ABU DHABI // You couldn't drive the cars yesterday, but you could certainly wear the Red Bull-Renault hats – or the Webber T-shirts, or the ripe-red Ferrari fingernail paint – and as merchandisers rubbed their hands with glee, 50,000 racegoers turned Yas Marina Circuit into a canvas of F1 colour and fun.
Once on the other side of the security gate, thousands streamed to their places in the grandstands, with splashes of the brazenly coloured hats everywhere in the crowd denoting favoured teams: for Ferrari, blood-red; for McLaren, bright orange; for Lotus, British racing green.
Flags of Ferrari and Spain flapped in the breeze, marking those supporters out in force hoping to see Fernando Alonso win his second title.
Francisco Arce and Jose Manual were dressed in matador outfits. "Alonso is a fighter and he will fight the two Red Bulls in the 'plaza', and we are here to represent that," Mr Manual said.
F1 FanZone was bumping to a backdrop of live music, but also choked with long queues. Tony Ferguson, 29, a Londoner who works in Dubai, said: "I thought I'd be here all day trying to get something to eat, but [the queue] moved, and within a minute or two I walked away with my burger."
The burgers sold for Dh20, while soft drinks and tea cost Dh10 - not so expensive for the average appetite. But it was at the circuit's merchandise stalls that the crowd really opened its collective wallet.
Hats representing both the Red Bull drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, were sold out by mid-afternoon. The hats were selling faster than Vettel's qualifying lap, at Dh180 a pop. So too were Webber's T-shirts.
Elsewhere, a carnival feeling prevailed: fans got their fingernails painted in their favourite team's colours. Children jumped around in the play areas and groups of men filed into the arcade to race each other in Formula One simulators.
Soheir Ghanem from Dublin, visiting just for the race, said: "This is amazing. I am a big Alonso fan."
Nearly every seat was filled in the Support Pit stand by 4.45pm. At that point, with 15 minutes to go, Etihad flew a jet over the circuit.
Then, at 5pm, the engines roared and the lights changed from red to amber to green. The racecars screamed around the 5.5km track, with 50,000 spectators panning from left to right to capture Vettel, Hamilton, Button and Alonso on their phones and cameras.
Tony Sacy said he took the day off work in Dubai to experience his first grand prix. "It was amazing. I was too slow to get tickets last year, so I got these when they first went on sale. It was not just the race - the F1 FanZone and the atmosphere in general has been excellent."
Peter Svensson, who lives in Sweden, arranged to meet a friend from Australia halfway - in Abu Dhabi. "We didn't know the grand prix fell on this weekend. We went and got tickets and it's been brilliant. Everything about it has been great," said Mr Svensson.
After the pageantry had ended – and Vettel was declared the victor – supporters headed for the exits, many walking just down the road to see Prince at Ferrari World.
On the way out, groups of Emirati volunteers cheered and waved goodbye to the fans leaving the circuit. "Afwan, goodbye, hope to see you next year," they shouted.
They formed a line at the gate and fans ran past giving high fives, taking photographs and clapping and cheering along with them.
F1 diehard fans Jacqui and David Savage were taken aback by the energy of the volunteers. "We have done about five grands prix between us and we have never seen anything like this before. We just wish we brought our son to see this spectacle. The energy and the buzz is just electric," Mrs Savage said.
The Emirati volunteer Hamood Shehhi said the day had brought something for everyone, even people like Ms Ghanem from Dublin, who saw her favourite driver miss out on first place. "It is not just the drivers who won. It was Abu Dhabi and all the fans," he said.
eharnan@thenational
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
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.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPowertrain%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20electric%20motor%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E201hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E310Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E53kWh%20lithium-ion%20battery%20pack%20(GS%20base%20model)%3B%2070kWh%20battery%20pack%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E350km%20(GS)%3B%20480km%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C900%20(GS)%3B%20Dh149%2C000%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
