Abu Dhabi GP 2011 - Yas Marina Circuit (11-13 November)

2011 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX

FRI 11 NOVEMBER 2011
PRACTICE 1	RESULTS
PRACTICE 2	RESULTs

SAT 12 NOVEMBER 2011
PRACTICE 3	RESULTS
QUALIFYING	RESULTS

SUN 13 NOVEMBER 2011
RACE	RESULTS

ALL TIMES ARE GMT (+4)

Race Date:	13 Nov 2011
Number of Laps:	55
Circuit Length:	5.554 km
Race Distance:	305.355 km
Lap Record:	1:40.279 - S Vettel (2009)

The Yas Marina Circuit is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, about 30 minutes from the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi. Yas Marina is the second Formula One track in the Middle East, with the first being in Bahrain. A two day GP2 Asia Series test was held to officially open the circuit, which was held a week before the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It also hosted the opening event for the Australian V8 Supercars series, the Yas V8 400, in February 2010.

Design

Designed as an Arabian version of Monaco, the twenty-one corners twists through the man made island off the Abu Dhabi coast, passing by the marina and through the Yas Marina Hotel designed and conceived of by New York based architects Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture, Asymptote Architecture, and winding its way through sand dunes, with several long straights and tight corners.
The marina-based development includes a theme park, a water park, as well as residential areas, hotels and beaches.
The circuit has five grandstand areas (Main Grandstand, West Grandstand, North Grandstand, South Grandstand and Marina Grandstand (aka Support) and part of its pit lane exit runs underneath the track. It also houses a team building behind the pit building, Media Center, Dragster Track, VIP Tower and Ferrari World Theme Park. Additionally, one of the gravel traps runs underneath the West grandstand.
The circuit has few potential overtaking spots. From turns 2, 3, 4 down to 5 will be a good place as a car which has good speed out of Turn 4 could get beside a fellow driver and outbrake them. After turn 7 the second longest straight on the Formula One calendar (after the Korean GP) is ended with a heavy braking chicane at turn 8. Finally the long curve down to turn 11 as the potential for overtaking. The pit exit of circuit runs under the actual track through a tunnel. Also, part of the track runs through one of the on site hotels.
Seating Capacity – 41,093
Area – 161.9 ha
Length – 5.5 km

Construction

The circuit was built by main contractor Cebarco-WCT WLL, under contract from developer Aldar Properties. Among the sub-contractors involved were KOH AH HING from Malaysia (Structural contractor), as well as specialised subcontractors; Voltas (MEP), PKE-Siemens (MEP), Able-Middle East (Earthworks), Hamilton International (Interior), Bau Bickhardt (Track) and Unger Steel (Steel structure).
The circuit was constructed with a permanent lighting system provided by Musco Lighting, similar to that also installed at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. Yas Marina Circuit is the largest permanent sports venue lighting project in the world; previously that title was held by Losail.
The surface of the track is made of Graywacke aggregate, shipped to Abu Dhabi from Bayston Hill quarry in Shropshire, England. The surface material is highly acclaimed by circuit bosses and Formula 1 drivers for the high level of grip it offers. The same aggregate material is used at the Bahrain International Circuit for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
On 7 October 2009, the circuit was granted final approval to hold Formula One races by the FIA. Bruno Senna was the first driver to complete a test run on the circuit.

Reception

After the first practice sessions at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the circuit was welcomed by the drivers, with Nico Rosberg commenting that every corner was 'unique', while double World Champion Fernando Alonso echoed his sentiments, stating that it was enjoyable because there was always something to do. Force India's Adrian Sutil rated the circuit as being better than Formula One's other night race in Singapore as he felt there was too much light at Marina Bay.
Not all of the drivers were complimentary, with Giancarlo Fisichella expressing a particular dislike of the pit exit, which dips under the main circuit by way of a tunnel. Although the pit exit remained free of incidents for the early practice sessions, Fisichella claimed that it was both very difficult and dangerous.
The circuit came under much criticism from drivers following the 2010 race for a lack of suitable overtaking opportunites, despite the lack of high speed corners, which cause the cars to spread out somewhat. Fernando Alonso was unable to pass Vitaly Petrov for much of the race, with Mark Webber also remaining behind Alonso. The organisers were urged to modify the circuit for the 2011 race, in order to create more legitimate overtaking opportunities. While initially agreeing to make changes, organizers have since postponed any changes following the massive increase in overtaking seen in the 2011 Formula One season caused by new tyre strategies and the DRS & KERS systems.

2010 Abu Dhabi GP Results:

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	55	1:39:36.837	1	25
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	55	+10.162	2	18
3	1	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	55	+11.047	4	15
4	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	55	+30.747	9	12
5	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	55	+39.026	11	10
6	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	55	+43.520	10	8
7	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	55	+43.797	3	6
8	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	55	+44.243	5	4
9	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	55	+50.201	17	2
10	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	55	+50.868	6	1
11	22	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	55	+51.551	14
12	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	55	+57.686	7
13	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	55	+58.325	13
14	23	Kamui Kobayashi	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	55	+59.558	12
15	16	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	55	+1:03.178	18
16	10	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	55	+1:04.763	15
17	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Cosworth	54	+1 Lap	20
18	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin-Cosworth	53	+2 Laps	22
19	21	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	53	+2 Laps	23
20	20	Christian Klien	HRT-Cosworth	53	+2 Laps	24
21	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Cosworth	51	Rear wing	19
Ret	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	43	Gearbox	21
Ret	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	0	Collision	8
Ret	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	0	Collision	16