monza last year was €70 at the track, but only €50 elsewhere in Italy and online.
I know this one is hard to avoid when you’re caught up in the moment and excitement of a race weekend, but I promise it’ll save you a few pennies!
BONUS: Bring your AMEX card
If you happen to be an American Express card-holder, for the next couple of years (while F1 has a partnership with AMEX) you’ll want to bring your AMEX card with you on race weekend. Not only can showing your card let you skip lines for different activations and photo ops in the fan zone, but it can also get you freebies like a race radio, seat cushion, and more.
It’s not necessarily going to *save* you money, but it can often get you things to make the experience more comfortable and convenient!
None of these tips are revolutionary, I know, but hopefully you got a few ideas on how to save money going to an F1 race!
Do you have any other budget-saving tips for Formula 1 races?
