Only been to the F1 race once, when still living in Melbourne I was fortunate to get a pit pass etc and go see them really closeup, with a good seat at the track between left and right hand corners.
Have to say the n
oise and the other really amazing thing was the S
MELL of the cars going past @ a constant 17,000 RPM's in every gear

each car was in view for just a matter of seconds from where I was sitting even though I could see many hundreds of Mt's of track.
The racing is just so dam fast, as you could only see them for very short periods of time between the 2 corners where I was, I was there when one car went airborne over another back in early 90's right in front of me but I did not see it because it happened so fast and I was watching another section of the track, by the time I swung my head to see what the 'different' noise was it was done and only the dust was still moving.
I believe you get a much better visual experience on a large plasma TV with a good surround sound system

( would rather be at or watch the
V8 Supercars, either on TV or real life anyday )