Abu Dhabi Circuit Comments

I think the whole layout looks fantastic. Its great having such modern tracks like this. Although i think its very important to maintain and include traditional historic tracks as well like Silverstone and Spa ect. If the traditional tracks were ever dropped for tracks like Abu Dhabi then some thing historic would be lost. But i do love what the Arab nations are doing for F1.
IMO the pit lane tunnel will be a problem because there is no speed restrictions. There will be a very fine line between crashing or not. especially when vital tenths of seconds means a car getting ahead or not. That tunnel is to narrow not to have restrictions....maybe.
Finlay love the Ferrari world roof that can be seen from the track. also love the hotel and the positioning of the boats. I think its great so far.

 

You have to know where to look. In Dubai its the same thing...plenty of expats living there and there is a good nightlife with alcohol etc. Officials turn a blind eye.



I agree about the layout though. With all the runoff (not a fan, give me gravel any day of the week, you spin, its likely over. Don't spin. Less cheating also) it seems pretty difficult to find any real reference points.

 

Yeah the “fun factor” in not an issue. The one thing the UAE is not short on is bars/night clubs. But beer at the track probably isn't going to happen.

 

i can remember first seeing monaco when i was young back in the fifties. the yachts in the basin, the beautiful people in the casino, the aura of money, the cars on the streets. these were the things that defined formula one. this place is where the future lies. it could only be described as a 21st century monte carlo. a venue that rivals the race in technology.

 

I think it;s a good track...compared to snorefests like Singapore, Valencia or Hungary.

 

A 21st century Monaco perhaps - afterall this is the RICHEST place in the entire world, move over Monaco! The pit exit tunnel is actually no different than if you covered the new pit entrance at Spa or even covered Silverstone. It's far better than Valencia or Singapore but doesn't rate as high as Spa for me. Would I go to an F1 race there, no for many reasons. I prefer the "openness" at Monaco from Grandstand K when you look out across the harbor to the open sea - the moorings here seemed a bit claustrophobic to me, could be just the tv cameras that gave that appearance. The Yas Hotel on the circuit is a novel idea if you can afford it - like AED 2,000+ per night and has 500 rooms (that's a boatload of money per night they take in!), the Yas Island Rotana is AED 1700-2000 per night.

I'm sure that Creegan (I think that's his name) and the others might not be overally thrilled when and if they read all the websites, surely this is not how they planned to see their first race viewed by the public/media -> one F1 website story title reads "Vettel Wins Dull Procession in UAE" or "Abu Dhabi GP...Vettel Wins Season-Ending Snore" or this " or this "It was no desert classic. In fact, if it hadn't been for a late race charge from Jenson Button, Andrew Davies thinks it might have been the most boring race of the season" or "The 2009 Formula One season ended in a spectacular whimper at the inaugural day-night race in Abu Dhabi" - or perhaps they knew this type of race would occur with the current rules (one would hope this is the case).

Would I go there, yes, my vision focus is on three prototypes at full song (well in excess of 200 mph) side by side on that long straight (but it's not the Mulsanne).

Carol

 

I agree with Carol. It's a 21st century Monaco that I happened to like. Tracks like Monaco can no longer accommodate the modern day F1 car and Abu Dhabi was a welcome relief.

 

Yawn Marina.

Much like Singapore and Valencia, this track fails to inspire good racing. Just photo ops for celebs and sports stars. Much like Singapore and Valenica, if it fell off the calendar we would not miss it for long.

 

I like it but not a fan of the pit exit.

 

I didn't like it !
Very artificial track, it looks like a computer game.

That's why I prefer to watch historic car racing in historic circuits.

 

Quite.

At turn one, there's a grandstand. At turn eighteen, there's a grandstand.
Not exactly a place where the corners have their own names. Not "Eau Rouge", not "Les Combes", just "turn 18".
Even Turkey's new track has a corner that distinguishes itself.
A.D. has a long straight and a bunch of hairpins.


This is a track in the "Bernie" Formula: Lots of VIP space, lots of big deals going on in the big money suites, lots of rubbing elbows --- a place to "network".

Oh yes: there are some cars moving around, once in a while, too. (Yawn.)

Maybe the A.D. track should be called the A.D.D. track.

 

same feeling here about historic car racing on historic circuits - the ultimate race for 2010 has to be the historic Monza race the first weekend in June

Carol

 

2000 AED is about $550/nite. You can easily spend more than that at the nicer hotels during a gp weekend just about anywhere. That does not seem out of line to me plus there are cheaper options.

Last Canadian gp the Holiday Inn Montreal went for 425/nite canadian and the exchange was almost 1:1.

 

One word: Spectacular.

I don't think the pit exit seems that dangerous and adds instant "character" to this facility. Certainly at some point a driver will crash in the tunnel and it will be chaotic for those stuck in the pits, but there are other tracks where a similar problem could be encountered although granted not to the same degree.

 

NEVER IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS!!!!!

1. Start by serving REAL champagne on the podium.
2. Where's the topless beaches?
3. Beer? Beer? Beer?
4. Pit babes that look like REAL pit babes, and not Lufthansa stewardesses from the 70s.
5. Hijab-wearing trophy presenter?????
6. Where's the history? ...the heritage? ...the charm?

End rant.

 

I visited Dubai last year, was there for the Grand Racing Weekend. Just as I borrowed a DSLR for the last day a big downpour came round the night (?) before. Not the pit lane, but access to the whole pit area is via a tunnel. Needless to say, this was flooded (as were parts of the track) and the whole thing was called off, much to my dissatisfaction (no pics!). Not even a few hours work were enough to clear the water. I know it's Dubai, but how can you be so mindless when designing a track?...

 

one other word: grotesque

 

I very much enjoy the classic tracks like Spa or Monaco, but any of those tracks would love to have the facilities Abu Dhabi has in place. It reminded me of the Olympic opening ceremony last year, it is as if the bar has been permanently raised.

Unlike many newer tracks such as Bahrain or China, Abu Dhabi seems to have been able to inject character into the track. Most of the current tracks are desirable for different reasons. The Old World tracks have history and a bit of danger to them to this day and that definitely appeals to me as well as many. While I agree it is like they put a race track inside a shopping mall with this new facility, but what a facility.

 

Several sets of 'all-access pass' photos and videos from Abu Dhabi courtesy of the son of a member of a little band called Aerosmith are here. Worth a click.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1876324

His comment about the design of the Yas Marina Hotel is pretty funny too.

>8^)
ER

 

Another boring Tilke track. The only track of his that I like is Sepang.

Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Valencia, Shanghai are all POS. Turn 8 at Turkey is interesting but the rest of it is dull.

 

The pit exit is a potential car cruncher, especially given no speed limit. At some point, especially if it happens to be a wet day, a driver running hard will try to make up time in the pit exit and lose it bigtime, creating a huge bottleneck.

 

Good as a replacement for Vegas. Sterile. Shouldn't there be sand in the run-off areas instead of two miles of additional pavement? Pluses; the Ferrari playhouse, wicked waterslides, clean bathrooms. Negatives; rain races doubtful, the couple sitting next to you owning your future, the liklihood of melting.

 

I was at the Centro (in the group of 5 hotels). Was like $275/night. Two single beds. I did feel there was no options for nightlife on the island.

 

Vegas is about 1000% more fun than Abu Dhabi. From what time I've spent in Dubai, I've had more fun in Vegas.