Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Finally the day of the Grand Prix arrived.  After a walk round the Pit Lane and having watched some Formula 2 I was definitely getting into the spirit of things.

The other advantage of having traveled to the Yas Island Circuit a few times is that it was easier for us to plan our trip to Abu Dhabi on the day of the Grand Prix.  Well in theory anyway.  We had to make a stop to collect a ticket for a friend and ended up taking a wrong turn.  Interestingly the SatNav directed us through the Yas Mall car park. 

Unfortunately we arrived too late to see the drive past with the racing car drivers.  We caught a glimpse from the bus as we drove past the race track to our grandstand.  After finding our seats in the Marina Grandstand we headed for the beer garden to chill out before the start of the race.

There was a fantastic atmosphere with everyone having fun.  There was loud music and of course fans of the different teams dressed up to show who they supported.  We returned to our seats in time to catch the fly by.

I have to admit that I was half expecting to get bored part way through the F1 race but in the end I found it really interesting.  The race started with a rather spectacular crash but the driver was unharmed.  IT Guy had showed me some videos about strategies related to tyre changes and the impact of the safety car so we considered what effect such an early use of the safety car would have.  The next challenge was getting a few decent pics of fast cars.

In the top right of the above picture, is a corner which was very popular for overtaking.  The challenge was watching for overtaking attempts and who would be ahead as they came out of the corner.  Then the cars would come flying back past us and under the Yas Hotel.  When the cars came back round we would be watching for more changes to the order from overtaking on other parts of the circuit.  There was enough going on to keep me interested till the end of the race.

After the race ended we spent more time chilling out in the beer garden.  We knew there was no need to rush to the Du Arena for the “Guns and Roses” concert.

This was the first time I had been to a Grand Prix and I really enjoyed it. Being able to attend a range of activities made for a fantastic experience and added to my enjoyment of the main race