How to see the Formula 1 stars up close

Like the rest of the world, I got hooked on Formula 1 after the Netflix series Drive to Survive roared onto the streaming service in 2019. Until the docuseries made the sport cool again, my relationship with Formula 1 belonged to the days of Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen on TV in the 2000s, plus a few laps of Formula 1 Grand Prix on the Nintendo 64.

In other words, it had been a few years since I last followed it.

Book a hotel for race weekend: See available rooms at Leonardo Hotel Barcelona Las Ramblas

But now I, along with a few million others around the world, have caught the racing bug. So much so that a group of friends and I travelled to Spain and the Circuit de Catalunya for the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix.

Haas and Günther Steiner

On track, in a good 30 degrees, we found all our favourites from the screen: charmer Daniel Ricciardo, who changes teams more often than others change socks but never quite lives up to expectations. The underdogs Haas, with the world's coolest team principal in Günther Steiner. And the somewhat unsympathetic Red Bull team, which seems to have an endless list of dirty tricks and always wins.

Everything was set for a weekend packed with horsepower, beer and a great atmosphere.

How to get Formula 1 tickets

Our group shares a great passion for food, travel and sport, and very little Spanish. So the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona looked like the perfect first race to experience Formula 1.

The most important thing, of course, is getting tickets to the race itself. Tickets can be bought through the official Formula 1 website, formula1.com. As with most things in life, it pays to be early, as the cheapest seats sell out fast. Formula 1 understands the value of an experience, and every race has plenty of packages at every price point. Some of the exclusive packages include visits to the garages, guided tours and meeting the popular drivers. Only your credit card sets the limit.

Bring your own deckchair and cool box to Formula 1

There is no fixed ticket price across the races in a season. Prices vary from country to country and circuit to circuit. The cheapest tickets give access on race day only. You then have no fixed seat in a grandstand and have to find your own spot along the track. In Barcelona, for example, thousands arrived early with their own deckchairs and cool boxes and set up camp along the circuit.

We decided it was worth buying seats. The plan was to get places in the main grandstand, but a little miscommunication in the group meant we ended up with tickets on one of the long sides. The tickets gave us entry to practice on Friday, qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. You can also catch all the Formula 2 races, qualifying and practice, which run before the main race on the same weekend.

With tickets sorted, all that remained was to plan the trip, the restaurants and everything else a good weekend in Barcelona involves. While planning, we quickly found out that the F1 organisers are not the only ones making money on race weekend. Many hotels raise their prices sharply, so it pays to book early.

We ended up at Leonardo Hotel Barcelona Las Ramblas. A perfectly decent hotel two or three minutes' walk from Barcelona's main street, La Rambla. The rooms were small, but cars, engines and good conversation were the focus, not a unique hotel experience.

As we landed on Friday afternoon, practice that day was not part of our plan. Saturday would be our first meeting with the Formula 1 circus.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

The Spanish Grand Prix is held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a racetrack next to the small town of Montmeló, about 40 minutes from central Barcelona. Having been to enough big sporting events in our short lives, we have learnt that a taxi may be the most comfortable option, but also the least efficient and most expensive.

So we decided to follow the organisers' advice and take the train to the circuit.

Good for the environment and the wallet.

According to the Formula 1 website, it was about 20 to 30 minutes from the station to the circuit, or you could take shuttle buses from the station laid on by the organisers.

Unsurprisingly, plenty of others had the same idea, so we simply followed the crowd. That said, information about the right train and buying tickets was poor. But after some queueing, we finally got on the train.

With a heatwave rolling over Europe that weekend, and 278,000 other people heading the same way, it was a clammy, cramped and sweaty journey. It went fine all the same. We have been on lads' trips before.

Book a hotel for race weekend: See available rooms at Hotel Arts Barcelona

No shuttle bus to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

A quick pit stop for a few beers and water in the heat after arriving in Montmeló gave us new energy before heading on to the circuit. Again, we just followed the crowd. The famous shuttle buses that F1 boasted about on its website were nowhere to be seen, so it was a fairly long walk in the blazing sun.

Once outside the circuit, the next project was getting in and finding the right seats. The heat did not help, and we quickly discovered it was hard to find anywhere selling water. A steward advised us to head for the main entrance. Another walk and 20 to 30 minutes of queueing in 40 degrees wore down both mood and morale, but eventually we made it through the gates.

We had read beforehand that bringing your own drinks was banned. Whether we misread it or it was down to poor English on the F1 website, we do not know. Either way, thousands of people had cool boxes with their own drinks, and that choice turned out to be wise.

Alcohol was still banned, and inside only alcohol-free drinks and light beer were sold (a controversial choice, according to the newspapers before the race).

Few kiosks, long queues and a typically Spanish pace behind the counter caused real problems and irritation among the crowd. It did not help that the only two kiosks we passed ran out of water at around 1pm on Saturday. Not great, given that qualifying, including Formula 2, would not finish until 5 or 6pm.

Desperate for water, we saw several people filling up from the taps in the portable toilets, despite a big do not drink sign. There were also few shaded areas to escape the strong sun, something the organisers were heavily criticised for on social media afterwards.

Mexican fine dining at COME by Paco Méndez

Qualifying itself was exciting. Despite a spin late in the session, favourite Charles Leclerc of Ferrari came out on top and took pole position. Red Bull's Max Verstappen ended up P2 despite technical problems with his car.

When qualifying was over, we stayed to watch Norway's Dennis Hauger in the Formula 2 sprint race. Another advantage was that fewer people would stay for Formula 2, so not as many would be heading back to the centre at the same time.

We were right that fewer people stayed, and around two thirds left before the Formula 2 sprint started. It was still around 40 degrees when the younger generation got going on the tarmac. The organisers had still not found any water, so we stuck to warm fizzy drinks and lukewarm light beer.

After a disappointing day from a Norwegian point of view, with Hauger finishing P16, it was time to get back to the centre and our reservation at the Mexican fine dining restaurant COME by Paco Méndez. It was just after 7pm, and in theory we had plenty of time to make our 9pm booking.

That hope vanished quickly as we approached the station in Montmeló.

Even several hundred metres from the entrance, people stood stuck, packed like sardines. We soon realised it was hopeless, and it did not help when a man told us they had been warned of a wait of several hours. We thought an hour in a local bar would ease the pressure. We could not have been more wrong, and the crowd seemed to grow by the minute.

After a few desperate phone calls to the restaurant, we managed to push the booking back a quarter of an hour, without much hope it would help. A local told us that no extra trains had been laid on into the city, and that only the local train was running every half hour.

No wonder it was slow.

Getting a taxi by phone was also impossible, as thousands of people around us had the same idea. After some aimless wandering around the little town, one of our group started stopping random cars to ask if anyone could drive us into the city. A kind soul said yes and took four hungry Norwegians into the centre. We made the booking with one minute to spare and had a fantastic meal.

Formula 1 Sunday

Despite Saturday's mixed experience, we were in high spirits as we headed to the circuit on race day. Saturday had been a kind of qualifying round for us too, and older and wiser we took a taxi to the circuit. It was far less complicated than the organisers had suggested, and we were dropped off smoothly outside. We had also learnt from the day before and packed our own drinks.

Plastic bottles were waved through, but cans were taken off people at the entrance.

The heat was no better on Sunday, and the tarmac was said to be close to 50 degrees, but at least we had our own drinks and did not have to queue for 40 minutes for lukewarm soft drinks.

With everything prepared, all that was left was to enjoy the sun, the race and the drama. The race itself was exciting. Ferrari driver Leclerc had engine problems right in front of where we sat and had to retire, while teammate Sainz nearly threw in the towel after going off.

We also saw Mercedes finally solve some of the problems they had earlier in the 2022 season. George Russell finished third after an intense battle with Verstappen and Sergio Pérez. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth, having fought back from 19th after ending up in the gravel following a clash with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.

The winner was Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with Pérez second.

Unlike Saturday, we had not booked one of Barcelona's many great places to eat. As the day before, it was total chaos leaving the circuit, and the organisers did not seem to have lifted a finger to change the anarchy of the previous day.

Instead we had done some research and found a restaurant about 30 to 40 minutes' walk from the circuit, away from all the chaos. It turned out to be a smart move.

After a decent dinner and a few beers, we ordered a taxi back to central Barcelona to enjoy the last hours of the evening with a good drink in hand. Among other places, we stopped by Two Schmucks, a cocktail bar on the renowned World's 50 Best Bars list.

Formula 1 is worth the money

On the flight home the next day, we all agreed it had been an incredible experience and well worth the money. Seeing the Formula 1 circus live is something else entirely from watching it on TV. The insane power of the cars in a glorious cacophony with the fans, the atmosphere, the drama and the tactics of the different teams make for weekend entertainment you cannot get from the armchair.

With fantastic Barcelona as a backdrop, it is hard not to have a good time, and this will not be the last trip we make to see our heroes live.

That said, the organisers' logistical nightmare was a massive letdown that dragged down the overall impression, and next time we will probably choose one of the other Formula 1 circuits.

Where to stay for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona

Hotels in Barcelona fill up and raise their prices on race weekend, so book early. Staying in the city gives you food, beaches and nightlife in the evenings, and the train to Montmeló from the centre.

Picolo earns a small commission if you book through our links. It costs you nothing extra.

Leonardo Hotel Barcelona Las Ramblas: where we stayed

We stayed here, a few minutes' walk from La Rambla. The rooms are small, but the location is great and the hotel has a bar and a roof terrace with a pool for after a hot day at the track.

Book the hotel: See available rooms at Leonardo Hotel Barcelona Las Ramblas

Hotel Arts Barcelona: luxury by the sea

If we went again, we would treat ourselves to the tower by the Olympic port, with four restaurants, a pool with views of Frank Gehry's golden fish sculpture and the beach right outside.

Book the hotel: See available rooms at Hotel Arts Barcelona

Read more

• Barcelona travel guide: sights, food and beaches

• Spain travel guide: the best places, tips and food

• Barcelona: where beach and city go hand in hand

• The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao: one of the world's most famous buildings

Frequently asked questions about Formula 1 in Barcelona

Where is Formula 1 held in Barcelona?

The Spanish Grand Prix is held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya outside the city, near Montmeló. Picolo was there for the 2022 race and experienced a weekend full of horsepower, heat and a great atmosphere in the stands.

How do you buy Formula 1 tickets?

Tickets are sold through the official Formula 1 website, formula1.com. It pays to be early, as the cheapest seats sell out fast. There are packages at every price point, including exclusive packages with extra experiences.

Is Barcelona a good first Formula 1 race?

Yes. The Spanish Grand Prix is a good first race if you want to experience Formula 1 for the first time. You can combine race weekend with food, culture and beach life in Barcelona.

Where should I stay for Formula 1 in Barcelona?

Stay in central Barcelona and take the train or a taxi to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló. Leonardo Hotel Barcelona Las Ramblas is close to La Rambla, and Hotel Arts Barcelona is by the beach at the Olympic port. Book early, as prices rise on race weekend.