Last month, we made our first trip to the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg, near Graz. Here’s our report!

All photos © f1destinations.com

The trip began in Vienna, where we met a friend from Australia, picked up a hire car and set the GPS for Spielberg, the home of the Red Bull Ring. Ever since watching races on the old Österreichring back in the late 1980s, we have always wanted to make it to this iconic F1 venue in the heart of the beautiful Austrian countryside, and this year we had the opportunity. We elected to stay in Graz* and drive to the circuit each day, which turned out to be a good decision. It takes about an hour on the motorway and parking was plentiful (and free!) at the circuit. After selling out for its return in 2014, spectator numbers were down this year by around 30-40%. From our perspective this was a good thing. The atmosphere at the track was still pretty good, but we didn’t have to queue for a beer or the toilet. (*We stayed at Red Lodge, an affordable place on the outskirts of Graz, where a single room set us back €38 each per night)

We’ve been to plenty of F1 races in recent years, and the fan experience at the Red Bull Ring was overwhelmingly positive. The organizers no doubt learned a thing or two from the return race in 2014 and we found it hard to find fault with the way the event was managed. The only frustrating aspect, apart from the changeable weather and lack of sun, was that we were led to believe that there would be ‘Free Friday’, i.e. we would be able to access all the grandstands on Friday. This wasn’t the case, and whilst we were able to sneak into a couple of grandstands on the day, it still felt like we had been misled. Read on to find out what we though of the event and check out our photos, the majority of which we took with an iPhone6. Stay tuned for our comprehensive travel guide to the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix!