The race track under floodlights.
The race track under floodlights.

Reflections on a unique weekend



"I am very impressed with the way it has been done and the speed with which it was built. I came here about two years ago and it was a piece of desert and drawings. Now I see this beautiful result and I want to congratulate all the people involved. "Most of the people around have been working very hard - maybe it is the pressure because it is the last event of the championship. "But everybody seems very happy. I have been very impressed with the facility, the comfort - every single detail." Jean Todt, French, president of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

"For us, this has been a very enjoyable weekend. We have had a fairly stressful couple of events, and winning the championship was a great achievement for the team and for Jenson. "The nice thing about being here is we could really come and try and win the race without the worry that if things went wrong, we were compromising the championship. It has been the least stressful weekend of the year. "Everybody had an extremely stressful winter period, when the survival of the team was in doubt. The biggest difference between now and the beginning of the season is that we have achieved our goal for this year, whereas in March we were only aspiring to be champions." Nick Fry, British, CEO of the championship-winning Brawn GP team

"It felt like you were contributing something back to Abu Dhabi. You were watching Abu Dhabi change before your eyes and this made you feel like you can be part of it.

"I was here from 10am to 8pm every day - people have been really, really friendly but it has been busy. Sometimes you just wanted to drop because it was that tiring. When we had a rush, you didn't realise how tiring it is. "I didn't really see anything because we had a wall in front of us and our passes didn't get us through to watch. But we did have a screen so we have been able to hear it and experience it at the same time. It wasn't the same as being there, but it has been fun." Kimberley Tippetts, Indian, saleswoman at a Ferrari stand

"I saw little of the F1, but did a little of the Porsche and Chevrolet races when on duty. I wasn't there to see the races - I was there to help people. "I had to support people, help people and be there to make people happy. All the people wanted to know about the race, about the hotels and about the taxis - sometimes we were in the grandstands and sometimes we were in the children's play areas. "It has been something new for me and I liked it because I saw a lot of people from different countries. "I absolutely will do it again next year." Mohammed Bashir, Emirati, volunteer with the Takatof programme

"I was organising everything like the queues, communicating with all the posts and satisfying all the guests. "It was really busy. We sold more than 700 burgers a day. It was continuous - it started off at 11am each day and was continuous until 7.30pm or 8pm. "The customers were happy - some of them were really giving us tips because they saw we were really trying our best with the food. "I saw nothing at all of the racing and none of the concerts. I didn't even hear the voice of Beyoncé. But I am not really bothered about that. I knew I had to be here." Jean Reyes, Filipina, operations manager of the Costa coffee stands

"I have been to Silverstone four times, to Magny-Cours and to the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, but this is very, very impressive.

"The facilities, the set-up, the backdrops are all very, very good. I would say, in all honesty, it beats the likes of Silverstone hands down. "As well as the F1, I watched all of the support races and was particularly keen on the Porsche SuperCup. In the South Grandstand, it was a very good view - you saw the series of bends past the marina, and the track heading back towards the Yas Hotel. Greg Taylor, British, a policeman staying with his father in Dubai

"Seeing the F1 cars was really different - I was used to seeing them on television, but it was nothing like seeing and hearing them, all the sounds, hearing the engine. "It is a completely different kind of experience and I would definitely recommend to anyone seeing it at least once. "My view was really good because I saw three turns next to the marina. The atmosphere was really exciting in the support pit. I was thinking before I came here that it wouldn't be organised, but it was really well done." Fouad Hammad, Lebanese, a media relations manager in Dubai

"I was with the scrutineer team scrutinising the use of the tyres in the garages. The teams go through a large amount of tyres through practice, qualifying and the race, but it is important that someone checks whether they use the correct amount of tyres that they are meant to use or not, or whether they used the wrong tyres for that car. "We were coming on to the circuit after leaving the compound at 8am and then didn't get back until 10.45pm or 11pm. It was exhausting, because you were on your feet all weekend long, and especially because of the heat. Maggie Edwards, British, member of the British Automobile Racing Club

"Unbelievable. I came here and obviously I think even though we tried to prepare as much as possible by doing laps in simulators ... it was extremely slippery.

"It was really enjoyable, the whole race. It is a challenging circuit - every lap you needed to focus and keep up the concentration. It was pretty easy to do a mistake. "All in all, great place. It is amazing what they have done here in that short period of time, so winning the race and a one-two for Red Bull Racing, it can't be much better." Sebastian Vettel, German, Red Bull * The National

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Indian construction workers stranded in Ajman with unpaid dues
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
On sale: Later this year
Essentials

The flights

Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours. 

The package

Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Disclaimer

Director: Alfonso Cuaron 

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville 

Rating: 4/5

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5