Abu Dhabi: Yas Marina Circuit officials on Monday revealed some of the preparations involved to ensure that the venue is ready for the anticipated 60,000 sellout audience for the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix between Friday and Sunday.
Feeding so many hungry racegoers means that catering is top of the agenda at the Abu Dhabi venue. In both the grandstand and corporate hospitality areas (excluding the paddock), a huge team of more than 1,900 staff will be on hand to ensure stomachs are well fed, and they will serve almost 30,000 meals to the public. Meanwhile, staff themselves will consume more than 12,000 meals to keep them fully fuelled for the mammoth task of feeding 60,000 people from more than 170 countries.
The task of moving the Formula 1 machine from country to country has also swung into action.
The teams’ equipment has arrived from Brazil on six special charter flights, with each laden with more than 90 tonnes of Formula 1 gear. Each F1 car is worth in the region of Dh275 million.
In addition to the airfreight, Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port will also handle 140 containers filled with extra kit so that the F1, GP2 and GP3 teams are fully prepared to put on yet another thrilling display of motorsport action during race weekend.
More than 400 logistics contractors, using 60 forklift trucks at Yas Marina Circuit alone, have coordinated this huge operation — a combined air and sea freight totalling 750 tonnes.
Guests will enjoy more food and drink options than in previous years, with 56 outlets — a mix of mobile kitchens, concessions and bars, as well as the new after-party venue, MAD.
Maintenance of the circuit has been in progress for months. A team of gardeners has been working constantly to lay 75 acres of landscaped grass, and plant a total of 715 palm trees and 150,000 flowers in preparation for the climax to the F1 season.
One of the final tasks before race weekend is to put the finishing touches to the iconic 5.5-kilometre track. The world-famous ‘Yas’ blue colour paint that adorns the track was chosen as the shade most closely resembling the seas of the Arabian Gulf. Called pantone 321, the colour is unique to Yas Marina Circuit.
A team of six specialist contractors will lay a total of 8,550 litres of paint to ensure the track looks its best. The paint is water-based, which is suitable for Abu Dhabi’s dry conditions, and the team will apply 4,500 litres of ‘Yas blue’ paint, 720 litres of ivory, 1,440 litres of red and 1,440 litres of white paint.
The track’s distinctive white edging is the last part of the painting process. These lines must be painted four times, meaning the painting contractors will have to cover a distance of 26 kilometres, including pit-lane lines, applying about 450 litres of white paint.
