F1 Tickets

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

Drivers: 1st – Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 1m 40.948s; 2nd – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1m 41.615s; 3rd – Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1m 41.726s.

Q: Lewis, your fourth pole in seven races. You have been on fire here all weekend in Abu Dhabi. Was it as easy as it looked?
Lewis Hamilton: Like I always say it is never easy but it definitely was as fun as it looked. The car has been I think probably the best it has been all year. It seems to really feel quite comfortable on this circuit. What they have done here is incredible and I think it is just a real pleasure to drive here and when you have definitely got the car beneath you it is just a great drive. That lap for me, we could have thought about going a bit longer, but I don’t think we were particularly too aggressive but it was quite a smooth lap. It just kept getting better and better. I am very happy with it.

Q: Sebastian, you said coming into the weekend that you wanted to finish the year on a high. Second on the grid is a great way to start.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it is. Just looking ahead both of us are a little bit surprised by the gap. Lewis has been strong all weekend and generally McLaren is very strong here and we could see already in Q1 and Q2 that it would be difficult to match them. But let’s see later when we get the strategies. I think it was the maximum we could do, so very pleased so far. I think tomorrow we should have a good race. The car is working well here. It just seems that our KERS button which we have on the steering wheel is not working, so it is not an easy one but let’s see tomorrow. I think we do have a good race pace. The car is getting better throughout the distance, so I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: Mark, two Red Bulls in the top three and the two Brawns just behind you. A great qualifying performance from you, but do you think you can hold the new champions behind you?
Mark Webber: We hope so. The grid tonight is the story of the second part of the championship. Lewis has been here and there at a lot of venues, clearly they are very strong here and we will see when we get the weights, but also Seb and I are pushing as hard as we can. I enjoyed qualifying tonight and Brawn are there as well, so it is very much a message of how the second part of the championship has gone. I was pretty happy, considering when I did my lap within the session, as obviously other people can run after, so I was pretty happy.

Q: Lewis, new circuit, new country. Your feelings on this Yas Marina track and the job that they have done here to create it?
LH: Coming here I had not really seen any pictures. I had seen perhaps a picture of the hotel or something, but the place is just stunning. They all said it would be a great event, but it is mind-blowing. What they have been able to create here is really fantastic and I expect more and more people will want to come here in the future. It is a great race to come to. I definitely will try to bring my family next time. It is a great country, it’s a great part of the world. We came to Bahrain. I have been in Bahrain. I was there earlier in the week, then we came through to Dubai and then here. The weather has always been great. The people have been so respectful and so welcoming and I am sure we are going to put on a great show for everyone, so fingers crossed it is a great day tomorrow.

PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis were you ever not going to be on pole? You have been dominant so much this weekend.
LH: Anything could have happened. Clearly we have been very competitive all weekend and the car has felt great and I didn’t have any particular doubts in my mind whether we could have done it. But it is still finding the gap, getting your tyres up to temperature, all these different things and it is easy to make mistakes but fortunately I didn’t and put a really nice lap together. Very, very happy with it.

Q: What is suiting the car here particularly? The lack of slow corners, KERS worth four-tenths-of-a-second Heikki (Kovalainen) said yesterday.
LH: Yep, it is the same at every race. You ask that question at every race. KERS, when you press that button, is worth four tenths pretty much everywhere. Three to four tenths. Here in qualifying it is around four-tenths, but obviously you have got to use it to optimise it and get the maximum from it but it works really well. The great thing is the car is working and feeling better than it has all year, so it is such a great feeling for me in the car and also for all the guys. What a great job they have done all year and what a great way to finish at least our practice session and our qualifying session and I want to go out and do the job tomorrow.

Q: What’s the circuit going to be like to race on? A lot of people were worried that off line it might be dirty.
LH: It is always dirty off line but it is not going to be somewhere like Montreal with all the bubbles off line. I don’t think it will be a problem. I have been off line a couple of places and it wasn’t too bad. The track surface, I mean we are always trying to improve other circuits saying the kerbs should be good here or we could improve the rumble strip here, but I can honestly say I think they have really done almost a perfect job at this track. They have really done a good job with the layout, with the track. It is very, very smooth. The kerbs are nice and in the right places and I think for the racing it looks very safe. I think there are quite a few opportunities to overtake, so it should be quite an exciting race, especially for the spectators here.

Q: How was the car on the option tyre?
LH: For me the option and the prime are pretty much the same. Normally we see quite a big difference between them with obviously the option being a lot quicker and a little bit grippier. Here I generally find it is very, very close. There is a different kind of warm-up, different way of using them, but I preferred the prime. For me they just seemed to be a little bit more consistent throughout the lap but no doubt the track will get grippier, so who knows what tyre we will use tomorrow.

Q: Sebastian, what was the tyre choice like for you? Is it fairly simple?
SV: Well, I think it was pretty much the same for everyone. It is difficult to point out how much there is between the tyres. I think you could see that we also favoured the prime. Overall, back to qualifying, I think it was the maximum we could do. Just a little bit surprised by the gap in the end. You know, seven tenths in qualifying is quite a big gap. Looking at the sectors, sector two I think, there are maybe a little bit too many straight lines for us, so we don’t have the button. We do have it, but it doesn’t work.

Q: Was there much difference as the natural light changed?
SV: Well, it is a little bit, but you get used to it quite quickly, so you have to deal a little bit with the visor and use a darker one maybe to start and then a lighter one for the end as when the sun goes down it is a little bit darker. But it is not a big problem. I think they have done a very good job here, similar to Singapore. Even though the lights are further away I think they seem to be strong enough to make us see all the track.

Q: Mark, what about this McLaren performance? Do you think you can take the race to them tomorrow?
MW: Easy. We are not stopping tomorrow. We don’t do a pit stop. We just put the option on for the last lap and we jump them like that, so pretty straightforward.

Q: Sounds a great idea. What’s the truth?
MW: No, look, they did good job. No question about it. They are quick. I am a bit surprised by Lewis’s time, both of us are, but we did our best. As I said before it is a reflection on the second part of the championship with Brawn sitting there as well behind us. These are the guys who have been there most of the season and here we are again, ready to go tomorrow. I enjoyed quali(fying) actually. As always you want a bit more out of it, but it was a good job by the team. We want to finish on a high and we have laid the foundations for a reasonable race tomorrow.

Q: Tell us your thoughts on the circuit, particularly for the race tomorrow?
MW: It’s a pretty good track. I would say the first sector is nice. It’s always difficult to make a track with lots and lots of quick corners because obviously you need a lot of run-off, so I can understand it’s easier in terms of space to have a lot more slower speed corners finishing the lap here. So the rhythm of the lap goes a little bit, especially in turns 11, 12, 13 – all that section up there is a little bit Mickey Mouse, but it’s unique in quite a lot of areas, I would say. Yeah, it’s a pretty good track. For overtaking, there’s obviously a very long straight, that’s clear, but I think everyone’s running pretty similar wing levels for their cars, so it’s not like Interlagos or some other tracks where you maybe have a different opinion on end-of-straight speed. It’s not going to be Interlagos, don’t worry about that, but it might be better than Barcelona.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Sana Bagersh – Abu Dhabi Tempo) What are each of you going to do between now and tomorrow’s race, to prepare mentally or physically? Any specially rituals, any relaxation techniques?
SV: Sleep. It’s quite late already. I think everyone has his own way to get prepared. Obviously everyone is trying to get a good night’s sleep, rest, then tomorrow. I don’t know what the others do, if they have a dance or whatever. I think, for myself, dancing for rain would be pretty useless here, but yeah, just trying to go through. Obviously later we will know a little bit more about strategy and then just trying to prepare, to focus on the start and then seeing how the race goes.
LH: Yeah, same for me really. A little bit different to some of the other tracks. The climate change: it’s so much hotter here, so the race will be very tough tomorrow, so you could perhaps focus on the preparation a little bit more in terms of the amount of rest you get, the fluids through the night, drinking plenty. I will probably have to make a pit stop during the night, because you’ve just got to drink as much as you can for the race tomorrow. And then just good food, we’re staying in town and I’m just going to enjoy myself, make sure I enjoy the weather, might sit on the beach, just relaxing things. I’ve got the girlfriend with me, so just relax.
MW: Yup, pretty similar: yeah, good sleep, good food and I get to the track as late possible tomorrow. No point in getting in too early. But generally the GP2 cars have been my wake-up call at the hotel, so I will sleep until they start up. But it’s very easy for us, we’re staying close here, so relax, there’s no hassle with traffic like some other venues we have like Brazil or in Shanghai. We have a lot of tracks like that where there’s a bit of a palaver getting to the track but here it’s a lot more straightforward, so that helps our preparation.

Q: (Tomas Richter – TV Nova) It looks like the most difficult corners are those before the hotel and turn one. The race will be long and hot; first of all do you agree and secondly do you expect some difficulties during the race?
MW: Yeah, you’re right, there are some difficult corners in the last sector, there’s no question about it, it’s easy to get in there a little bit deep and not hit the apex cleanly. Turn one, you’re right, is the same. It’s easy to get a little bit out of the track there but all the guys are fit these days, there should be no problems tomorrow night. It’s a pretty long race but we’ve had worse. There are a lot of straights you can relax on, so this track is not that physically demanding, it’s just a bit warm.
SV: As Mark said, there are some difficult corners, not only turn one and 15, 16, 17. Turn one is still outstanding; it’s quite quick and it’s blind, so it’s very easy to overshoot, to make a mistake at the entrance and you have a long straight following, obviously turn two, three, four which is flat, but whatever you lose there you pay the price for. 15, 16, 17 is easy to lose the car on the entrance and if you go wide it’s very easy to go off-line and then it’s quite dirty, like everywhere else, but you lose a lot of time easily. Let’s see tomorrow. I think the start is the key, turn one, and then it will be interesting going down the long straight. Obviously I hope I will be ahead of Lewis or at least right on his back, and then have a good space. I hope that Mark and myself will have good space to whoever comes behind us.
LH: I don’t particularly want to comment just on those corners. I think turn one is obviously very important for the beginning of the race but it’s fairly straightforward. The great part of this track is that even though we do have a couple of high speed corners, maybe it will be tough to follow through two, three, four but it’s not difficult to stay behind someone through five, six, seven, so that means you can be close to them and have a good chance of towing them down the back straight. Also braking into eight and nine, again it’s easy to be quite close and then relatively easy to have another shot going down the other back straight. Clearly, then, it gets a bit tighter and a little bit harder to follow, but I think it should provide some good racing, being able to be a little bit closer than normal. You normally have the long flowing corners and you lose a little bit and then you have this long straight and you never really catch up. I hope – I feel it’s designed quite well.

Q: (Vajta Balazs – Autosport Es Formula) For all three drivers: the last two or three days we’ve basically heard only positive words about the track: how great it is, the facilities and everything else. I know it’s also very hard to name negative aspects about yourself, but can you name or point out some negative points about the track?
MW: We’re paid lots of money to say good stuff, obviously. You know that we get backhanders to say that it’s a great track, so we’re not going to say anything negative. The deal is done before we all arrive, so 20 drivers, we get a backhander, easy from there! It’s a great facility, it’s a good track.
LH: (to the journalist) You should try and get in on it!
SV: I think probably the worst thing is that you get a wake-up call from the GP2 cars, if you’re sleeping at the track. Other than that: similar. Just to sum it up as well, and what we all agreed on in the drivers’ briefing: we come to many new circuits, more and more and there are always bits and pieces which can be improved, but here everything is pretty much spot on: kerbs, everything.

Q: (Vajta Balazs – Autosport Es Formula) But were you expecting a boring race because of the track layout?
SV: No, I don’t think so. As they said, you have a very long straight here and the key is that you don’t have high speed corners leading onto that straight like in Shanghai. You have a tight corner leading onto the back straight, but it opens up and then it’s difficult to follow other cars, whereas here you have the complex of five, six, seven which is quite low speed and then obviously the longer straight, leading into another low speed section, eight and nine, which gives you another chance if you’ve used the tow and then stay close to whoever is in front for turn eleven. As we’ve seen in the GP2 race and also the Porsche SuperCup race it should be a good race tomorrow. You are always smarter after a Grand Prix distance but it looks promising so far.

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel came alive for Red Bull in the dying moments of the final qualifying session of 2009, but McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton kept his nerve and ultimately decimated their chances of taking pole position for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a lap of 1m 40.948s on Saturday evening. Vettel had moments before beaten Webber’s 1m 41.726s best with 1m 41.615s.

Behind them, Rubens Barrichello finally got ahead of Brawn team mate Jenson Button as they lapped respectively in 1m 41.786s and 1m 41.892s, while Jarno Trulli was also in contention for Toyota with 1m 41.897s.

Behind them the BMW Saubers annexed the fourth row of the grid, with Robert Kubica on 1m 41.992s and Nick Heidfeld on 1m 42.343s. Williams’ Nico Rosberg and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi will share row five, with 1m 42.583s and 1m 42.713s respectively.

As dusk fell in the Formula One world’s first day/night race, and Hamilton set the fastest time in Q2 as he had in Q1, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo looked on unhappily as Kimi Raikkonen fell from Q3 contention with the 11th fastest time of 1m 40.726s. Behind him, Kamui Kobayashi lost his chance when he couldn’t squeeze more than 1m 40.777s from the second Toyota.

Heikki Kovalainen was stranded on 1m 40.983s when his McLaren stopped in Turn 17 with suspected gearbox issues shortly after that had been the first fast time. Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima should have improved after getting two green sector times, but blew it in the third and thus had to rely on 1m 41.148s for 14th, and Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari was 15th on 1m 41.689s.

Both Renaults joined the Force €ndias in stumbling in Q1, together with Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Ferrari. Fernando Alonso lapped in 1m 41.667s, Romain Grosjean in 1m 41.950s, leaving them 16th and 19th. Between them, Vitantonio Liuzzi squeezed 1m 41.701s out of his VJM02 to head team mate Adrian Sutil on 1m 41.863s. Fisichella was last, on 1m 42.184s.

The British world champions were at it again as the final practice session was held for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon.

Lewis Hamilton set the pace for much of the hour-long session, but right at the end Jenson Button posted 1m 40.625s to go fastest. Hamilton’s 1m 40.627s just came up short for McLaren, as Rubens Barrichello endorsed the Brawn strength with third fastest time of 1m 40.907s. The final runner under 1m 41s was Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi, who earlier had set the pace with 1m 40.934s.

BMW Sauber had a good run too, with Nick Heidfeld taking fifth place with 1m 41.241s and Robert Kubica 1m 41.322s for eighth. Between them came Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren on 1m 41.263s and Jarno Trulli’s Toyota on 1m 41.310s.

Adrian Sutil was ninth for Force India with 1m 41.372s, chased by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen (1m 41.373s), Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (1m 41.403s), Williams’ Nico Rosberg (1m 41.478s), Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi (1m 41.499s), Force India’s Tonio Liuzzi (1m 41.675s), Red Bull’s Mark Webber (1m 41.682s) and Fernando Alonso who continued to struggle in the Renault with 1m 41.897s.

Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima was next on 1m 42.156s, followed by Renault’s Romain Grosjean on 1m 42.213s and Ferrari’s Giancarlo Fisichella on 1m 42.351s. Jaime Alguersuari was last, never completing a lap after his Toro Rosso ran into mechanical problems.

Again, there was plenty of action, with Trulli, Grosjean and Vettel going off the road, and Liuzzi tapping the wall in the final corner.

Jenson Button and Brawn GP may have clinched both world championships in Brazil, but the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix promises to be an absolute sizzler of a weekend. Work began on the exciting new Yas Marina track back in February 2007 and has continued since then with dramatic intensity as a workforce of 14,000 invested 35 million man hours shifting 1.6 million cubic metres of earthwork, laying 720,000 square metres of asphalt and pouring 225,000 cubic metres of concrete.

The result is a spectacular anti-clockwise circuit whose numerous unique features include a pit-lane exit which crosses under the circuit; part of the track passing under the Yas Hotel, whose illuminated, colour-changing ‘gridshell’ will gleam across the Yas Island skyline as dusk falls; and the replacement of traditional run-off areas with widespread use of Tecpro barriers. The latter in particular makes this a genuine street circuit like Monaco, on which mistakes will be heavily punished.

“I think it’s good,” said F1 driver-come-TV commentator Martin Brundle after giving passenger rides there recently in a two-seater Minardi. “What is refreshing is that it is not a car park with delineated kerbs. You can still whack the barriers there. At Suzuka, if you make a mistake then you pay the price. Likewise, in Abu Dhabi if you make a mistake you will be in the wall.”

Champion constructor Ross Brawn explained how his team will approach the weekend. “With the challenge of a new circuit, we are able to use data provided by the FIA to create a circuit map which can be used in our simulator at the factory. We went through this process for the new street circuits in Valencia and Singapore last year so it is a process that the team is familiar with. Knowing the circuit when they arrive helps the drivers to get into a rhythm quickly during the first practice sessions and allows us to check gear ratios and compare set-up items. We can also use the simulator to understand tyre behaviour. From this we get an understanding of the car balance and that allows us to determine our start set-up for the weekend.”

World champion Jenson Button is raring to go and said: “It’s a fantastic feeling to be going into the final race having achieved my ambition of winning the drivers’ championship and with the team having wrapped up the constructors’ championship in Brazil. We want to finish the season in style with a great result but we can be a little more relaxed in our approach to the weekend!

“I had a short break in the Gulf region after the Bahrain Grand Prix and went to have a look at the Yas Marina Circuit. Even back then, when the construction work was still underway, the facilities looked outstanding and the organisers have done a great job in creating a spectacular venue. It’s always fun to try a new race track, particularly one which looks as unique as Yas Marina with the unusual pit-lane exit and the day/night race. I’m sure Abu Dhabi is going to host an exciting weekend and a great finale to the 2009 Formula One season.”

Outgoing champion Lewis Hamilton is equally enthusiastic.

“We’ve had a fantastic second half of the season, and it would be perfect to end the year with a win,” he said. “It would send us into the winter fully motivated and pumped up for the 2010 season. All the signs point to Abu Dhabi being another strong track for us – there are plenty of slow corners leading on to long straights, where KERS will be very advantageous.

“Seeing as it’s likely to be the last race for KERS, it would be fantastic to send it off with a perfect result – that would be a very fitting farewell for all the engineers who have worked so hard to make the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes system the best in the business.”

Brazilian Grand Prix victor Mark Webber, however, has plans to scupper the British drivers’ aspirations, as does Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel.

“I’m expecting us to be pretty strong in Abu Dhabi,” Webber said. “We’ve been pretty strong since Singapore, so there’s no reason to suggest that we can’t be fighting towards the sharp end again. As usual, qualifying will be very important and then we’ll see how the race goes from there. We’re looking to finish off on a high for the team.”

Elsewhere, there will be an end-of-term feeling as several relationships draw to their close. Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella will be having their last races for Ferrari and Fernando Alonso his last for Renault. BMW will be having their last race in Formula One, as Sauber’s future remains uncertain. It will be the last Grand Prix with only 20 starters, as the three new teams prepare to swell the grids for 2010. And at Toyota, where Jarno Trulli may be having his last race with the team, the impressive rookie Kamui Kobayashi prepares for his second as ongoing stand-in for the injured Timo Glock.

Bridgestone will be bringing their medium and soft compound rubber to the exciting day-night race, for which the schedule has been modified. Friday’s practice sessions will run from 1300 to 1430 hours local time (four hours ahead of GMT) and then 1700 to 1830; Saturday’s final practice session will be from 1400 to 1500, with qualifying from 1700 to 1800; and the race will start at 1700 on Sunday.

Brawn GP may have pocketed both championships in Brazil, but McLaren aren’t giving up on 2009 just yet, with team principal Martin Whitmarsh hoping they’ll leave this weekend’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the strongest team of the season’s second half.

After their disastrous start to the year, McLaren have certainly pulled off a miraculous comeback in 2009, turning a car that had qualified down in 18th at the season opener in Australia into one that has been frequently challenging for poles and podiums as the season has entered its final stages.

To put that into context, Lewis Hamilton has been the top-scoring driver since July’s German Grand Prix with his 40-point haul, while the team as a whole – with the help of Heikki Kovalainen – have scored 58. That’s two more than champions Brawn have managed, 14 more than traditional rivals Ferrari and just three less than Red Bull.

“If we look at the second half of this year, then Lewis has scored more points than any other driver, and we are a couple of points light of Red Bull,” Whitmarsh explained during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ‘Phone-In’ session. “So hopefully this weekend we can firmly establish ourselves as having won the second half of the season. I very much hope and believe that we have a good chance of winning in Abu Dhabi.”

For Whitmarsh, who became team principal at the start of the year after two decades at McLaren, their bounce back this season is a source of immense satisfaction.

“It was an amazingly difficult start to the year for the team and for Lewis,” he said. “To have had such a traumatic start and to have really knuckled down and developed a car that is really there or thereabouts, challenging for a win at every circuit since Germany, fills me with enormous pride with what they have done.”

As well as believing McLaren will put in a competitive performance at this weekend’s Yas Marina season finale, Whitmarsh is also very optimistic concerning the team’s 2010 prospects, when he expects them to again be on the pace, this time from the outset.

“The confidence for next year is good,” he concluded. “Despite a good turnaround in the season, we weren’t realistically competing for this year’s championship. Therefore we’ve put a tremendous amount of effort into next year’s car. I know that it is already a quicker car inherently than the car that we have this year, and good progress is being made day by day as we develop that car.

“We’ve been working hard and we have got a strong team, so I’ve got every confidence, that not only will we come out of the box with a competitive car from the very beginning of the year, but that we will be a very tough competitor over the course of the year too. No one here is complacent or thinks it’s going to be easy to go out there and win races, but I really do think that we’ll be very competitive from the get go.”

If McLaren out-score Ferrari in Abu Dhabi this weekend they are assured of third place in the 2009 constructors’ championship.

Williams are to open the first Formula One-related technical centre outside of Europe in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar. The Williams Technology Centre (WTC) will be based at the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) and will be tasked with developing F1 technologies for commercial application.

Initially it will focus on two such projects, both with clear commercial goals – the industrial application of large Magnetically Loaded Composite (MLC) flywheels and the advancement of Williams’ simulator know-how for competition and road car use.

The flywheel project will address their potential to store and release energy very quickly. Initial target markets include mass transit systems such as trains and trams. The development of new driver simulation technology will be aimed at road car training, safety and entertainment, as well as competition simulators for other motorsport series.

The WTC is expected to employ 20 staff, with a multi-million dollar R&D budget and a carefully projected revenue stream that will reward both Williams and QSTP, who are investing in the project and are already renowned for the research, development and commercialisation of new technologies by companies such as Shell and Microsoft.

“It is perhaps outside of conventional practice for a Formula One team to move such activities out of Europe, but we have been very impressed with the fertile environment QSTP presents for research and development and the vision Her Highness Sheikha Mozah has for Qatar leading in the development of beneficial technologies,” said team boss Frank Williams.

“After detailed consideration, we’ve decided this is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss, and we look forward to supporting the future of Williams F1 in part from the development and application of F1-inspired technologies to the wider world.”

To celebrate the agreement, the QSTP identity will form a prominent part of Williams’ race livery for this weekend’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

They’ve undoubtedly read about it and studied a map of the track. Perhaps they’ve sampled it on a simulator in the factory or even visited the venue, but the drivers have yet to really experience Abu Dhabi’s newly-built Yas Marina Circuit. After hearing so much about it, however, they clearly can’t wait to get cracking. Here they reveal their preparations for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and explain why they think it could become a firm favourite in the future…

Jenson Button, Brawn GP
“It’s a fantastic feeling to be going into the final race having achieved my ambition of winning the drivers’ championship and with the team having wrapped up the constructors’ championship in Brazil. We want to finish the season in style with a great result but we can be a little more relaxed in our approach to the weekend! I had a short break in the Gulf region after the Bahrain Grand Prix and went to have a look at the Yas Marina Circuit. Even back then, when the construction work was still underway, the facilities looked outstanding and the organisers have done a great job in creating a spectacular venue. It’s always fun to try a new race track, particularly one which looks as unique as Yas Marina with the unusual pit-lane exit and the day/night race. I’m sure Abu Dhabi is going to host an exciting weekend and a great finale to the 2009 Formula One season.”

Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP
“It’s always a good challenge to race at a new venue and the Yas Marina Circuit looks extremely impressive from the reports that I have seen. The layout of the circuit seems both fun and challenging and it will be interesting to start the race in daylight and to finish in evening conditions. Our track walk on Thursday will be important to get an initial feel for the characteristics of the circuit and we will spend the first few laps on Friday getting to grips with the layout. From then on, it will be business as usual with our standard practice programme. The team has had a great season so far and we want to finish on a high with a strong performance this weekend.”

Ross Brawn, Brawn GP team principal
“Brazil was a fantastic weekend and to have won the constructors’ and the drivers’ championships with Brawn GP is a very special achievement. I am incredibly proud of the whole team at Brawn GP and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines. We’ve all had a few busy days since returning to the UK and it was great for both Jenson and I to get back to the factory and thank everyone in person for their contribution to our successes. At the same time, we have been looking ahead to the final race and ensuring that all our preparations are in place for Abu Dhabi which is an important weekend for the team as we look to secure second position in the drivers’ championship with Rubens. The new Yas Marina Circuit looks extremely impressive and we’re looking forward to getting out to Abu Dhabi and having our first look at the track. With the challenge of a new circuit, we are able to use data provided by the FIA to create a circuit map which can be used in our simulator at the factory. We went through this process for the new street circuits in Valencia and Singapore last year so it is a process that the team is familiar with. Knowing the circuit when they arrive helps the drivers to get into a rhythm quickly during the first practice sessions and allows us to check gear ratios and compare set-up items. We can also use the simulator to understand tyre behaviour. From this we get an understanding of the car balance and that allows us to determine our start set-up for the weekend.”

Fernando Alonso, Renault
“I always enjoy the challenge of a new circuit and the track in Abu Dhabi looks very impressive. It will be a new experience for everyone so it’s important that we maximise all the sessions and learn as much as we can quickly to try and find an advantage. I think the facility looks amazing and will be great for the people of Abu Dhabi. We went there a few years ago for the street demo and saw how much enthusiasm the fans have for Formula One. I would love to finish the season and my Renault career with a great result. It will be an emotional race because I have enjoyed so many special memories with this team and I am leaving behind a lot of friends. Renault is one of the great teams in Formula One and I look forward to fighting with them on the track in the years ahead.”

Romain Grosjean, Renault
“It will be a new adventure for everyone and I’m very curious to see what it’s like as there has been so much expectation for this track. The photos I’ve seen of the Marina look amazing and I’m sure it will be a great way to end the season. The layout looks like fun: it will be quick as there are some long straights and hopefully some overtaking opportunities. I think it will also feel like a street circuit with the big buildings and the yachts in the harbour. As it’s a new track for all the drivers, things should be easier for me as we all have to learn the circuit. My aim is to try and match Fernando, qualify well and hopefully fight for points in the race.”

Bob Bell, Renault team principal
“I think all the teams enjoy visiting a new country and a new track always has a modern infrastructure with so much space available for the mechanics and engineers. It remains to be seen how good the circuit will be in terms of the action it produces, but from what I’ve seen so far it seems the organisers have done an excellent job. As a team we enjoy the challenge of a new track and we will be ready to exploit any advantage we can. It would be great to get Romain and Fernando through to Q3 in qualifying so that we have some reasonable starting positions for the race. We want to be challenging for points and even the podium, which is a realistic target considering the performance level we have already demonstrated this season.”

Jarno Trulli, Toyota
“It’s been an up-and-down season for us with such a strong start followed by some disappointing races in Europe then a really competitive end to the year. As Abu Dhabi is a new track it’s impossible to predict how we will perform but after the speed we showed in the last three races I am confident of finishing the year on a high. I was extremely frustrated to be eliminated by an accident in Brazil because we had looked very quick all weekend and I genuinely believe we had a fantastic chance of finishing on the podium. So I am confident for this weekend and I am really motivated to get another great result before the season ends. Abu Dhabi looks like another fantastic new venue and I am really interested to see what the track is like to drive so I can’t wait for practice to begin on Friday.”

Kamui Kobayashi, Toyota
“I am really looking forward to my second Grand Prix and I want to make the most of this unexpected chance. I didn’t know the track in Brazil and that was a little bit of a disadvantage because almost all the other drivers had some experience of it. But that’s not the case in Abu Dhabi; this is a new track for everyone so that should help me. I am also more familiar with the car now, as well as other procedures during a race weekend like pit stops and the two tyre compounds, so I expect to be more competitive in Abu Dhabi. I am sure the car will be strong and I will do everything I can to try to score my first points in Formula One. Of course it will be extremely difficult because the field is very strong and this is just my second Grand Prix but I will give my all.”

John Howett, Toyota team president
“We are very much looking forward to the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which marks the end of an eventful and positive season for us. Even if we haven’t yet achieved all our targets, we produced a very competitive car and when we made the most of its potential we were able to fight systematically for the podium. Having discussed the medical advice with Timo and his management, the team has decided to take no risk and to put Kamui in the car. He proved in very difficult circumstances in Brazil that he can compete in Formula One and we are looking forward to another gutsy performance. This track is again new to him but that is true for everyone, which should work in Kamui’s favour, so we are expecting a strong display from both drivers.”

Nico Rosberg, Williams
“I am really looking forward to going to Abu Dhabi. With the amount of time and effort that has gone into building it, I think it’s going to be a fantastic venue with stunning facilities and a great experience for Formula One. I’ve heard it’s a sell-out too so it should be a really exciting race weekend for the teams and the fans and a great way to end the year. Abu Dhabi is going to be a new experience for all of us so the simulator at Grove has been a real help and I’m pleased I had it at my disposal this week. There are some things like the bumps and kerbs that you can’t completely replicate, but braking, oversteer and understeer are all very similar. It’s definitely a big advantage having a sim like ours as I will be able to drive out of the pits on Friday and know the track pretty much straightaway. The one consideration I’ll be interested to see play out is the fact that we will start the race in daylight and then move into the night time.”

Kazuki Nakajima, Williams
“It’s really exciting to be going to a brand new circuit. The organisers certainly look like they’ve put a lot of thought into developing the track and the facilities. It all looks very impressive and the perfect place to end the championship. As we haven’t driven the circuit yet, it’s difficult to give an accurate breakdown of the track but our simulator has provided us with some really invaluable data. It looks like set-up will veer towards a medium to high downforce configuration to cope with the long straight (which will require good top speeds) and tight corners which we expect to see on a street circuit. Good grip levels for balance and to cope with the sand will also be crucial. One of the most interesting things for me is that we will drive under a hotel which I can’t wait to experience.”

Adrian Sutil, Force India
“Yas Marina looks like it will be a great facility – very luxurious and a great working environment for the team. However I don’t think the track will be massively challenging. It has a long straight, but there are a lot of second gear corners as well, which might hurt us a little bit. The good thing is everyone is starting from the same platform, so it will be a little bit of a surprise when we arrive. When preparing for a new event, the first step is always to look at the track map and the conditions you can expect at the event. Is there anything that looks different or challenging in the corners, is there something that you need to prepare for physically? I’ll speak to my engineers about what they expect in terms of set-up and then the next step is to put it all together in the simulator. This gives a head start as you can make a basic set-up from this and use as a starting point in practice. You also know what to expect when you get on track.”

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India
“We really want points – it’s important for the team and for myself. We’ll be giving 100 percent until the end, in practice, qualifying and the race. We have done some laps of Yas Marina in the simulator and it looks like a great facility. The track seems very interesting and could suit the VJM02 very well as there are a few long straights and a tricky middle section. It’s also good to visit new venues so I’m looking forward to this race.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India chairman and team principal
“Brazil was a missed opportunity to score points. Adrian was in a prime position to get some decent points, perhaps even a podium, but it was not to be. But the Abu Dhabi aero configuration is roughly similar to Brazil and Valencia, and even though we can’t expect rain, we can expect a reasonable level of performance in qualifying that should put us in a good position for the race. We could technically move up a position in the championship as we’re just 13 points behind Renault, but it will be tough so we need to consolidate what we have already. Toro Rosso have been looking very strong in recent races so it’s a matter of personal pride to keep them behind. Ninth place in the championship is one position higher than last year and we need that improvement to validate all the progress we’ve made this year. Having new events on the calendar certainly keeps the series fresh and opens the sport out to new markets. I hear the venue is absolutely fantastic as well, so it will set new standards for Formula One. This too is very important, for the sport to keep evolving and looking at making improvements to track facilities, spectator opportunities and the whole ‘experience’ of going to a race. For Force India for sure it will be an extra special event as there is a large number of ex-pat Indians, which always gives us that little more of a push.”

Dominic Harlow, Force India’s chief engineer
“Abu Dhabi will be one of the most eagerly awaited new race debuts in some time. The track and facilities are immense and a very interesting weekend is in store. We expect it to be quite hot obviously, but the twilight timing to the sessions will mean track surface temperatures will not be as high as they could be. The lap includes a very long straight, over 1km, with three high energy brakings and predominantly slow, second or third gear, quite technical corners with a surprising amount of gradient change. On the reliability side cooling will be the main focus, and for performance finding the right downforce level and understanding the factors that will dictate race strategy. It looks like being a great season finale and we’ll be pushing as hard as ever to finish with some more points.”

Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development
“This will be the first ever race meeting at this circuit so it is very much a step into the unknown. Of course, we work very closely with the circuit and teams with simulations and evaluations of the layout, and we have been working with a sample of the track surface. We will also have some data from the GP2 Asia Series test which takes place the week before the Grand Prix. In terms of expected lateral forces we can say that the circuit is similar to Valencia. The track surface is similar to Barcelona or Fuji. Our ambient temperature predictions place Abu Dhabi as being similar to Bahrain. The track is new so very dark in colour, meaning it could get quite hot. We expect to see a lot of surface evolution. The circuit layout is a typical stop and go street course so there will be traction demands. As with any new surface we can expect the possibility of graining early in the weekend. We have brought the medium and soft compound Bridgestone Potenza tyres as they sit in the middle of our tyre range. It is difficult to know exactly what the temperatures will be, especially the track surface temperature with such a dark new surface.”

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
“The race in Abu Dhabi will be my last Grand Prix with Ferrari and as usual I will give it everything to gain the best possible result. We’ll try to conclude this difficult year with a good result, hoping that it will be enough to gain the third place in the constructors’ championship, McLaren took over in Brazil. It will be difficult, because the competition is very strong. Furthermore in Brazil the two titles have been assigned, so maybe there are certain drivers, who will risk a little bit more, as everything has been decided already. Our direct competitors are still improving their car, while we have been using the same car since the race in Hungary at the end of July. There are many expectations as far as the Yas Marina Circuit is concerned, but it’s difficult making any predictions, because we’re racing there for the first time. As far as we can see the organisers have done some great work and the circuit seems to me very interesting and challenging. Furthermore there will be a very special challenge, given the fact that we’ll start the race in sunlight, while it will end with artificial lights. This will definitely add some suspense.”

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
“I have not been to the Abu Dhabi circuit so far. As we do not have a simulator I only know the track from the Internet and from a couple of presentations. The track looks very interesting. The facilities and the buildings around the circuit especially seem to be outstanding. However, before having done the first laps on the track with a Formula One car, it is really difficult to judge the circuit itself. But of course I know this situation from the past. In 2008 both Valencia and Singapore were new on the calendar. Fortunately I consider myself a driver who does not need a lot of track time to be on a good pace straight away. I guess that a lot of cars will be out on the track on Friday in order to understand the track and to learn as much as possible. I am really looking forward to going there. It will be my last race for this team, but I hope very much to see them on the grid again next year.”

Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber
“I’m very pleased to be getting another taste of summer and will be flying out to Abu Dhabi a few days early with my family. I’m really excited about the new circuit. Everyone who’s been there already has described it as an incredible place. I think it’s always great to discover a new track. I haven’t found the lack of a simulator to be a disadvantage at other new circuits, and this way it’s even more exciting when you drive out of the garage for the first time. This will be a very special race for all of us in the team. So far I haven’t really had that feeling of saying goodbye. But that will change in Abu Dhabi for sure, and will probably be quite intense. I very much hope that the team is given a place on the grid for 2010 soon.”

Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
“We will travel to Abu Dhabi with mixed feelings. The eight points we collected in Brazil have allowed us to move up a place in the constructors’ championship, and we will be highly motivated once again at the final race of the season. We are looking forward to racing at the new Formula One venue and can’t wait to experience the atmosphere at the Marina Circuit.

“However, there will of course also be a fair amount of sadness within the team as we set off for Abu Dhabi. After all, this will be our 70th and final race with the BMW Sauber team.”

Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering
“I always find it exciting to compete at a new venue. The circuit in Abu Dhabi has a whole series of predominantly slow and medium-speed corners, but also two very long straights. Since the track is also very wide, we can probably look forward to a lot of overtaking moves. Of course, we have carried out the usual simulations, but one significant unknown is how the tyres will respond on the new asphalt. We will only discover the answer to this question during the course of the weekend. The ambient temperatures are sure to play a major role. Although the race is not scheduled to start until 5.00 pm, we can still expect the outside air temperature to be well over 30 degrees Celsius. Brazil was the first race in which we’ve been able to fully exploit the potential of the car since the extensive package of modifications were introduced in Singapore, and we’re also expecting to have a strong race in Abu Dhabi. We’ll be pulling out all the stops to finish the season on a positive note.”

Mark Webber, Red Bull
“As usual, the F1 season has been pretty long, but it’s still always good to have the chance to drive the car again, particularly when we’re in our current form. The last race of the year will be very interesting to go to, as no-one’s raced there before and it’s another street circuit – it sounds fascinating. I think it will be a good finale to the season and a timely end to the championship. We’re all ready to start next year now, as the championship titles are decided. I’m expecting Red Bull Racing to be pretty strong in Abu Dhabi. We’ve been pretty strong since Singapore, so there’s no reason to suggest that we can’t be fighting towards the sharp end again, no question about it. As usual, qualifying will be very important on a street circuit and then we’ll see how the race goes from there. We’re looking to finish off on a high for the team. I’ve heard the Yas Marina Circuit has some nice undulations, which sounds good. It’s got a few fast sections to it and a slow section to finish off. I think it will be pretty dusty, but we’ll clean it up pretty quick; it’s always nice to go to a new track.”

David Coulthard, Red Bull team consultant
“Having had the opportunity to drive the circuit, what struck me is that it’s a two-stage track; the first half of the lap until corner nine is typical of the new type of track. There’s the fast section at the beginning from Turn One to the Turn Four tight hairpin with the grandstand literally overhead, giving great viewing for the spectators. The 1.2-kilometre back straight should give an opportunity for some slipstreaming and overtaking and then the back section of the circuit has a real street circuit feel to it, where you come along the section that takes you to the hotel and then passes underneath it, via a series of 90 degree right-handers and left-handers before opening out to the end of the lap and a medium speed corner on to the start-finish straight. The pit lane entry is very challenging, as is the exit, which is actually in a tunnel under the circuit and is going to make it particularly challenging for the drivers coming in and out of pit stops. There are great facilities and air-conditioned garages which will make working conditions in the heat a little bit easier and also having an evening race will obviously take some of the heat out of what can be a very hot venue. I think the twilight aspect of the race will be more of a visual treat for the spectators and the TV audience, but I think for the drivers it will be absolutely fine, as there is enough overhead lighting to make it blend seamlessly from day into night, no problem.”

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
“We’ve had a fantastic second half of the season, and it would be perfect to end the year with a win – it would send us into the winter fully motivated and pumped up for the 2010 season. All the signs point to Abu Dhabi being another strong track for us – there are plenty of slow corners leading onto long straights, where KERS will be very advantageous. Seeing as it’s likely to be the last race for KERS, it would be fantastic to send it off with a perfect result – that would be a very fitting farewell for all the engineers who have worked so hard to make the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes system the best in the business.”

Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren
“I had a very strong race in Brazil and I’m determined to rack up a points finish in Abu Dhabi to make sure we hold on to third position in the constructors’ championship. From what I’ve seen of the track, it looks pretty good – it’s got a couple of fast corners at the start of the lap, but then there’s a real low-speed, technical section towards the end. It still looks like it will be a tough track for overtaking, but the facilities look amazing – totally world-class – and I think the idea of a dusk race is very good for our sport. Singapore has set the standard very high with its night race, but Abu Dhabi looks like it will set new standards in Formula One. I can’t wait to get out there.”

Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal
“We may have just overhauled Ferrari in Brazil to move into third place in the constructors’ championship, but, being just one point ahead with just one race remaining, means that we go into the Abu Dhabi weekend fully focused on scoring the maximum possible points to consolidate that position. As usual, there has been no let-up from the team in its preparations. We head to Abu Dhabi not only extremely encouraged by the improved pace we showed in Brazil but also very optimistic that the final race of the season offers us another opportunity to challenge for victory. Everything I’ve seen and heard about the Abu Dhabi circuit speaks of the race organisers’ total passion and commitment to perfection. The track already looks to have eclipsed the facilities we have anywhere else in the world and I’m very optimistic that, like Singapore before it, this weekend’s race will set a new benchmark for Formula One and open up new opportunities for the sport in the Middle East and the rest of the world.”

Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice-President
“This exciting season is coming to its end with the very first race at the new track in Abu Dhabi. This circuit defines the new state-of-the-art Formula One racetracks, and I’m sure it will be a truly exciting and hard-fought race. After both world championships have been decided, every team that is in a position to do so will try to use the chance to win this prestigious final race of the season. Since Lewis’ first victory in Hungary in late July, McLaren has shown a clear upwards trend. Both Lewis and McLaren have achieved two wins and five podium finishes, resulting in more points than any team and any other driver in the last seven races. We try to continue in that direction and hopefully with a similar result to the last street race in Singapore, which Lewis won.”

More to follow

For every member of the Formula One fraternity, this weekend’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be a step into the unknown. For the drivers and engineers, however, there’s a lot more to worry about than where they’re going to eat and rest their heads, with a brand-new circuit to learn and – hopefully – conquer. Renault’s Fernando Alonso and the team’s chief engineer, Alan Permane, explain how they’ve been preparing to do just that…

Q: Fernando, what are your first impressions of the new circuit in Abu Dhabi?
Fernando Alonso: It looks like it will be quite a demanding circuit for the drivers as there are over twenty corners in the lap – and some of them look very challenging. However, when you are looking at a map it’s difficult to really understand a circuit and it’s only when you get there and walk the circuit that you start to feel what it is really like.

Q: How do you normally prepare for a new circuit?
FA: We look at a lot of simulation data and I work very closely with the team to understand the demands of the track – much more than I would do for a track that I already know. We will probably spend five times longer preparing for a new venue and the circuit walk becomes very important for me and the engineers.

Q: Which corners have caught your attention?
FA: I think Turns 11, 12 and 13 look interesting. I remember when we first saw the map of the circuit it reminded me of the difficult turn ten chicane in Singapore. It looks like Turns Eight and 11 will be the two big braking zones and for sure there will be opportunities to overtake there.

Q: How long does it take you to learn a new track?
FA: It doesn’t take long because we jump in the car knowing the circuit perfectly in our mind as we have studied the map. After three or four laps you realise the lines and the braking points so I would say five laps is enough to know the track pretty well. But it’s true that every lap you feel more confident and you learn more about the track and how to get the most from it. The final laps of the race are usually your best laps as you know the track so well by then.

Q: Alan, tell us about the team’s technical preparations for a new circuit…
Alan Permane: We usually begin our preparations about two months ahead of the race, which is when we receive a detailed map showing the layout and characteristics of the circuit. This gives us an idea of the set-up we will need in terms of the downforce levels and the demands on the brakes and the engine. We then feed the circuit map into our computers to create a virtual circuit where we can run simulations with a computer model of our car. This allows us to evaluate many different set-up options which can be easily changed to help us work out a good base set-up.

Once we have arrived at the circuit and run the car in free practice, we will send the real circuit data back to the factory, which can be used to run more accurate simulations. The logged data from Friday practice can also be used on our chassis dynamics rig to explore the ride characteristics of the circuit and can reveal improvements to the damping or perhaps to the spring rates. Any suggestions from the factory for improving the set-up of the car usually come through by the end of Friday so that we can try them on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying.

Q: What are your first impressions of the Abu Dhabi circuit?
AP: There are a couple of reasonably long straights, but it does look like it will be quite stop-start – a bit like the street circuit in Valencia. In terms of downforce, it will be on the higher side, although we won’t run maximum downforce settings because of the long straights where straight-line speed will be important. There are a lot of right-angled corners, but it’s difficult to predict the impact this will have on car set-up as it depends on the layout of the curbs. That’s one thing we will examine during our track walk.

What we do know already is that the drivers will want a car that is biased towards traction as the circuit doesn’t have high-speed changes of direction, which would require a stiffer car set- up. So to aid good traction from the low-speed corners we will aim to give the drivers a softer rear end. In terms of braking, our simulations have shown it to be similar to Valencia and Melbourne so it’s by no means an easy circuit on the brakes, but it’s not as tough as Monza.

Q: Which parts of the track look challenging to you?
AP: I agree with Fernando that Turns 11, 12 and 13 will be interesting and certainly worth a lot of lap- time. Drivers always enjoy the high-speed corners, but most of the gains can be found in these low-speed corners where you spend the most time. So, with this in mind, Turns Five, Six and Seven will also be a section of the lap where the car needs to work well so we can maximise the gains in lap-time.

As F1 fans await the return of the Lotus name next season with the Malaysian-backed team led by Mike Gascoyne and Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes, Group Lotus has appointed a new director of motorsport for its sportscar company. Claudio Berro was operations racing director for the Speedcar Middle East International Race Series, and before that spent 14 years in various roles at Ferrari, Maserati and Fiat.

“Lotus has a peerless motorsport heritage, not just in Formula One, but we have also won in sportscar racing, saloon car racing, world rally championships, Le Mans and the Indy 500,” said Berro. “There is no other car company in the world which can lay claim to so many accolades and championships in such a wide variety of motorsport fields, and I am looking forward to re-introducing Lotus to high level motorsport to not only compete and win but also to demonstrate the shared technology between Lotus sportscars and future racing cars.”

Group Lotus CEO, Dany Bahar, added: “I am delighted that Claudio is joining us as director of motorsport. He has a proven track record of not only setting up and managing the motorsport’s divisions within sportscar brands but also winning championships in GT racing and rallying. His skills will be very valuable as we look to return Lotus to high level motorsport around the world. ”

It remains to be seen exactly what, if any, involvement Berro will have with the Lotus F1 team. Early in his motorsport career he was a rally co-driver for Peugeot Talbot Italia in a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, twice becoming Italian Group Two rally champion in 1981 and 1982. He’ll join Lotus on November 2.

This weekend Formula One racing will undertake two firsts – its inaugural event in Abu Dhabi and its maiden ‘twilight’ race. To make the teams feel more at home in the Middle Eastern state, we’ve compiled a list of interesting facts and figures to help them get better acquainted with Abu Dhabi and the newly-built Yas Marina Circuit before they delight the fans at the Grand Prix…

- Designed by renowned circuit architect Hermann Tilke, Yas Marina Circuit is 5.55 kilometres (3.4 miles) long and comprises 21 turns (12 left and nine right). Like Interlagos in Brazil and Turkey’s Istanbul Park, Yas Marina is one of the few venues on the calendar to run in an anti-clockwise direction.

- The lap boasts four main periods of acceleration, the longest equating to 1,173 metres, which is the longest straight of any 2009 Formula One track. With an estimated lap time of 1m 40s, the track’s top speed is a predicted 317km/h and its average speed 198 km/h. The width of the circuit fluctuates from 12-16m.

- In addition to the Formula One track, Yas Marina can be set-up to run two additional configurations, measuring 3.15 kilometres (1.9 miles) and 2.36 kilometres (1.46 miles) respectively. These two extra tracks can run independently of each other and thus make it possible for the circuit to hold two events simultaneously.

- Building the Yas Marina track was a massive project. The first soil was turned at the site back in February 2007 and by the site’s completion, 14,000 workers had been on site and 35 million man hours had been expended. 1.6 million cubic metres of earthwork had been shifted, 720,000 square metres of asphalt had been laid, 225,000 cubic metres of concrete poured, while 30 kilometres of special electronic ducts, 25 kilometres of electrical cabling, 17 kilometres of drainage and 22 kilometres of irrigation piping had been installed. During the Grand Prix up to 900 volunteers will be drafted in to help with hospitality.

- Located on the north-east side of the Arabian Peninsula, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi occupies the western half of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). At around 75,000 square kilometres, Abu Dhabi is the largest of the UAE’s seven Emirates, accounting for approximately 86 percent of the country’s total land area. Seventy percent of Abu Dhabi, however, is desert.

- The Yas Marina Circuit is part of Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island development, which covers an area of 25 square kilometres. In addition to the track, the island’s development plans also include the soon-to-be-opened Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, which will feature the world’s fastest rollercoaster, a Warner Brothers theme park and a water park.

- The fan and team accommodation at Yas Marina is second to none. One world first is that all of the grandstands, including the massive hairpin seating area, are covered to protect the estimated 50,000 spectators from the desert sun. The track’s team facilities are lavish too, with 70 garages in two pit buildings, while VIPs will watch the action from the 60-metre high ‘Sun Tower’. Located near the start/finish straight, the solar-powered tower is high enough to offer panoramic views of all the action, and luxurious enough to satisfy even the most demanding luminaries.

- August tends to be when Abu Dhabi is at its hottest with an average temperature of 34.9 degrees Celsius. It starts to cool down in September (average 32.5 degrees) with temperatures in November, when the race will be held, dropping considerably to 24.4 degrees. January is the wettest month, with minimum rainfall of 22mm, while May through October sees very little rainfall, if any.

- Abu Dhabi City is the world’s richest city, with the average net worth of the 420,000 permanent citizens estimated at US$17 million. The official currency of the UAE is the dirham (abbreviated to Dhs or AED), with each dirham divided into 100 fils. Dirham notes come in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 denominations, while coins come in Dhs 1, 0.5, 0.25.

- Unusually the pit-lane exit crosses under the circuit. It has been estimated that if a driver plans to stop just once during the 55-lap Abu Dhabi race, he’ll come into the pits between Laps 27-33. If he plans a two-stop strategy, he’ll stop between Laps 16-27 and then between Laps 35-41. A three-stop strategy, meanwhile, will involve stopping between Laps 14-19, then between Laps 25-30, and finally between Laps 38-43.

- In August race organisers revealed the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would begin at 5pm, two hours later than originally scheduled. This means the race will get underway at dusk and end in the dark, making it Formula One racing’s first-ever twilight race. The track was built from the outset to host day and night-time activities, with 24 40-metre tall outfield floodlights providing horizontal lighting, boosted by seven smaller 15-metre infield fixtures. The lights will be on from the start of the race to ensure a seamless transition from daylight to dark.

- The 500 bedroom, five-star Yas Hotel is the first hotel to sit astride a race track. Its outer walls feature an extraordinary 5000 LED panel ‘Grid-Shell’, which is programmed to change colour. Expect some astonishing light shows over the course of the weekend.

- Yas Island is just one of the 200 islands that form Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Located east of Abu Dhabi City, Yas Island is just 15 minutes from Abu Dhabi International Airport. A newly-built 10-lane highway will connect the airport, Yas Island, Saadiyat Island and Abu Dhabi City’s centre.

- In addition to the Grand Prix, the track will host the GP2 Asia, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and the Chevrolet Supercar Middle East series during the race weekend. The circuit also hopes to run an intensive programme of international and national events throughout the year. At the track there’s also drag racing, an off-road driving centre, a state-of-the-art kart centre and even a driving school.

- Etihad Airways will be the title sponsor of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix until 2011. The airline made its first commercial flight in November 2003 and since then has grown faster than any other in commercial aviation history.

- The UAE is an Islamic country. There are roughly 150 mosques in Abu Dhabi City and more than 2,500 in the Emirate as a whole. Abu Dhabi City has been built to a strict grid pattern, but because all mosques look to Mecca, all are situated at a slight angle to the modern buildings.