Spectators at Yas Marina Circuit were treated to a dramatic fly-past on Saturday, the first of the race weekend.
Just ahead of the crucial Formula 1 qualifying session at 5pm, all eyes turned skyward to see the Al Fursan aerial acrobatics crew tearing across the sky in their Aermacchi MB-339 jet aircraft.
Under the command of Colonel Nasser Al Obaidli, pilots started their display with trails of smoke in the colours of the Emirati flag, interspersing their manoeuvres with blasts of white over the next 15 minutes. Even the party goers on their yachts stopped to watch the display.
Soaring and diving over Yas circuit, the marina and the W Hotel, the aircraft changed formation from an arrow, to delta wing, to a simple square, at one point rising upwards in unison before spectacularly splitting apart to create an umbrella shape in smoke in the sky.
The display culminated in a single aircraft creating a love-heart shape in the sky, mirroring the shape of Dubai's lake at Al Qudra.
