Well I’d give it 3/10. I had hoped for better but another dull race from another venue with no tradition in the sport. For me it has a lot in common with the other new venues in as much as it has a spectacular backdrop and has other unique features but none including anything to make the track activities more entertaining. I have to say given the choice of going to Spa and roughing it on a mattress thrown into the back of the car vs. going to Abu Dhabi and staying in the chameleon like hotel I’d be going to Spa!

4 out of 10 for the first 47 laps / 8 out of 10 for lap 47 - 55

I would give it 7, just for effort.

I am, however, affraid that it has nothing to do with the venue. The track is designed in a best way possible. It must be F1 itself that fails to utilise such a great racetrack.

It happens a lot recently. 

5/10 Great scenery and lovely to have the first twighlight race, but not enough overtaking and moves which has brought it's score down. I think the new FIA regs e.g. limit on engines is killing the sport as drivers won't risk overtaking

lewishamiltonmclaren:

5/10 Great scenery and lovely to have the first twighlight race, but not enough overtaking and moves which has brought it's score down. I think the new FIA regs e.g. limit on engines is killing the sport as drivers won't risk overtaking

yashi make a fantastic move and i wished hamilton span on the first lap so that he'd fight his way back to the fron just to demonstrate how great the track is for overtaking. overtaking or the lack of it is due to the drivers, if yashi on his 2nd race could do it why could button after 172 races? 

2/10 until last few laps then 9/10 xx

3/10. Total snooze-fest.

Watching Kobayashi was fun - he has huge potential and I hope he gets picked up by a team next year.

Button and Webber was entertaining for a couple of laps and is probably the only thing that stopped this being a 1/10 race.

I've thought long and hard about this and I award 'nil points'..........the whole thing was just awful!

If it hadn't been the last race of the season then there wouldn't have been any racing 'cos JB would have settled for third.

A dreadful place where the racing was obviously second to the venue, what we witnessed yesterday was an extremely long advert by the Abu Dhabi tourist board. 

 
Get it off the calendar Bernie along with Valencia and Singapore!

 

I would always worry about funds making their way from UAE to terrorists... and besides that, it was a utterly boring circuit, devoid of racing... another expensive failure... scores a generious 1 out of 100 from me...

The dodo WDC was free to race without pressure, and he still sucked...

I've had more entertainment from watching a gold fish lap it's bowl...

I give it a whopping 8/10,  why,  just look at what they acheived in 2years, from a sand bowl to a super race circuit.  It would take 2years in this country to get the H & S to 2nd stage approval,before any building could start, they have the money over there and they have tried their best to give a great racing  location.    They provided the straights for overtaking, was it their fault no one wanted or could overtake ?  they provided the hairpin bends, chicanes and tight corners,  come on guys and gals,  give 'em a chance,  even great pits for the working crews were laid on,  what else could racing want,  it was down to the drivers after all that.  OK the Mid Eastern countries have no racing background but everyone has to start somewhere and these far away countries have vision to at least try and put on a show.  Their oil will run in the next 20 years or so and they are preparing already for an industry to take its place,  for them finance and tourism.  We should stop knocking them and ask why this country cannot plan and acheive the same.   How would it be if the Arabs (bless them)  plowed money into Silverstone or Donnington, would we be grateful ?

jax70:

I give it a whopping 8/10,  why,  just look at what they acheived in 2years, from a sand bowl to a super race circuit.  It would take 2years in this country to get the H & S to 2nd stage approval,before any building could start, they have the money over there and they have tried their best to give a great racing  location.    They provided the straights for overtaking, was it their fault no one wanted or could overtake ?  they provided the hairpin bends, chicanes and tight corners,  come on guys and gals,  give 'em a chance,  even great pits for the working crews were laid on,  what else could racing want,  it was down to the drivers after all that.  OK the Mid Eastern countries have no racing background but everyone has to start somewhere and these far away countries have vision to at least try and put on a show.  Their oil will run in the next 20 years or so and they are preparing already for an industry to take its place,  for them finance and tourism.  We should stop knocking them and ask why this country cannot plan and acheive the same.   How would it be if the Arabs (bless them)  plowed money into Silverstone or Donnington, would we be grateful ?

Jax, great post, I agree with you entirely ( bet you thought you would never hear that). The negativity from other posters is indictive of the attitude of this country. We have the knowledge and the people to provide a world class venue for motoracing, all we need to succeed is the willpower and the right person to lead the project. I accept we will never be able to plough the sort of money Abu Dhabi has into such a venture but a few hundred million could easily be found with the I can attitude shown by the Asian authorities.

redfrog:

jax70:

I give it a whopping 8/10,  why,  just look at what they acheived in 2years, from a sand bowl to a super race circuit.  It would take 2years in this country to get the H & S to 2nd stage approval,before any building could start, they have the money over there and they have tried their best to give a great racing  location.    They provided the straights for overtaking, was it their fault no one wanted or could overtake ?  they provided the hairpin bends, chicanes and tight corners,  come on guys and gals,  give 'em a chance,  even great pits for the working crews were laid on,  what else could racing want,  it was down to the drivers after all that.  OK the Mid Eastern countries have no racing background but everyone has to start somewhere and these far away countries have vision to at least try and put on a show.  Their oil will run in the next 20 years or so and they are preparing already for an industry to take its place,  for them finance and tourism.  We should stop knocking them and ask why this country cannot plan and acheive the same.   How would it be if the Arabs (bless them)  plowed money into Silverstone or Donnington, would we be grateful ?

Jax, great post, I agree with you entirely ( bet you thought you would never hear that). The negativity from other posters is indictive of the attitude of this country. We have the knowledge and the people to provide a world class venue for motoracing, all we need to succeed is the willpower and the right person to lead the project. I accept we will never be able to plough the sort of money Abu Dhabi has into such a venture but a few hundred million could easily be found with the I can attitude shown by the Asian authorities.

As I've said on other threads, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend. Yes, there is room for improvement of the TV coverage but it was their first attempt so lets be fair and see what changes next year.

I'm pleasantly surprised to find I'm not the only one who liked the place and the race! 

 

drapes:

I've thought long and hard about this and I award 'nil points'..........the whole thing was just awful!

If it hadn't been the last race of the season then there wouldn't have been any racing 'cos JB would have settled for third.

A dreadful place where the racing was obviously second to the venue, what we witnessed yesterday was an extremely long advert by the Abu Dhabi tourist board. 

 
Get it off the calendar Bernie along with Valencia and Singapore!

 

  Agreed.  Boring racing and is adding to the cheesy three-ring circus feel that Bernie and Co. seem so hellbent on Formula One being seen as.  I've been watching this sport for thirty years and it has never felt so little like a 'pure' motorsport and so much like a cheap (not literally) soap opera on wheels than it does now.  The mop-headed midgit is playing the lead role in destroying it.

katiekutie:

redfrog:

jax70:

I give it a whopping 8/10,  why,  just look at what they acheived in 2years, from a sand bowl to a super race circuit.  It would take 2years in this country to get the H & S to 2nd stage approval,before any building could start, they have the money over there and they have tried their best to give a great racing  location.    They provided the straights for overtaking, was it their fault no one wanted or could overtake ?  they provided the hairpin bends, chicanes and tight corners,  come on guys and gals,  give 'em a chance,  even great pits for the working crews were laid on,  what else could racing want,  it was down to the drivers after all that.  OK the Mid Eastern countries have no racing background but everyone has to start somewhere and these far away countries have vision to at least try and put on a show.  Their oil will run in the next 20 years or so and they are preparing already for an industry to take its place,  for them finance and tourism.  We should stop knocking them and ask why this country cannot plan and acheive the same.   How would it be if the Arabs (bless them)  plowed money into Silverstone or Donnington, would we be grateful ?

Jax, great post, I agree with you entirely ( bet you thought you would never hear that). The negativity from other posters is indictive of the attitude of this country. We have the knowledge and the people to provide a world class venue for motoracing, all we need to succeed is the willpower and the right person to lead the project. I accept we will never be able to plough the sort of money Abu Dhabi has into such a venture but a few hundred million could easily be found with the I can attitude shown by the Asian authorities.

As I've said on other threads, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend. Yes, there is room for improvement of the TV coverage but it was their first attempt so lets be fair and see what changes next year.

I'm pleasantly surprised to find I'm not the only one who liked the place and the race! 

 

Ok, now I dare creeping out as well... 

I actually quite enjoyed the weekend. The race was dominated by strategy, which I always find interesting. We had valid one and two stop strategies, different tyre wear and as the race unfolded the different strategies came into play.

redfrog:

jax70:

I give it a whopping 8/10,  why,  just look at what they acheived in 2years, from a sand bowl to a super race circuit.  It would take 2years in this country to get the H & S to 2nd stage approval,before any building could start, they have the money over there and they have tried their best to give a great racing  location.    They provided the straights for overtaking, was it their fault no one wanted or could overtake ?  they provided the hairpin bends, chicanes and tight corners,  come on guys and gals,  give 'em a chance,  even great pits for the working crews were laid on,  what else could racing want,  it was down to the drivers after all that.  OK the Mid Eastern countries have no racing background but everyone has to start somewhere and these far away countries have vision to at least try and put on a show.  Their oil will run in the next 20 years or so and they are preparing already for an industry to take its place,  for them finance and tourism.  We should stop knocking them and ask why this country cannot plan and acheive the same.   How would it be if the Arabs (bless them)  plowed money into Silverstone or Donnington, would we be grateful ?

Jax, great post, I agree with you entirely ( bet you thought you would never hear that). The negativity from other posters is indictive of the attitude of this country. We have the knowledge and the people to provide a world class venue for motoracing, all we need to succeed is the willpower and the right person to lead the project. I accept we will never be able to plough the sort of money Abu Dhabi has into such a venture but a few hundred million could easily be found with the I can attitude shown by the Asian authorities.

Interesting comments, jax and redfrog.  There is often a negative attitude here, sort of "we're doomed" before we even start.  We most certainly have the knowledge and the people here to make a brilliant racing venue.  It's the money that is the problem.  Where would we find the few hundred million that's needed?  It would have to be private investment, and nobody wanted to come on board for Donington.

What about jax's suggestion?  Give a majority share of Silverstone to some Middle East money people, in return for the money to fix it up?  It wouldn't be 'British' any more, but then neither is Harrods.