Michael Schumacher beaming fom the slopes of Madonna di Campiglio, Kimi Raikkonen in fashion mags. Such sightings tells us that hibernation is over and the new Formula One season is about to kick off. In a little over five weeks time, Melbourne's Albert Park will echo to the sound of 18,000 plus horsepower as the 20 cars on the grid delight hundreds of thousands of spectators. Justin Hynes presents his entirely personal guide to the five best grands prix to try to reach this season.
Australian Grand Prix
Melbourne: March 5th-7th
It's a truism frequently uttered by paddock habitués that the Grand Prix season starts with a bang in Melbourne, and it's all downhill from there. The Australian race is the best mix of race and venue all season.
Melbourne throws a hell of a party. The atmosphere around the temporary Albert Park circuit is fantastic. The weekend has a full and excellent support programme of racing.
Yes, it’s expensive to get to. Yes, it’s the other side of the world, but as part of a major holiday it’s a great experience. Do the race weekend, then drive the Great Ocean Road or take a ferry to Tasmania to hang around picturesque Hobart. Take a four-hour flight on budget airline Virgin Blue to Queensland to dive the Barrier Reef or drive to Adelaide to explore the winelands north of the pretty little city.
If you're an F1 fanatic, route through Kuala Lumpur on the way out, holiday for a weekin Oz and take in the Malaysian GP on the way home.
Flights to Melbourne from Dublin with Malaysia Airlines via London and Kuala Lumpur can be had for a little over 11,100. Melbourne hotelrooms on race weekend are hard to come by, but assiduous internet searching will usually turn up something for around 1100 a night and rates will drop considerably after race Sunday.
Alternatively for Malaysia alone, the Travel Department (traveldepartment.ie) has organised trips starting at 11,629 for six nights including Malaysia Airlines flights, transfers and unspecified grandstand tickets for qualifying and the race. There's also a half-day tour of Kuala Lumpur and full-day tour of Malacca.
Spanish Grand Prix
Barcelona, May 7th-9th
Already well established as a favourite GP destination with the Irish, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya is greatly aided by its proximity to wonderful Barcelona. Take the train from the city to Montmelo first thing in the morning, walkabout 20 minutes to the track, pickyour spot, enjoy the action. Then head back to cruise the Ramblas and the Barri Gotica before hitting some of the city's elegant, flashy and trashy bars and clubs into the small hours. If you're going independently, Ryanair flies to Girona, about an hour's drive from Barcelona. Aer Lingus flies direct to Barcelona.
Hotels in Barcelona can be tricky to come by, so bookearly and expect to pay sums starting from 180-100 a night.
The Travel Department offers three nights including flights, three-star accommodation, again on a two/three sharing basis, plus general admission tickets and transfers for 1689 (ex-Dublin) and 1729 (ex-Cork) with grandstand tickets or hotel upgrades adding incrementally.
Monaco Grand Prix
May 20th-23rd
The daddy of them all. Everyone wants to got to Monaco. It's worth at least one trip just for the experience of being so close to the cars that you can very easily be run over.
Monaco is mayhem. Endless glamour-pussing can get wearing and eating and drinking (particularly) are phenomenally expensive. Don't even thinkof trying Jimmyz nightclub to star-spot – you won't get past face control at the door and anyway your bankmanager has already taken out a barring order against you.
Unless you're filthy rich and have friend in high and suspect places, forget about staying in
Monaco itself. You'll be better off in one of the nearby towns such as Car D'Ail (five minutes by cab) Beaulieu-sur-Mer (10 minutes), Eze, or even Nice, just 15 minutes away by frequent train. The crucial thing to remember in Monaco –qualifying is everything. If you can, get a grandstand ticket. The atmosphere on the general admission hill above Rascasse is electric, but the view is tricky and you have no big screen to see other action. A grandstand for qualifying will make your weekend. Better still, investigate restaurants and hotels offering balconies from where to view. These come at a price but the Café de Paris does a buffet and a view for qualifying which is hard to forget. As with anything for Monaco, checkprices and availability as soon as possible. You should have done this last June, but something may still be available, somewhere.
Aer Lingus has scheduled flights to Nice, and Internet searching should unearth Nice hotels starting at around 180 a night for budget hotels ascending to insanity for the Hotel Negresco. Again, The Travel Department has packages starting at 1789 for flights and three nights staying at an unspecific three-star location somewhere on the Côte D'Azur. It also includes general admission tickets for qualifying and the race. A selection of grandstands are available, but costs rise alarmingly and are only available for qualifying, but then that's all you need.
Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal June 11th-13th
Few Irish F1 fans make it to the superb Canadian GP, despite almost direct flights from Dublin (they first call to Toronto) for reasonable prices. There's a wonderful atmosphere at this city-based circuit that's easily accessible by public transport.
Montreal's a riot. "Must-dos" are Thursday's restaurant/bar/club which is, by and large, solely peopled with F1 folkfrom team members to hordes of worse-for-wear media types as well as the occasional team owner or driver. Up the street on the corner is Jacques Villeneuve's Newtown bar. It's posey and peopled with celebrity stalkers, but the restaurant's food is good and the bar chic.
Another temporary circuit, it's a wonderful mix of high-speed straights and hard-braking corners which can put the drivers in all sorts of trouble and usually throws up any number of suprises.
Flights are available on Canadian Airlines, currently about 1670 for Thursday to Monday, June 11th to 14th. Charter service Air Transat also offers flights. Be warned – although French in flavour, Montreal's hotels are firmly in the grip of gross North American capitalism –prices normally rise by anything up to 300 per cent on race weekend. More information on www.tourism-montreal.org
Belgian Grand Prix
Spa Francorchamps August 27th-29th
The legend lives . . . Spa Francorchamps is back on the calendar and should be visited by every F1 fan at least once. While hordes of Irish flock to Silverstone every year to fritter away hard-earned euro on expensive grandstand tickets, bad pies, warm beer and raincoats, Belgium offers the chance to fritter away far fewer euro on better views of a lengendary circuit, chips swamped in mayonnaise and 700 varieties of nice beer. The raincoats unfortunately remain the same.
From the hairpin of La Source down the frighteningly steep hill to the left-right flickat Eau Rouge up a solid wall or curving trackto the blind left-hander at Raddilon before blasting down the massively long Kemmel straight, to a tight right-hander and downhill sweeps of Pouhon, Spa is Formula 1 as it's meant to be –thrilling, dangerous, uplifting and cheap.
Flights to Charleroi with Ryanair come in at around 1110, but maybe more after the EU ruling. Aer Lingus flights to Brussels are available for 1173. Rent a car for a couple of hundred and take a leisurely two-hour drive to the wonderful Ardennes, home of Belgian gastronomy and some of the best driving roads anywhere.
There are lots of villages and small towns around Spa, from Stavelot to Malmedy and beyond, with many pensions, guesthouses and small hotels. Or you could stay with families –many open their homes to paying racefans. Malmedy's tourist office at www.malmedy.be usually compiles a list of those available.
The Travel Department option provides for flights and three nights' three-star, two to three sharing accommodation, and general admission tickets and transfers for 1699 with grandstand tickets costing extra. It offers grandstand tickets at Radillon for 1229 – this gives good views of Eau Rouge, the troublesome Radillon curve and the Kemmel straight. Stands at Pouhon, a slow but fascinating downhill corner, are also available for 1169.