🏎️ The Ultimate Guide to Watching Formula 1 This Summer
Where, When, and How to Follow F1 Like a True (Functional) Nerd
Let’s be honest — there are two kinds of F1 fans:
The ones who’ve been watching since Schumacher’s dominance and still argue about tire strategy in 2006.
The ones who fell down the Drive to Survive rabbit hole and suddenly know what DRS means.
Whichever camp you belong to, Formula 1 is no longer a niche sport. It’s global, glam, intense, political, emotional — and sometimes, unexpectedly hilarious.
And if you’re traveling this summer (or planning to) and don’t want to miss a single overtake, team radio meltdown, or last-lap heartbreak, you’re in the right place.
This is your complete July–September guide to watching Formula 1 from anywhere in the world, plus what races are actually worth waking up for, where to watch them live, and how to not be “that person” streaming FP2 on hotel Wi-Fi during dinner.
✍️ Ethan · July 10, 2025
🏁 First: The Races That Actually Matter This Summer
Forget watching every race like homework. Some weekends are chaotic masterpieces. Others are... tyre deg simulators.
Here’s what actually deserves your time this summer:
Silverstone – It’s not just Hamilton’s home race. It’s wheel-to-wheel racing at one of the fastest circuits on earth, with unpredictable weather and energy like nowhere else. The crowd? Electrifying. The racing? Always wild.
Hungary – A twisty little track that doesn’t look like much on paper, but always delivers strategy chaos, surprise podiums, and sweaty onboards. Think: one-stop strategies ruined by rain and a perfectly timed undercut.
Spa (Belgium) – The cathedral of speed. High-speed corners. Elevation. Weather that shifts between “sunshine picnic” and “apocalyptic fog” in 30 seconds. No one knows what’s going to happen. Ever.
Zandvoort – Newer to the calendar, but insane atmosphere. The Dutch fans turn it into an orange smoke-filled stadium. Max Verstappen owns it, but the vibe is worth the watch no matter who wins.
Monza – The Temple of Speed. The tifosi. Ferrari heartbreak (almost guaranteed). And straight-line chaos with low downforce setups that make the cars look completely unhinged. There will be a yellow flag within five laps. Book it.
Singapore – A sweaty, humid, night-lit endurance test. Longest race of the year. Tightest corners. If someone messes up a brake marker, it’s over. If you watch one race in September, make it this one.
These are not optional. These are event weekends. Calendar blockers. The “don’t talk to me, I’m watching quali” kind of days.
📡 How to Watch While Traveling Without Losing Your Mind
F1 weekends don’t pause because you’re at an Airbnb with spotty Wi-Fi or in a Croatian café where everyone’s watching tennis.
So what do you do? You build a system.
Step 1: Get the F1 TV Pro subscription.
It’s worth it. No ads, every session live, onboards, live timing, team radios, and the ability to rewatch qualifying while waiting for your late-night train in Vienna. If you're in a country where it’s not available (like the UK), use a VPN. That brings us to...
Step 2: Get a real VPN.
Not the free ones. Get NordVPN or ExpressVPN and set your location to Spain, Austria, or Hungary — all F1 TV-friendly regions. Bonus: this also lets you access local free streams in some countries with commentary in different languages (if you’re into that).
Step 3: Pack like a trackside engineer.
You’re gonna need:
– A power bank
– Your laptop charger (don’t forget the adapter!)
– Headphones with a mic (so you can scream during a safety car and still hear Crofty)
– Hotspot backup in case café Wi-Fi fails
Step 4: Download the F1 app.
Even if you’re not watching live, you can follow live timings, sector-by-sector updates, and pit strategies in real-time. It’s nerd paradise.
Step 5: Set alarms. And check time zones.
You do not want to realize you’re an hour late to qualifying because you forgot Hungary is GMT+2.
📍Where to Watch Like a Local (or a Lunatic)
If you're moving through Europe this summer, you might find yourself in a city where everyone’s watching the race — or absolutely no one is.
Here’s where you’re safe:
In the UK – Find a pub. Say “Silverstone.” Everyone nods. You’re good.
In Italy – Any bar with a TV on race day becomes a church. Just don’t root for Mercedes too loudly.
In the Netherlands – Expect orange. Loud horns. And no tolerance for Verstappen slander.
In Spain – Great vibes, split between Alonso nostalgia and people who only watch MotoGP.
In Germany – Quiet, precise fandom. But no less passionate. You’ll find the serious fans in the back of beer gardens, following sector times with surgical focus.
Avoid places that think “Formula 1” is a brand of bottled water. You’ll know them when you see them.
🎙️ What to Actually Watch (Not Just the Race)
The Grand Prix is just the surface. The real fans — the engineers at heart — they watch it all.
Free Practice (FP1–FP3):
Optional. If you care about long-run pace, new aero parts, or want to tweet “Ferrari’s tyres are overheating already,” tune in.
Qualifying (Saturday):
Mandatory. Three sessions. Raw pace. Strategy. Elimination. If you only watch one session per weekend, make it this one.
Pre-Race Build-Up:
Sky Sports does it best. 90 minutes of trackside gossip, tech analysis, awkward interviews, and the occasional Ted Kravitz gold. Worth every second.
Post-Race Interviews + Press Conference:
Sometimes better than the race. Drivers let stuff slip. Or say something subtly savage. Or outright lie about why their tyres failed. We eat this up.
🔧 Nerd Tools You Need
Want to go deeper? Here’s your gear:
– Live Timing (via F1 app): Track gaps down to the tenth of a second.
– Driver Onboards (F1 TV): Watch Verstappen’s lines or Leclerc’s frustration in real time.
– Team Radios: Hear the drama as it happens. Bonus points for George Russell's polite suffering.
– Reddit (r/formula1): Stay in the know, argue about lap 14 pit windows, and see the memes within 30 seconds of anything weird happening.
🧠 Bonus: How to Convert a Friend While Traveling
You’re in Lisbon. Your friend wants to go to brunch. It’s 15 minutes to lights out. You say:
“Just watch the first lap. If nothing happens, we’ll go.”
Then someone locks up into Turn 1. The midfield is three-wide. Alonso is in P4. You pause, look at them.
They’re already hooked.
Mission accomplished.
✈️ Your F1 Summer Travel Setup (with Mytrippl)
Want to see Silverstone in person? Spa? Monza? TripplAI can build an entire weekend itinerary — flights, accommodation, even restaurant recs that won’t make you miss qualifying.
TripplPass gives you the flexible flights between races — so you can do London > Milan > Budapest without watching your savings burn like brake dust.
Whether you're a superfan or just discovering what a diffuser does, this summer is peak F1.
Plan smart. Watch smarter. And never — never — skip quali.
✍️ This blog was written by Ethan.
