I’m David, 31 and from Bristol. I’ve been to the British Grand Prix twice but felt like doing something a bit different this year. I saw a feature during last year’s Hungarian GP and was captivated by the value and beauty of Budapest, so decided to make the trip. None of my friends wanted to come with so I made the trip on my own.
I flew to Bratislava on the Wednesday before the race and got the train to Budapest the following day. I stayed in a hotel in the north of Budapest. It was a bit out of the way but there was a bus stop outside that went straight into the city. At £27.50 a night, including breakfast, it was excellent value. Unfortunately I arrived too late for the pit walk and as the hotel was out of the city centre I didn’t get to meet any drivers, but the family I sat next to met several on Saturday evening.
Getting around the city was easy as every bus stop has a name and buses have screens showing the next stop. I also used the free bus to and from the track every day which was incredibly easy. I never had to wait more than five minutes anywhere, even after the race, and whilst the buses were packed and overcrowded, it was an excellent and well run service that many venues in the UK could do with looking at.
I sat in the Bronze stand by turns 6 and 7. A weekend ticket there was a bargain at €99 and the view of the track was incredible. I could see Turn 1 in the distance as well as all the track from Turn 4 to Turn 8. There was also a big screen to keep up to date on the action with. There were some downsides though: It was a long walk up the hill and not much fun with the high temperatures of Friday and Saturday, and once inside the track the only way to get to the main fan zones on the start/finish straight was to walk the long way round. The facilities in this part of the circuit were OK, but small in number and range.
The staff at my hotel told me the prices for food and drink at the track were “extortionate” but I found it to be cheap compared to venues at home. A chicken schnitzel, chips and a bottle of water cost me 3,100 Forints (£7.10). The quality wasn’t amazing, but when is it ever? In total I budgeted 14,000 Forints (£32) a day (I’m teetotal) but even factoring travel, lunch and dinner I still had money left each day. Many of the pop-up stalls outside the track are even cheaper with beer on sale from as little as 400 Forints (92p).
I was sat very close to the track which meant I could really hear how finely tuned the engines were, or not in the case of the McLarens, which sounded more like a rusty chainsaw engine than an F1 car. There was a PA system with commentary in English, Hungarian and German, but the engine noise drown the commentary out making it a challenge in the chaotic last few laps to work out what was happening, and Twitter never refreshes fast enough.
Ratings:
Driver of the weekend: On the basis of him winning me £11.25 by finishing on the podium, Daniel Ricciardo.
Team of the weekend: I can’t imagine how difficult a weekend it was for Manor. Getting both cars to the finish makes them the team of the weekend for me.
Overall rating: Next time I may do things differently, but I enjoyed it all so much that there definitely will be a next time… 9/10