I haven't watched a race in person, but I know someone who works for one of the F1 teams. He says that you see more if you watch on TV because you can't see the entire circuit, but you can't really understand the speed and power of the cars if you only watch on TV. The best compromise is to find a great spot at the circuit where you can see the cars braking hard and turning, but where you can also see a screen that shows action at other parts of the circuit. Unfortunately, the people who run the circuits know that's the best place to watch and the best experience, so you have to pay a huge amount for that. If you just get a general admission type ticket, you're probably going to have to watch somewhere where you can only see the cars zoom past, without any TV screen to tell you the state of the race.