What Is the F1 Paddock Club?
Team radio never mentions the Paddock Club — it's the one part of a race weekend that happens above the drivers' heads, literally. But if you've ever watched a broadcast pan across the glass-fronted suites stacked on top of the garages and wondered who's up there and what it costs to join them, the answer is more specific — and more expensive — than most fans expect.
F1 Paddock Club by the Numbers
- 1984: the year the Paddock Club launched, founded by Paddy McNally's Allsport Management as F1's first dedicated hospitality product.
- 1992: the year caterer DO&CO began working F1 races, starting at the Hungarian Grand Prix after Niki Lauda recommended the company to Bernie Ecclestone when the original Budapest caterer pulled out.
- 10 years: the length of DO&CO's most recently signed extension as the Paddock Club's official catering supplier, on top of more than three decades already served.
- $5,500–$18,530: the 2026 three-day price range across circuits, from Baku at the low end to the Las Vegas "House 44" tier at the high end.
- $13,500: the starting price of House 44, a 2025-launched premium tier built with Soho House and Lewis Hamilton, which guarantees Hamilton appearances at nine 2026 races.
What Is the F1 Paddock Club, Exactly?
The Paddock Club is Formula 1's own hospitality brand — not a third-party VIP package, but the official product sold directly through Formula1.com and its licensed agents. Suites sit right above the pit garages at every circuit on the calendar, giving guests a sightline into the technical zone, the pit lane, and usually the start-finish straight that no grandstand ticket can match. It's a three-day pass covering the full race weekend, from Friday practice through the chequered flag on Sunday.
What makes it different from a standard hospitality suite is who's actually inside. A large share of Paddock Club seats aren't bought by individual fans at all — they're allocated to corporate guests through sponsor and partner deals, which is part of why demand (and price) at a given circuit often has more to do with sponsor calendars than fan interest.
What's Included — and What Isn't
| Included with Paddock Club | Not included |
|---|---|
| Garage-top suite view of the pit lane and main straight | Access to the actual paddock (team working area) |
| All-day gourmet dining and open bar, catered by DO&CO | Grandstand or trackside seating (suite view only) |
| Daily choreographed pit lane walk | Guaranteed autograph or meet with a specific driver |
| Driver or team Q&A sessions | - |
| Dedicated concierge service | - |
That first item in the "not included" column trips up a lot of first-time buyers: a Paddock Club ticket doesn't get you into the paddock itself, the fenced-off area behind the garages where the team motorhomes and hospitality units sit. That's a separate, far more restricted working area reserved for team personnel, sponsors and media — reaching it as a fan generally means an upgraded F1 Garage-tier pass, not a standard Paddock Club ticket.
2026 Price Snapshot by Circuit Tier
| Circuit tier | Example circuits | 2026 three-day price (per person) |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-level | Baku, Spa | ~$5,500–$7,000 |
| Mid-tier | Barcelona, Monaco | ~$6,655–$10,600 |
| Marquee | Melbourne, Miami, Silverstone | ~$15,000+ |
| Ultra-premium | Las Vegas (House 44) | ~$13,500–$18,530 |
The spread is wide enough that the exact same tier of pass can cost roughly three times as much depending purely on where the calendar stops. Team-branded packages, which add access to a specific constructor's own hospitality touches, run on top of the base Paddock Club price.
Who Actually Caters It
DO&CO's F1 relationship traces back to a single last-minute favor: when the caterer originally booked for the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix dropped out, Bernie Ecclestone asked Niki Lauda if he knew a replacement, and Lauda pointed him to the Vienna-based DO&CO. Three decades later, DO&CO is still the Paddock Club's official supplier, having recently signed a fresh 10-year extension to keep running the open bars, plated dinners and celebrity-chef activations that fill the suites every race weekend.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the F1 Paddock Club?
The F1 Paddock Club is Formula 1's own official VIP hospitality package — a three-day pass to climate-controlled suites built directly above the team garages, run by Formula 1 itself since 1984 and catered by DO&CO since 1992.
How much does F1 Paddock Club cost?
Roughly $5,500 to $18,500+ per person for a three-day race weekend in 2026, depending on the circuit. Lower-demand races like the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku sit at the bottom of that range, while marquee events like the Las Vegas and Australian Grands Prix sit at the top.
What's included in an F1 Paddock Club ticket?
All-day gourmet dining and an open bar catered by DO&CO, a garage-top suite with views of the pit lane and start-finish straight, daily choreographed pit lane walks, and driver or team Q&A sessions. Dedicated concierge service is included at most circuits.
Is F1 Paddock Club the same as paddock access?
No. Paddock Club is hospitality seating in suites above the garages. The actual paddock — where the garages and team motorhomes are — is a separate, heavily restricted working area that a standard Paddock Club ticket doesn't include; that requires an upgraded F1 Garage-tier pass.
The Bottom Line
The Paddock Club is F1's proof that the sport's biggest revenue lever isn't the grandstands — it's the suites above the garages, running on a DO&CO kitchen relationship older than most of the current grid. At $5,500 to $18,500+ for three days, it's priced well outside what most fans will ever spend on a single weekend, and that's before factoring in that most of the people actually inside got there through a sponsor, not a personal credit card. If garage-side hospitality is out of reach, the money most fans put toward F1 goes into the sport a different way — our F1 budget cap explainer breaks down what teams themselves are and aren't allowed to spend, and our how much does an F1 car cost guide covers what's actually parked in the garage below those suites. Curious how a driver's own paycheck compares to a Paddock Club weekend? Our how much do F1 drivers make breakdown has the numbers. Can't make it trackside this season? Our best F1 sim racing setup guide covers the realistic alternative — a home rig that gets you race-weekend intensity without the four-figure hospitality bill. And for the closest thing to being trackside from home, the team radio archive puts you inside the exact conversations happening in the garages the Paddock Club suites sit above.