The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ( ar, سباق جائزة أبوظبي الكبرى) is a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor racing event. It was announced in early 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F1 Festival in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

. The first race took place on 1 November 2009, held at the

Hermann Tilke Hermann Tilke (born 31 December 1954, in Olpe, Germany) is a German engineer, racing driver and circuit designer, who has designed numerous Formula One motor racing circuits. Racing During the 1980s, Tilke competed in touring car racing, mainly ...

-designed

Yas Marina Circuit The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina w ...

. On 25 June 2008, the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

announced the provisional Formula One calendar including the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the 19th and final race of the season on 15 November. On 5 November 2008, however, it was announced that the race would be held as the season finale on 1 November, two weeks before the initially planned date, as the 17th and final race. The event has been held every year since, and is due to take place at the Yas Marina Circuit until at least 2030. The inaugural race was

's first day–night race, starting at 17:00

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

. Floodlights used to illuminate the circuit were switched on from the start of the event to ensure a seamless transition from daylight to darkness. Subsequent Abu Dhabi Grands Prix have also been day–night races.

History

Origin

Formula 1 first came to Abu Dhabi in 2007 in the guise of the first Formula One Festival. Announced in January 2007, the event which took place on 3 February 2007 was free, and the largest gathering of current Formula One cars and drivers outside of a Grand Prix. At the festival it was announced that Abu Dhabi had won the rights to host a Grand Prix from 2009 until 2016. Later that year, Etihad Airways negotiated a three-year deal for them to become sponsors of the Grand Prix. In 2021, an extended 10-year agreement was signed between Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management and the

Formula One Group The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the promotion of the FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights. The Group was previously owned by Delta Topco, a Jersey-based company ow ...

. The event, which will continue to be hosted at Yas Marina Circuit, retains the contractual right to hold final race of the F1 season for the next decade.

Inaugural Grand Prix (2009)

For the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was added to the schedule. It was provisionally announced as being held on 15 November 2009, as the 19th and final Grand Prix of the season. Both the Canadian Grand Prix and French Grand Prix were later removed from the provisional schedule, and as a result the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was moved to 1 November 2009 where it would become the last of 17 meetings. In August 2009, it was announced that the start time would be 17:00 local time (13:00 UTC), and that the race would be floodlit. The race was won by Sebastian Vettel for

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...

2010

For the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held on the Yas Marina Circuit, for the weekend of 12, 13, 14 November 2010. The Drivers' Championship was decided in Abu Dhabi for the first time. With championship leader Fernando Alonso losing out and Sebastian Vettel completing his second consecutive win on this track, the young German driver subsequently sealed the world championship.

2011

The 2011 Grand Prix was the 18th and penultimate race of the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship, and took place on 13 November. The race was won by

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...

in a McLaren- Mercedes. Second was Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari, with

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super G ...

coming third in a McLaren- Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel, in a Red Bull-

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

, had been on pole position, but retired after a puncture on the first lap whilst going round the second corner.

2012

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel finished the race in 3rd position after starting from the pitlane, due to his disqualification from qualifying due to not having enough fuel to return to

parc fermé ''Parc fermé'', literally meaning "closed park" in French, is a secure area at a motor racing circuit wherein the cars are driven back to the pits post- and sometimes pre-race. Area For example, according to the FIA Formula One regulations, th ...

. His main championship rival Fernando Alonso finished 2nd behind the Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen, who won for the first time after his return to Formula One earlier in 2012.

2013

The race was won by Sebastian Vettel and

for the third time, leading every lap. Having clinched their fourth consecutive Drivers' and Constructors' Championships respectively at the

Indian Grand Prix The Indian Grand Prix was a Formula One race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship, which was held at the Buddh International Circuit in Sector 25 along Yamuna Expressway in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh State ...

, the team celebrated their achievements in Abu Dhabi with

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...

performing some doughnuts on the helipad of the

Burj Al Arab The Burj Al Arab ( ar, برج العرب, ''Arab Tower'') is a luxury hotel located in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Managed by Jumeirah hotel group, it is one of the tallest hotels in the world, although 39% of its total heigh ...

luxury hotel in Dubai, above ground level.

2014

The 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix took place on 23 November and was the concluding race of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship. Double points were awarded for the race, which was won by

, securing his second Drivers' Championship.

2015

The 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held on 29 November 2015. The race was won by

Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fi ...

making it three wins in a row with

and Kimi Räikkönen completing the podium.

2016

The 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held on 27 November 2016. The race was won by

making it four wins in a row with

and Sebastian Vettel completing the podium and Rosberg securing his one and only Drivers' Championship.

2017

The 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held on 26 November 2017. The race was won by

Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Alfa Romeo, having previously driven for Mercedes from to and Williams from to . Bottas has scored race wins and podiums. H ...

, with

in second and Sebastian Vettel completing the podium.

2018

The 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held on 25 November 2018. The race was won by

, with Sebastian Vettel in second and Max Verstappen completing the podium.

2019

The 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held on 1 December 2019. The race was won by six-time champion

, with Max Verstappen in second and

Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in . Leclerc ...

in third.

2020

The 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was scheduled for 29 November but the race was moved to 13 December to allow the Bahrain Grand Prix to run after their race was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The race was won by Max Verstappen, with

and

finishing second and third respectively.

2021

The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held on 12 December 2021. Max Verstappen won his first World Drivers' Championship by finishing first, followed by

in second, and Carlos Sainz Jr. in third. Mercedes won their 8th consecutive Constructors' Championship, followed closely by Red Bull Racing in second. Verstappen's race and championship win was mired in controversy after Mercedes initially intended to appeal results on the grounds that Michael Masi may have used the incorrect procedure for withdrawing the safety car prior to resuming racing on the final lap of the race and Mercedes subsequently dropped their appeal. The FIA launched an inquiry into the events of the race and clarified the safety car rules. In addition, Michael Masi was replaced by

Niels Wittich Niels is a male given name, equivalent to Nicholas, which is common in Denmark, Belgium, Norway (formerly) and the Netherlands. The Norwegian and Swedish variant is Nils. The name is a developed short form of Nicholas or Greek Nicolaos after Saint ...

and Eduardo Freitas.

2022

The 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held on 20 November 2022. The race was won by Max Verstappen with

in second, and Sergio Pérez in third.

Circuit

The Yas Marina Circuit was designed by

and is located on

Yas Island Yas Island ( ar, جزيرة ياس) is an island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It occupies a total land area of . It is a popular leisure island and one of the top tourism projects in Abu Dhabi. Yas Island holds the Yas Marina Circuit, w ...

– a island on the east coast of Abu Dhabi. The

2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially the 2009 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was the seventeenth and final Formula One motor race of the 2009 Formula One season. It took place on 1 November 2009 at the Hermann Tilke-designed ...

was the first major event to take place on the circuit. In June 2021, Saif Al Noaimi, acting CEO of Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, announced that modifications to the track's Grand Prix layout had been approved, with the modifications being completed in time for the

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021) was a Formula One motor race held on 12 December 2021 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Contested over a dist ...

. The turn 5/6 chicane and turn 7 hairpin were replaced by a single, widened hairpin, now turn 5; the triple chicane and 90 degree left hander at turns 11-14 were replaced by a single, sweeping banked curve, now turn 9; and the radiuses of turns 17–19 (now 12-14), and the penultimate turn 20 (now 15), were widened to allow cars to carry more speed through the third sector.

Gallery

File:YasMarina2.jpeg, The main straight File:YasMarina1.jpeg, Turn 7 (2009–2021), Turn 5 (2021–present) File:Circuit Yas-Island.svg, Grand Prix Circuit (2009–2021) File:Yas Marina 2021.jpg, Differences between the 2009 and 2021 layouts

Winners

Repeat winners (drivers)

''Drivers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.''

Repeat winners (constructors)

''Teams in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.''

Repeat winners (engine manufacturers)

''Manufacturers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.''

By year

References

External links

Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140701074746/http://www.etihad.com/en/about-us/our-sponsorships/abu-dhabi-grand-prix/ Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Abu Dhabi to Host Formula 1 Grand Prix in 2009

Abu Dhabi to stage 2009 F1 finale

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2018 – Yas Marina Circuit
{{Formula One races Formula One Grands Prix Recurring sporting events established in 2009 2009 establishments in the United Arab Emirates