With the four-day Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race festival just around the corner, Yas Marina Circuit is buzzing with activity as the world famous F1® landmark prepares to welcome 60,000 motorsports fans with 55% visiting internationally, despite the current challenging conditions. Hundreds of team officials along with VIP guests, celebrities, international media and, of course, the world’s best drivers will all be in attendance.
Making sure everything is ready and set to go ahead of the big race is a huge team of dedicated cleaners, painters, gardeners and skilled technical experts who will be hard at work across the Circuit’s track, grandstands and landscaped areas.
As one of the world’s iconic motorsports venue, it’s vital that Yas Marina Circuit looks its very best for the tens of thousands of fans packed into the stands and the many millions watching live on TV around the globe. Squads of painters will work around the clock to apply a fresh coat of paint to newly reconfigured 5.28-km track.
This year Yas Marina Circuit used new robot technology for the first time to mark out and paint special track run-offs to celebrate the UAE’s Year of the 50th. The innovative Robot Plotter was used for a compact and autonomous way to mark lines quickly and accurately, providing a safe and cost-effective technique.
Other unique murals, painted by UAE-based artists, will feature across Yas Marina Circuit to celebrate the Golden Jubilee and the future of the region.
Before this year’s four-day racing festival, a small army of cleaners will be given the essential task of clearing away the dust from the Circuit’s impressive Grandstands. Equipped with high-pressure hoses, the team will set about tackling the Circuit’s 228 canopies over a mammoth 6,920 hours of non-stop cleaning work in order have the venue looking spick and span and ready to welcome spectators.
Away from track and the Grandstands, Yas Marina Circuit’s 88.4 acres of landscaped areas are also given special attention with teams of gardeners pruning and planting 2.52 acres of seasonal flowers and petunias.
The green-fingered gardeners will install more than 1,750 different kinds of foliage along with 886 varieties of Palms and 529 potted plants to bring a splash of natural colour and the wonderful scented aroma of flowers to Yas Marina Circuit.
While the huge cleaning operation is going on ahead of the F1® long weekend’s official start, behind the scenes the huge logistical task of organising this epic motorsport event is already well under way.
Teams of motor racing experts and logistics managers direct fleets of transporters carrying everything required for the FIA F2 Championship and the non-championship F4UAE race.
Squads of highly skilled technicians and safety experts will inspect every inch of the Circuit as part of intensive procedures to ensure the safety of the drivers, teams and the spectators watching the F1® action unfold.
With the huge to-do list slowly being completed job by job, the time arrives for the 10 teams to land in Abu Dhabi. Fresh from the season’s penultimate race in Saudi Arabia, the teams and the hundreds of personnel that travel with them will sweep into the UAE’s capital city in a fleet of planes, ships and lorries, all loaded with the essentials that keep F1® on the road and racing.
After 21 rounds racing the 2021 F1® season is guaranteed a thrilling grand finale in Abu Dhabi – and Yas Marina Circuit is guaranteed to be looking great!
Yas Marina Circuit_ Formula 1 Preparations 2021_ Canopy cleaning
