The Yas Marina Circuit is a showplace, and it should be considering it is widely believed to be the most expensive Formula One track ever built, with some estimates topping $1 billion. It is a purpose-built facility on a man-made island and it is one of the many new Formula One circuits designed by Hermann Tilke. It is less than a decade old and it features a counter-clockwise layout that boasts a top speed of 325 kph (202 mph) and an average speed of 190 kph (118 mph).
Yas Marina has nine right turns and 12 left turns on a waterfront course that rivals Monaco and Singapore
Its extravagance and uniqueness are best highlighted by these attributes: the pit lane exit passes underneath the circuit via a tunnel and the garages are air-conditioned. Yas Marina has a powerful lighting system, and it lays claim to holding Formula One’s first twilight race.
Abu Dhabi is home to the world’s fastest roller-coaster. Located inside Ferrari World (of course), the Formula Rossa ride reaches 240 kph (150 mph) in less than five seconds and climbs to 52 meters (171 feet) to create 4.8Gs for its riders. And if emulating a drive in a Formula One car isn’t your thing, you can go downhill skiing despite Abu Dhabi’s average November temperature of 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit). Ski Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates offers indoor, downhill skiing with 3,000 square meters of snow (32,292 square feet) and an 85-meter high (279 foot) mountain.
During the course of the Abu Dhabi Grand prix, lows will range from 22-23 degrees Celsius (72-74 degrees Fahrenheit) to highs of 28-29 degrees Celsius (83-85 degrees Fahrenheit)
Relative humidity ranges from 29 percent (dry) to 83 percent (humid), with a dewpoint varying from 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit (very comfortable) to 22 degrees Celsius/71 degrees Fahrenheit (very muggy). The dew point is rarely below 6 degrees Celsius/43 degrees Fahrenheit (dry) or above 24 degrees Celsius/75 degrees Fahrenheit (very muggy). Typical wind speeds vary from 0-23 kph/0-14 mph (calm to moderate breeze), rarely exceeding 55 kph/34 mph (high wind).
Power Unit Notes
- Yas Marina is a mid-range power track, but it is particularly hard on the ICE due to the long 1.2km back straight where the power unit will be at full throttle for 14secs.
- Over 50% of the lap is spent at full throttle, with average speeds of 190kph, similar to the Circuit de Gilles-Villeneuve. Top speed will peak at over 330kph down the back straight between Turns 7 and 8. This may seem slow in comparison to the highs of Mexico and Brazil, but it’s just as impressive as the cars will be running medium to high downforce settings and the sea-level air is much denser than at high altitude.
- Fuel consumption per km is the fifth highest of the season behind Melbourne, Montréal, Spielberg and Sochi. The first two sectors are relatively fuel efficient but the stops and starts of the final sector dramatically increase the consumption. It is increased further by the sea level altitude and running in the lower temperatures after sunset.
In Numbers
87 – The Emirate of Abu Dhabi makes up 87% of the United Arab Emirates’ total area
74 – The Observation Deck is a restaurant located on the 74th floor of Tower 2 of the Emirates Towers
499 – Number of rooms in the Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi Hotel which bridges the circuit just after Turn 18
385,000 – Number of camels in Abu Dhabi.
When everyone remembers IT’S RACE WEEK ? ?#F1Finale #AbuDhabiGP ?? pic.twitter.com/H9pnokVjAa
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 20, 2017
2017 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand prix
Circuit name Yas Marina Circuit
First race 2009
Previous winners
2016 Lewis Hamilton, 55 laps, 1:38:04.013s
2015 Nico Rosberg
2014 Lewis Hamilton
History lesson This is the ninth Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit. The track is a stunning venue for Formula 1, having cost £800m to build and it has several unique features. The pitlane exit passes underneath the track, the pit garages are with air-conditioning and the circuit has the largest permanent lighting system in the world. This is the sixth time that Yas Marina has hosted F1’s season finale
Travel
City Abu Dhabi
Time zone GMT+4/CET+3
Population 950,000
Getting there As with all of the flyaway races, the pre-setup crew headed to Abu Dhabi 10 days before the race. The mechanics followed on Monday of this week and the race engineers on Tuesday
Surprising fact The average net worth of Abu Dhabi’s 420,000 indigenous citizens is US$17 million
Local speciality Traditional food in the UAE is spicy and meat-based. One of the most popular dishes is Shawarma, which is similar to a kebab. Mix chicken or lamb with garlic sauce, pickles, potatoes and tomatoes, and wrap it in an Arabic roti. To accentuate the rich Arabian tastes, it’s usually washed down with a strawberry and banana fruit drink
Weather You’re in the desert: it’s dry and hot. Daytime temperatures hover between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius at this time of year
Track
Track length 5.554km/3.451 miles (seventh-longest track of the year – longest: Spa-Francorchamps, shortest: Monaco)
2016 pole position Lewis Hamilton, 1m38.755s
2016 fastest lap Sebastian Vettel, 1m43.729s (lap 43)
Lap record 1:40.279s (Sebastian Vettel, 2009)
Tyre choice Purple Ultrasoft, red Supersoft and yellow Soft – the 10th time this combination has been used in 2017
Distance to Turn One 300m/0.186 miles (longest of season: Mexico 800m/0.497 miles)
Longest straight 1.2km/0.746 miles, on the approach to Turn One (longest of the season: Baku, 2.1km/1.305 miles)
Top speed 320km/h/199mph, on the approach to Turn Eight (fastest of season: Monza, 360km/h/224mph)
Full throttle 63 percent (highest of the season: Monza, 75 percent)
Brakewear High. There are 13 braking zones around the lap, which means 18 percent of the lap is under braking
Fuel consumption 1.80kg per lap, which is relatively high
ERS demands Medium. Efficient ERS deployment is crucial at the exit of the slow corners, but there are plenty of opportunities to recoup the energy under braking
Gear changes 69 per lap/3,740 per race
Race
Laps 55 laps
Start time 17:00hrs local/13:00hrs GMT/14:00hrs CET
Grid advantage Pole position is on the right-hand-side of the track, on the racing line. Turn One is a left-hander, but the higher traction away from the line should lead to an advantage by the braking zone
DRS There are two DRS zones, on the approaches to Turns Eight and 11
Don’t put the kettle on… Two pitstops has been the go-to pit strategy at Yas Marina Circuit. Hamilton won with two stops last year and Rosberg was victorious with two stops in 2015, both drivers pitting around laps 10 and 25. This year’s harder tyre compounds might make one pitstop possible, depending on the amount of degradation
Pitlane length/Pitstops 360m/0.224 miles (longest of the season: Silverstone, 457m/0.283 miles). It takes 22s to make a stop and drivers need to be careful not to crash in the tunnel at pit exit
Safety Car likelihood 40 percent. If there is contact between cars, it’s often at the chicanes, where cars are at low speed. That results in relatively little debris and few Safety Cars
Watch out for… Sunset. Visibility can be tricky at Turns 14 and 19 when the sun is going down. It only lasts a handful of laps, but drivers need to be wary because there are blind spots
When you spend all morning sorting the signage, and… ???#Vettel #AbuDhabiGP #F1Finale ?? pic.twitter.com/0u71lOI6eX
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 20, 2017
