ABU DHABI // One thousand and one days after announcing that Abu Dhabi would have its own Grand Prix, the Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone yesterday looked around the new Yas Marina Circuit and stated there would never be a better one.
Back in February 2007, following an F1 "taster" event on the Corniche, Mr Ecclestone declared the city "one of the great places in the world" to host a race, and added it "will go on forever".
After more than 184 million man-hours were devoted to the capital's biggest building project so far, Mr Ecclestone delivered his verdict yesterday: nothing will ever surpass the venue. "When I came here earlier this year, I knew there would be a race, I knew they were committed. But I never knew it would be finished like this."
When asked whether any other circuit was looking capable of improving on Abu Dhabi, Mr Ecclestone said: "They are not. I would be happy if they would do a second one."
More high praise came from Ross Brawn, the boss of this year's championship winning Brawn GP team: "Abu Dhabi has set a new standard in Formula One. It is absolutely incredible. We haven't been on the track yet so we don't have an opinion there, but the commitment and investment they have shown in terms of facilities is staggering.
"Really, really impressive and something that the Government and country should be extremely proud of."
Today marks Abu Dhabi's debut on the F1 calendar. The drivers will have their first chance to see how the track behaves when they and their machines take to the Yas Marina Circuit's new asphalt for the first practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at 1pm.
All the F1 aces taking part will go down in history, although the GP2 Series drivers, who have their own practice runs from 10.30am, will technically be the first to drive competitively on the track.
Also among those in praise of the newest kid on the F1 block yesterday was the Williams Grand Prix driver, Nico Rosberg, who also announced his impending departure from the British team.
"What is very nice is the enthusiasm all the people have here," he said.
"It is quite different to Bahrain, where it still needs to grow in terms of the enthusiasm from the people who live there. Whereas here, it is already very, very big."
Several thousand fans were given their first glimpse of the circuit yesterday afternoon during the traditional pre-weekend pit-lane walk.
The event culminated in an evening performance by the American superstar Beyoncé at a concert adjacent to Ferrari World.
rhughes@thenational.ae
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Results
6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 (PA) US$100,000 (Dirt) 2,000m, Winner Bandar, Fernando Jara (jockey), Majed Al Jahouri (trainer).
7.05pm Meydan Classic Listed (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,600m, Winner Well Of Wisdom, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
7.40pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m, Winner Star Safari, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby.
8.15pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner Moqarrar, Fabrice Veron, Erwan Charpy.
8.50pm Nad Al Sheba Trophy Group 2 (TB) $300,000 (T) 2,810m, Winner Secret Advisor, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
9.25pm Curlin Stakes Listed (TB) $175,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner Parsimony, William Buick, Doug O’Neill.
10pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m, Winner Simsir, Ronan Whelan, Michael Halford.
10.35pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner Velorum, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
