We spent 30 hours and drove 2,400 kilometres, only to see Max Verstappen go off track at turn 3. 😑
This review is a bit different from the others. No hotel or AirBNB, no long-haul flight and no hip coffee shops with tasty breakfasts or lunches, but instead, we took a motorhome to the Red Bull Ring for a weekend of Formula 1, camping breakfast and barbecue.
Motorhome hire F1 Austria
Renting a campervan is quite easy. In Australia, we rented through Indie Campers, this time we rent the campervan through goboony. If you’ve used platforms like Airbnb or Booking.com, goboony also allows you to enter a date of departure and arrival to then see the total price of your booking.
We rent a three- to four-bed motorhome with a fixed bed at the back, a shower and toilet, kitchen with a small fridge and air conditioning while driving. What the camper lacks is an air conditioner in the camper area during downtime and/or when connected to electricity. Given the heat in Spielberg during our visit, which wasn’t ideal, given the heat in Spielberg.
Furthermore, we have no free mileage. Not a disaster, but something to look out for when booking a campervan. In addition, check the facilities that may or may not be included in the rental, such as bedding, camping chairs and, for example, a table.
We picked up the motorhome in Aalten, making our route from Leeuwarden, via Aalten over the A3 in Germany to Spielberg, where the Red Bull Ring is located.
On the outward journey, we choose to do the trip in 1 go and spend about 15 hours on the road. On the return journey, we choose to leave as early as Sunday evening – the campsite will be fairly empty by then – and spend the night in Germany. We split the return drive into two legs of about 7.5 hours.
Camping Blau Spielberg F1
We spend the night at Camping Blau, within walking distance of the circuit. The campsite is divided into several fields – about 6 – of which you are assigned one. If you arrive early, you can choose your own field.
We are pointed to Camping Blau, field 3. One of the quieter fields. We wake up at the stroke of 7 a.m. with Guten Morgen, Sonnenschein blasting through the speakers and throughout the day you can enjoy alternating Dutch music interspersed with German hits.
The campsite also has a number of power points, showers and toilets. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, these are well kept clean, but on Sundays, this quickly diminishes.
Race Experience’s description states that your camper can be a maximum of 7 metres and you get a spot designated 30m2, but practice shows otherwise. Nothing is checked during our visit and, based on the experiences of other guests, it was no different in previous years.
Atmosphere Formula 1 campsite Red Bull Ring
The atmosphere at the campsite is excellent throughout the weekend. The variety of visitors is nice to see. Families, couples, groups of friends, Dutch, Germans, Italians… Everything is mixed together and gets along well.
From early in the morning until late in the evening (or early at night), there are several party tents where Dutch sing-alongs reverberate from the speakers, and if you are lucky, you will hear three or four songs mixed together. It doesn’t bother anyone.
Fanzone Red Bull Ring
From the campsite, it is about a 10-minute walk to the fan zone where interviews with the drivers and performances can be seen, the necessary merchandise can be found and there is also no shortage of food and drinks.
Compared to Zandvoort, I notice that the Fanzone has many small terraces, which makes the picture a bit more convivial.
Another positive surprise is that there are sunburn dispensers and many water taps to be found, not a luxury given the extreme heat during the race weekend.
Food and drink Red Bull Ring
Eating and drinking at the fan zone, as mentioned, poses no problem. From healthy poké bowls, (water) ice creams, fries, hot dogs to roasts and curry sausages. Something for everyone.
Fancy something other than water from the water tap? Then you can find cans of Red Bull everywhere, as well as soft drinks and beer. What did shock me was the price: two beers cost €23.
Red Bull Tribune
We have tickets for the Red Bull Tribune and I can’t be anything but happy about that. You have a lot of action – almost too much – because you can follow the cars well after turn 1 until turn 3. After turn 4, you practically follow them until turn 8, albeit with a large screen directly in front of us..
We are in section I and hear from our neighbours – at the campsite – that they switched from section I to section J 2 years ago because there is no screen in front of it. If I visit the Red Bull Ring again, that is something I would take into account.
The atmosphere in the stands is as convivial as on the campsite and here too, everyone is sitting criss-cross. The seats are more spacious than I am used to, although sitting on a plastic chair for over an hour five times in three days is still not pleasant.
Marquee camping Blau
“The atmosphere in the marquee is just great” said our neighbours. And nothing could be further from the truth. The marquee at Camping Blau is extremely cosy. the party kicks off at 5 p.m. with an hour of free beer and, as it gets later, moves from the open hall (left photo) to the closed tent (right photo).
Here, too, young and old, locals and different nationalities and fans of different teams mingle without a problem. A DJ spins the evening together with – how could it be otherwise – Dutch hits and after five rounds of “just one more beer we walk to our camper van in a few minutes.
Cost F1 Austria
Below is an overview of the (most) costs that our weekend F1 in Austria entailed. Food and drink costs are of course different per person, and you can also save or incur extra costs on the motorhome and tickets for F1.
| F1 Entrance ticket | €440 per person |
| Camping Blau | € 430 total / € 215 per person |
| Motorhome rental thursday/tuesday | € 1,050 total / € 525 per person |
| Fuel | € 350 total / € 175 per person |
| Shopping | €75 per person |
| Food and drink | € 150 per person |
| Vignette and tolls | €50 per person |
| Total | ~€ 1.630 |
| Note: the above is an estimate. |
Tips F1 Austria
Based on my experience, here are some (logical) tips I would like to give you if you are considering a Formula 1 weekend yourself and – like us – want to do it in the motorhome.
- Make sure to split up the journey if it is as long as in our case. 15 Hours of driving with two people is a long sit. You can spend the night along the motorway in Germany without any problem.
- Book – if possible – a campervan with air conditioning in the living area, for when it is (extremely) hot during your visit. Also make sure you bring an extra cooler in that case.
- Bring a small portable barbecue. Our disposable barbecues were not practical due to the heat and the barren grass.
- Check carefully which campsite is close to the grandstand at the circuit. We spoke to campers who had to walk for over 1.5 hours because they had picked the wrong campsite.
