Imola F1: Pole Position Guide to the Grand Prix in Emilia Romagna

Forget checking in your rearview mirror, because when it comes to the F1 in Emilia Romagna, you'll want to be looking forward - and prepared. The roar of the engines is deafening, the blur of the cars is incredible and the energy is indescribable. If you're not a die-hard fan, you'll still love the experience of seeing the race live. But before you dive head-first into the adrenaline, there are a number of things you can do to make your Grand Prix weekend as smooth as a 3 second pit stop.

Buying tickets
First thing is first, getting your hands on tickets for the F1 in Imola isn't cheap. This isn't a 'show up on the day and hope for the best' kind of event. Buying well in advance is paramount. Your safest bet is always through the official F1 website tickets.formula1.com or the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari's official website.

Consider reputable sellers if you can't go direct to the website. Do your research before purchasing. We went through P1 Travel and had no issues, but other reviews have noted some complications. Our tickets were sent to us about 2 weeks before, like they say - but it was a nervous wait in the lead up to the event, hoping they would be sent to us.

Grandstand tickets v General population
This is a hard one. We went back and forth for ages because the grandstand tickets were double the price of the general admission (and they weren't cheap either). But given we were attending as a group, we decided to try to save a few hundred dollars and go with the general entry tickets. Our game plan was to attend the day before and scope out the best viewing spots during the practice, so we knew where to beeline on the day of the race. For the most part, this plan was solid. But I must admit, most of the spots on the circuit we tried out on the practice day, you could see the cars whir past very quickly and it didn't really give you a proper gauge on the race of what was happening. There are some tvs set up around that people congregate around - but they were always crowded spots.

In the end, I think we ended up with the perfect compromise. We found the entrance to Hotel Rivazza that has the perfect view over the starting line and pit lanes and we paid an extra 120 euro each for the perfect view of it all. We got there about 9am in the morning, put our picnic blanket down at the fence line and basically sat in our spot all day until the race. There were toilets and food stalls nearby, so we were set. In the grand scheme of things, it technically was above the Acque Minerali 1 grandstand, but generally a lot cheaper than those seats. I do think we got a bit of a unicorn spot though - because even if you choose one of the cheaper grandstand seats, you could still miss out on a lot of it because of the positioning of the seats. This was pretty awesome that we could see all the pit stops and one of the main overtaking chicanes was also in our line of sight.

Where to stay
There are quite a few options here, but if I was to advise the next person who wants to experience the F1 at Imola, to try to get themselves accommodation in town. People say you can stay in either Bologna or Rimini (which you definitely can, no doubt about it) but:
1. It's a logistical nightmare going home afterwards. The train station is a crush of people all trying to leave at once.
2. You miss out on the after party in Imola - and I can confirm the town goes off. We stayed a little later on the Saturday night and the town was alive with people. I'd advise making a booking at a restaurant well ahead of time (unless you're happy just to sample the street food).

So if you're organised and the accommodation isn't too crazy - try to stay in Imola first. Alternatively, Bologna was only an hour's train ride away and still reasonably priced when we booked. It will get more pricey as it gets closer to the event though.