Got this from the James Allen blog, which is like one of THE best F1 blogs I know of.
It’s footage of the first laps on the new Abu Dhabi Yas Marina circuit (the final race in this season’s calendar) by an F1 car, and it was driven by Bruno Senna during a recent test session.
The first thing that grabs me is the totally unique pit exit.
It actually turns left under a little tunnel before it rejoins the circuit just before turn 3.
Highly interesting.
To my knowledge, there is nothing quite like it in Formula 1.
In fact, I’ve never seen anything quite like it on any track before.
The circuit diagram can be seen (here).
Overall, I’m not particularly thrilled by the looks of this track.
Some have commented that it’s pretty much a “point and squirt” track, much in the vein of other Hermann Tilke tracks.
I’m just not sure if there are enough opportunities on this track to provide for overtaking and exciting racing.
Not to mention that the track is largely flat, which means it’s lacking in those undulating gradient changes which seem to make things so much more interesting (think Eau Rouge as an extreme example).
But let’s reserve our judgement till we actually witness the race on 1st November.
Let’s hope it’s a good one.
