2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

I'm not one for Bernie Ecclestone or the way he's handling F1, but this new race doesn't look bad at all...

http://www.abudhabigp.com/english/

Be sure to check out the animation!!

 

Ferrari are also making a theme park world out there too.

 

Why not pull someone up from Champ Car- not enough F1 seat time?

what about Marco or Wheldon or Franchitti or Kanaan?

 

Huh?

Looking forward to the new circuit!

 

Just one thing: all this will be in Abu Dhabi! If anyone is planning to attend, DO NOT book a room there. Book into Dubai and commute. Seriously. That's what most people will do anyway, as there aren't anything like enough rooms in Abu Dhabi. Heck, people commute to Bahrain from Dubai for THAT race, by air. Abu Dhabi is just an hour's drive on an 8 lane expressway.

Also, Abu Dhabi is a hole. A hole full of oil money, but still a hole.

 

Circuit length: 309km (estimated)

Wow! That's about Dubai and back again The Nurburgring has nothing on this circuit...

 

wow a one lap race

 

It is sad the way F1 is heading...Bernie's greed is slowly killing it. So now the focus in on new tracks out in deserts in Asia and the Middle East at the expense of the great European race tracks that made F1 what it is today.

Nothing against Dubai per se..just the general trend away from the great historic tracks is disturbing and very unfortunate.

 

It is called the F1 World Championship, not the Euro Championship for a reason. It makes a lot of sense to me to go truly global, something few other motorsports are doing.

Apart from that a lot of the historic tracks simply are outdated by today's safety and comfort standards. Besides: In places like Nuerburgring or Magny Cours, we're just replacing one Tilke design with a new one.

 

Agreed but not at the expense of some of the great other tracks that cannot or will not pay Bernies ever increasing demands.

 

Name one please.

The demands on safety levels aren't coming from Bernie. And quite frankly as a spectator I'm happy that Bernie fights the battle for me. I had unpleasant and miserable experiences at Silverstone and Interlagos. If I pay big bucks to see the show, I expect a minimum of comfort level. Bernie wants the BRDC to bring Silverstone into the 21st century, nothing wrong with that.

At some point I will be visiting the Abu Dhabi GP and also enjoy the Ferrari theme park. Is it strange to worship Ferrari in the middle of a desert? Yes, but that's the reality of a global economy. The Saudis now have a major stake in the company and so they built themselves a playground.

 

how can you really blame him though. There's untapped potential that they must seek out. If it doesn't work out they can alway return to Europe, where some of the races have actually seen dwindling numbers.

A race in China and India? Guarnteed to sell out to 2-300k people if the accomodations are there. I think attendence at Silverstone this past weekend was not even 100k.

 

i would go to the moon for the race before the middle east or asia. i think the airfare is about the same. hotelwise, somehow i don't think there's a dollar inn near the track in abu dabi. add in body armor and the apc shutlle to the track. i could go to monaco and stay in the palace with albert for a little less. no beer or whisky or bbq neither. i shudder....

 

When we were at Fiorano a couple weeks ago for the Ferrari 60th Anniversary I remember seeing a very large display for the GP. It also has a full page ad in the concorso catalog.

YAS ISLAND

Here's what the glossy color ad says:

Centre for numerous exciting developments, YAS Island is now confirmed as the home of an annual round of FIA Formula One World Championship. The race is on for Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates.

Yas Island will be more than simply a destination for race fans. Occupying over 2,500 hectacres of land, it will be home to the world's first Ferrari Theme Park, and many attractions that will rank as world firsts. Complementing these attractions will be a chain of signature hotels, a water park, lush green golf courses, lagoon hotels, marinas, polo clubs, apartments, villas and a 250,000 square meter shopper's paradise, all conttributing toward making Yas Island the world's ultimate travel destination.

www.yasisland.ae

(wonder if there's a dock reserved for "Petra"?)

Carol

 

You're entitled to your opinion, of course. But please consider that you're stereotyping the Middle East in a big way and generalizing indiscriminately.

For example:
- there are many bars and nightclubs in and around Abu Dhabi and Dubai
- populations are predominantly foreign, with large minorities of westerners, who pretty much live like they do in their home countries (kids go to international schools, families go to the beach, singles go clubbing, etc.)
- crime rates are among the lowest in the world

Having said that, there are of course many problems: no freedom of speech, lack of democracy, racism, no labor laws, etc. But what you're saying is the equivalent of someone saying that they won't attend a seminar in New York because they're afraid of being mugged on the street.

 

Well said. I hope my first trip to Dubai (which I am hoping on in a few years) will be a F1 trip, together with a vacation.

Funny though, night clubs allowed in a muslim country. I guess it's important for generating money and attracting/keeping western minorities.

 

UAE are basically boxed in the region by such beacons of stability as Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Would I be worried about security? Dang right I will. Hence I think all this UAE dream of being ME's Switzerland is rubbish at least in the near 20 years.

 

A Abu Dhabi government owned company, Mubadala Investment, the logo of which you can see on Kimis cap, is holding the second-biggest (and I believe the only) part of Ferrari shares beside Fiat.

 

I am there, I cant wait to see what kind of travel packages are available for this one. I have never been there but everyone I have talked to says the UAE is luxury all the way!

 

Body armor? APC escort? Whole lotta ignorance goin' on....

and also Abu Dhabi is not in Saudi Arabia

 

There IS one in China... the Shanghai GP

 

wow gr8 minds etc - ive actually made a thread about this.

yes and drivers from any country are welcome to compete (if good enough) however pampering to these newly interested countries now and giving them gp events and ignoring the 55yr+ history of countries who have supported the championship from day 1 is simply not on.

forget tilke, he wouldnt know a hill or slope if he saw one.

safety standards - the cars these days are so safe and well built that the circuits should be left alone

 

Abu Dabi and Baghdad aren't in the same country....so you won't be needing the armor or APC.

 

certainly some of my remarks were tongue in cheek. the real determining factor is cost. for me, a poor white boy from the hills of florida, a trip to uae truly is as feasible as a trip to the moon. spending time in that area may well be a pleasant experience but getting from here to there wouldn't be. do the promoters plan to draw from europe or just the middle east? do they even care? for what that trip would cost i could do a major on the engine in my 308, redo the interior and even get my a/c working properly and still have enough left to go to the spanish or canadian gp. i'm happy for ya'll that you've got a local race to support but it'll be a cold day before you'll see me there, not that it matters.

 

Andreas is well aware of Tilke's obsession with flat and boring race tracks. He's probably the guy who will one day start www.banishtilke.com