Last weekend, I went to Yas Island several times to soak up the atmosphere surrounding the Formula One Grand Prix. It’s a remarkable event, placing Abu Dhabi in pole position on the world’s sporting calendar for a few days. My visits brought two memories to mind.
One was of the environmental surveys I did on Yas, before the start of the construction of the circuit and of the other various attractions of today, like the golf club, Ferrari World and the new Yas Mall.
Then, there was little to be seen beyond an area of sandbanks and intertidal flats. Now, the island and its facilities are mute testimony – or not so mute this weekend – to the speed of development in recent years.
The creation of Yas has not been cheap, but the boost it has given to the local economy and the positive impact on Abu Dhabi’s global image will certainly provide payback over the years to come.
The second memory was of the motorsport events I attended in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s with my family. The cars then – Vanwalls, Ferraris, Mercedes and BRMs – were very different: larger, less aerodynamic and giving out a throaty roar rather than the higher-pitched noise of today.
Were the drivers then, like Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorne and Juan Manuel Fangio, greater than Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and other stars of today? That’s a matter of opinion, though I rather like to think they were.
But the marketing and media hype was certainly less and the crowds could get closer to the drivers, wandering happily through the pits seeking autographs. Those were the days before mobile phones, Instagram and Twitter, so you couldn’t rapidly send off a selfie for all the world to see.
It was a more personal experience. There were no enormous fences and crash barriers separating the crowds from the cars and no officious security guards hurrying you on if, for example, you paused for a moment on a bridge crossing the track to take a closer look. Brands Hatch was a favourite track.
We and hundreds of others used to park our cars on the South Bank, set up the deckchairs, get out the sandwiches and cold drinks and watch the racing, whatever the weather. All very friendly, very informal, the stuff of which childhood dreams and memories are made.
The Yas Marina Circuit is very different. It does now have one grassy bank on which you can sit, but there are no woods as a backdrop and the other facilities on offer are very different from what I remember at Brands Hatch.
These seem to improve every year – certainly as far as the marina is concerned, with more restaurants, more yachts, large and small, and the promenade on which to see and be seen.
Much has been done in the last couple of years to improve the marina, to cater for yacht owners and for the thousands of people who have visited the circuit this weekend, and who do so throughout the year.
The circuit has, again, delivered a fine spectacle. It’s a world-class facility, putting on a world-class attraction, a far cry from the salt-flats I remember from a few years ago.
As I strolled along the Yas Marina promenade, though, looking at the cars, the yachts and the crowds, my mind went back to Brands Hatch. There was a race there too on Sunday, one of the BRDC Formula 4 Winter Series, whose open paddock format allows fans to meet the drivers and take a close look at the cars, just as I did 50 years ago.
So much of motor-racing is razzamatazz and glitz these days.
That’s fine and I’ve enjoyed this weekend. I’m glad, though, that, away from Formula One and the top end of the sport, some of the old traditions still survive.
Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture