Yas Marina Circuit gets final touches as big day arrives HAMILTON AND VETTEL WILL FIGHT FOR BRAGGING RIGHTS IN ABU DHABI
lowly but surely, the stage for the final race of the 2017 season is being set at this weekend’s Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix.
Track personnel were working at a hectic pace yesterday evening giving final touches of paint to the track, even as teams got busy setting up in the pit lane and paddock areas at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Yas Marina may not be hosting the championship decider for the teams or the drivers this season, but there is far more reason to keep a tab on Mercedes’ world champion Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel as the duo go head-to-head with nothing much to lose this weekend.
The prize on offer for the winner will be the title of becoming the single most successful driver in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix history.
Between them, Vettel and Hamilton currently have six, and no other driver has won here more than once till now. The British driver, who sealed a fourth world drivers’ crown last week in Sao Paolo, Brazil, has won here in 2011, 2014 and last year. The German clinched the opening race in 2009 and repeated his success in 2010 and then in 2013 as Red Bull Racing celebrated their fourth double.
In between, Kimi Raikkonen won in 2012, while Hamilton’s former teammate Nico Rosberg put the final touches on his first and last world crown with a win in 2015.
Given current form, it is expected that Mercedes will ease ahead of the reds this weekend. And whatever the result, it will 1pm to 4pm: Yas Marina Circuit passenger track experiences 3pm: F1 press conference 4pm: Team Managers’ meeting 4.30pm: FIA Formula 2 Team Managers’ meeting
most probably be one of the two who will set a new record of wins and become the single most successful team in Abu Dhabi.
Load of entertainment
One interesting thing to note here is that Ferrari have contested the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on all eight previous occasions, and on all eight times they have failed to win the race. The team from Italy did come close on a couple of occasions, and both times it was Spaniard 5.15pm: FIA track inspection 5.30pm: GP3 Series drivers’ meeting 6.30 to 7pm: F1 Experience — Pit Lane Walk (F1 Experience guests only) 7 to 8pm: F1 Experience — Track Tour (F1 Experience guests only) Fernando Alonso finishing second in 2011 and 2012.
While much of the action will be on-track, there will be loads of entertainment and activities happening off-track as well for the entire family throughout the four Oasis areas. Ardent F1 fans will be able to get close to their favourite teams during today’s [Thursday] Public Pit Lane Walk followed by the daily autograph sessions with drivers. Another highlight will be the new F1 Driver Fan Forum, in the F1 GameZone, live music, dance performances and street theatre among other things.
The Yas KartZone will also stay open throughout the race weekend, exclusively to F1 ticket holders, while ticket-holders who want to experience the rush of the F1 circuit, can experience Yas Hot Laps in a Jaguar F-type or in a Radical SST.
The weather, in the meantime, may cast a shadow of gloom with forecasters predicting sporadic rainfall.