Desert Dreams

When visiting Abu Dhabi for the Grand Prix announcement last weekend, I couldn't help but recall a column I wrote in Autosport magazine in May 2004. At the time we were about to go to Monaco, so in the story I extolled my love of street circuits. We had also recently been to the first Bahrain GP, and while the event was adjudged a success, I felt it had been a waste of an opportunity to recreate some Monaco magic.

The inaugural Shanghai event was coming up, and Istanbul was already scheduled for 2005. And just like Bahrain, both were going to be run at tracks built miles from anywhere, on what had previously been empty sites. Like Monaco, all three cities were surrounded by water, so why hadn't any of them opted for a street circuit, rather than something so far from the centre?

This is some of what I had to say: 'Everybody who went to Bahrain last month agreed that the circuit was impressive. Where just 18 months before you would have seen a barren landscape, there was now a magnificent motor sport facility. Hermann Tilke had again hit the mark.

'The problem was, we could have been anywhere. The dusty surroundings might have been slightly surreal, but other than that there was little to distinguish the venue from anywhere else. It was also quite a trek from capital Manama and the downtown hotels. While about half the route was motorway, the last bit was a narrow, winding lane that had a housing estate on one side, and miles of open space on the other. Not exactly inspiring.

'The Bahrainis had spent millions on the place with one thing in mind - to generate international interest. So why on earth didn't they build it on the doorstep of the city?

'From what I saw of Manama, it was the perfect location for a street race. Even in the centre there was plenty of open space with development potential and, the kingdom being composed of islands, there were endless opportunities to do something next to the sea. TV viewers could have seen yachts bobbing around on one side, and the modern metropolis on the other. Bahrain looks pretty cool, they might have thought. Instead they saw a generic grey ribbon.

'It amazes me that every time a new Grand Prix venue is announced, it's to be built not where the people are, but in some God forsaken part of the countryside where the land probably has good reason to be cheap. Sepang is next to the airport - nice place for a weekend away. The venue of the Chinese GP is by all accounts as remote as Magny-Cours. What a waste. If ever there was a place made in heaven for a street circuit, it is Shanghai, one of the world's great cities. Bizarrely such a concept has been deemed suitable for the DTM, albeit far from the heart of the metropolis.

'A temporary venue, properly designed, would have cost a great deal less that what they [Bahrain] ended up with. It would also have been a much better advert for the country, and provided us with something to remember. Even Herr Tilke might have enjoyed the challenge.'

Just a few weeks after I wrote those words, plans for a central London F1 demo were announced. The prospect of a street race in the capital was suddenly big news, although interest soon faded.

But now Hermann Tilke finally has the chance of tackling the special challenge of building a street circuit, and a harbour-side one to boot. I wasn't quite on the money, because the new track - or at least chunk of it - will also have a permanent year-round use.

I didn't really grasp what Abu Dhabi had in mind until I discovered a huge 3D model of what we will see in 2009. Situated in the lobby of the Emirates Palace hotel, the size of three or four snooker tables, the model showed how the Yas Island site will look when it is finished.

You didn't need to read an explanation because it was all there. The site was crammed with golf courses, beaches, apartments, villas, hotels and retail complexes. And in one corner was the race circuit, running partly on public roads around a marina, and with the already-announced Ferrari theme park attached to it. In effect, Abu Dhabi is building a sensational holiday/residential resort from scratch, with the annual bonus of a Grand Prix on the doorstep thrown in.

Once you grasp the scale of it all, you understand why Bernie Ecclestone was so keen to fit this event into the schedule, when for so long he had stated that the Middle East only needed one race.

As somebody said, Abu Dhabi has got right everything that Bahrain (and the others) have got wrong. F1 insiders who have already grown tired of the endless traffic jams to and from the remote Shanghai and Istanbul tracks (that's the normal daily traffic, nothing to do with the race) will be amazed at what they find.

On arrival they will face a 10-minute journey from the airport to Yas Island, and that will be pretty much it until they go home, unless they fancy an excursion into the city or the desert.

By the first race there will be six hotels within walking distance of the track, with eight more planned and six more on the coast opposite the island. The flagship Marina Hotel will actually be within the boundaries of the circuit. No need for any 5:30am wake-up calls to beat the jams, but also no sleep for anyone without a job to do who fancies a lie-in on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

While the race weekend itself will attract a lot of people, it also serves as a flagship that advertises the resort and attracts people back at other times of the year. And the glamorous annual presence of the F1 circus will encourage sales of properties both to those who reside permanently in the region and to folk who fancy a holiday home in the sun that is a seven-hour flight from Europe. It all makes perfect sense.

So how did the race come about, and how will plans progress? I asked four of the key people involved in the project.

The Ringmaster: Bernie Ecclestone

It's been called the Monaco of the Middle East, but Bernie Ecclestone plays down the obvious connections.

"It will have its own style," he says. "I hope all the events we go to will have their own individual style. We don't want something to look like something else."

He admits that even with two races in the area, it will take time to educate the public.

"It's a learning curve in lots of places we've been. If you think about China, if five years ago you'd said to somebody F1, they wouldn't know what you're talking about. I think this part of the world is so go-ahead with everything. That's it. This is obviously the place to be."

He says he has no regrets about not insisting on doing something as spectacular in Bahrain, China or Turkey: "It wasn't too easy getting what we got!"

Teams and sponsors will say that the size of the Middle Eastern market in itself doesn't really justify a second race. But in the end this is a TV sport - and a highly photogenic event which will start around noon European time ensures that it makes sense. And what better place to take VIP guests for week in the sun?

It surely doesn't hurt that, through its Mubadala investment concern, the government has a 5 percent stake in Scuderia Ferrari (and 20 percent in Spyker), but Bernie plays that connection down.

"It's nothing to do with it," he says. "I don't have to rely on that. Everything stands on its own feet. But anything to do with F1 in a country is good, whatever it is."

It seems pretty obvious that, encouraged by tax advantages, some F1 folk will ultimately buy properties on the island. Some have already acquired bases in Dubai, but they just might have jumped the gun. No doubt Bernie himself could get a good deal, although he says he has no plans.

"A lot of people bought a lot in Dubai, but they lost their shirts," he says. "But I would rather be here than Marbella..."

The Promoter: Sheik Khaldoon Al Mubara

The ruling Crown Prince has been closely involved in the Grand Prix project from the outset, but the man charged with really putting the deal together - the man who has been Bernie's main point of contact - is Sheik Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

An energetic young man who has clearly spent a lot of time overseas and who has a string of business positions to his name, his involvement in the race is via his position as Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority. He is also CEO of Mubadala.

"We've always been fans of F1, we've always loved F1 and I've been to many races," he says. "I would say we seriously started considering a Grand Prix about a year ago. That's when the discussions started, and here we are a year later.

"I can tell you, it was very competitive. A lot of countries were involved with this, not just from this region but many other regions. And it has not been easy. So it's great to finally have the commitment to do this."

The obvious question is does the Middle East really need a second race? He has no doubts.

"I think the region needs another Grand Prix, and can handle it, and it will be great for the sport," he says. "I think with the Middle East, North Africa, South-East Asia, this is a great market, and in my opinion motor sports will grow aggressively over the next couple of years."

Each new Tilke venue has tried to top the last, but the Abu Dhabi folk realised from the start that they could do something really different.

"From the beginning we wanted a Grand Prix that would position Abu Dhabi as one of the global leaders," he says. "So we wanted something special. The idea has been worked on for a year, which is a Grand Prix on an island. It makes our life a lot easier when it's a green field site.

"It's an island that's pretty much untouched right now. To be able to work from scratch really allowed us a lot of creativity, and I think it's going to be one of the most special islands in the world when it's done, with all the resorts that are going to be on it, and the marina that's right next to the track.

"It's going to be wonderful. For everybody that's involved, the brief was very simple. This has got to be special, and this has got to be something that we're all proud of. It's got to be the best track, and this has to be one of the most exciting islands in the world. And I think everybody has delivered."

The complete Yas Island project will cost billions to build. The track is clearly subsidised, but its actual construction will probably be a relative bargain compared to what was required at the aforementioned venues, because of a lot of the basic infrastructure will be there anyway.

"In selecting the location we wanted to be as economic and as smart as possible," he says. "I think this location provides us with the most attractive commercial proposition."

The rest of the Yas Island project will ultimately have to pay its way. "These days you have to be commercial, you have to look at sustainable businesses, and I think this entire development is really well done," he adds. "We have a tremendous market that's been built over the last couple of years here, it's very attractive.

"People are coming, and we want to continue that trend and make sure everything we do is high end and really provides for the type of quality people that we're looking for."

The plan is for the track to be finished by the end of 2008, some 10 months before the likely date of the first race. The Sheik is not worried: "It's no problem. If you get on a plane and fly over the island, work is already under way!"

The Designer: Hermann Tilke

Hermann Tilke has never been officially announced as official F1 track designer, but in effect that is the title he has, and anyone else hoping to forge a career in the business might as well look for something else to do.

The German architect has produced Sepang, Bahrain, Shanghai and Istanbul from scratch, rebuilt the A1-Ring and Fuji on existing sites, and made significant modifications to Hockenheim and the Nurburgring. Abu Dhabi is perhaps his most exciting project yet.

"For me, I have the most exciting job in the world," he says. "It was an empty piece of land, and it's still an empty piece of land, but to be part of the big concept means that we have influence on the other parts. So it was very exciting, very challenging, to be part of the project.

"The first idea was to divide the track into two parts, to make a street circuit and a permanent circuit for every day use. They don't need a circuit of 5.5kms for every day - 3kms is more than enough. So the idea was to divide it, and to create the atmosphere of a city track."

The permanent part is more Melbourne/Montreal than Monaco in that there are grass verges and some run-off, but it definitely can't be confused with the average modern circuit. The site is basically flat, but he has insisted on adding some gradient to one section by building a hill.

"It's anti-clockwise," he describes. "There is a short start/finish straight, so the spectators can see the last and first corners better. After the start and first corner the track rises up by about 12m. There's a very high-speed corner, the first (lefthander) is 250km/h, the second (righthander) is 290km/h. You go uphill and then down again towards the arena, where people face each other."

Indeed this section is typical Tilke, with a slow left/right complex leading into a tight hairpin and the whole thing surrounded on both sides by grandstands with a spectacular view.

"There will be action in this part of the track, it's very fast coming into the arena, then it's slow, and then accelerating fast," he continues. "Then there's the long, long straight, with an overtaking point at the end after 1200m. Cars can close up in this combination."

The straight leads into a very tight left, followed immediately by a 90-degree right. It's here that during the track's day-to-day use as a racing school the shorter permanent track rejoins itself via a link road. But the Grand Prix version heads out onto what are normally public roads and initially a second, slightly curved long straight, which passes by some houses.

There's another tight, sub-90 deg right at the end that should prove to be a good passing place. It's followed by the sensational marina section, and a succession of tight corners, with a couple of slightly faster sweeps thrown in.

"We go around the marina, very close to the waterfront for 900m, and very close to the yachts," adds Tilke. "Because the water table is very high, the yachts can really see the cars. We did the design of the marina together with the track, because they have to go together. That was something different for me! I think it will be a good image for TV, and fun for the people with the yachts."

Just after the marina the permanent circuit is rejoined, and a tight righthander leads back onto the short pit straight.

Tilke admits that the construction job won't be easy because the track will need substantial piles as foundations, although it won't be as tricky in that respect as Shanghai, which was built on a swamp.

"Let's say that it's not as difficult as Shanghai, but it is a man made island, and of course it's a little bit more difficult than with normal soil conditions," he admits. "But it's OK."

Tilke is, of course, also producing the grandstands, the pits, the media centre and the team offices. As ever, there will be a national theme: "The roof is waving, like a sand dune or like a wave in the sea. The team buildings are traditional Arabic houses."

This being a city, there are a lot of other buildings close to the circuit complex, including the aforementioned Marina Hotel. So will Tilke get his hands on some of this extra work? That's clearly his plan, as face lights up: "It's not decided yet..."

The Developer: Ron Barrott

The company behind the actual construction of the whole Yas Island project is Aldar, the second largest property developer in Abu Dhabi. The royal family has a 5 percent stake in it via Mubadala (Sheik Khaldoon Al Mubarak is on the board), and other government agencies also have shareholdings, including the tourism department.

However, Aldar is actually publicly listed and is therefore a commercial entity that fully intends to make a profit - even if the track itself may in effect be a loss leader, subsidised by the government.

"We currently have some 33m square metres under development, so we're a major business in Abu Dhabi," says Aldar's British CEO, Ron Barrott. "Yas Island is obviously a key component of that. The race is to put Abu Dhabi on the market. It's the capital city of the UAE, the base of the federal government, and this is a way of promoting the city internationally worldwide.

"But we also need to create a point of reference for the city. It's a beautiful city, and the topography is fabulous. You've got water on three sides, 200 beautiful islands and a lot of natural waterways. It's great for the tourists. But you still need to give them a reason to come to Abu Dhabi and we've got to compete with the world's cities.

"Sydney has the Opera House and Darling Harbour. Florida was sleepy until Disney went in and developed, and the rest is history. So Yas Island is our way of designing, from a clean sheet of paper, a global tourist destination, as well as creating a lot of excitement.

"We've not just got the race track, we've got a rallycross circuit, a kart circuit and a dune circuit. We've got the Ferrari World theme park, which is very high tech. That's augmented by a major retail and leisure entertainment package, golf courses, hotels. It's got everything. We've created a street circuit with a purpose-built track, built into the urban environment."

The plans show luxury villas and apartments so clearly the hope is that foreigners will buy holiday homes. "There's a degree of that," says Barrott. "But the people occupying most of our properties are nationals that are working here, who want to own their own properties. Aldar are able to offer nationals the right to purchase, and this is the first time ever in Abu Dhabi.

"Our properties are of a very high international quality that you'd expect in any mature property market in the world, properly planned, with the right infrastructure in place to ensure that you can still move around easily and still enjoy the environment. The pricing of our housing is aimed at middle management, so it suits a wide socio-economic profile.

"We're working closely with the government to build commerce space as well. There are new industries moving into the country, creating new jobs, and indeed creating a need for housing."

So it's not just going to be a millionaire's playground?

"Not at all," he says. "That market's limited. We're all about quality, but affordability as well, and creating the right environment for people to live, work and play, as well attracting the tourists."

It all sounds too good to be true...

But it was apparent last weekend that Abu Dhabi does not make empty promises. The people clearly know what they are doing, and have the finances to make things happen.

It looks like it will be a sensational event, and could make for a great holiday for any racing fan who until now (quite rightly) could not justify a family trip to any of the other new venues. It will be the perfect place to host the final race of the 2009 season, which is presumably what Bernie has in mind.

Inevitably, we have to ask what will happen over the next few years as the likes of South Korea, Mexico, India and Singapore push for races. The European events just cannot compete, financially or otherwise, and some are bound to lose out in the end.

Around 15 years ago, Autosport's cartoonist Jim Bamber amused himself while drawing an overhead view of Silverstone for the magazine's British GP supplement. He sneakily added a little marina to the inside of Becketts, complete with yachts. As far as I can recall, not a single reader wrote in to question our 'mistake.' But perhaps it's time for the BRDC to start digging for real if they want to keep up.

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