Ferrari dominate the Abu Dhabi skyline, but not the track
Posted on | October 31, 2009 | by | 6 Comments
No-one here in on Yas Island this weekend is left in any doubt about the relationship between Ferrari and Abu Dhabi. The team has Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi investment vehicle, as one of its significant partners and the gigantic Ferrari World theme park dominates the skyline next to the circuit. The TV pictures tell a story of a track virtually owned by Ferrari.
All of Ferrari’s top brass are here too; president Luca di Montezemolo is here along with Piero Ferrari, Enzo’s son and John Elkann, the nephew of FIAT patriarch Gianni Agnelli.
But on track it has been a very disappointing weekend for the team. In qualifying Giancarlo Fischella ended up last, while even Kimi Raikkonen could not manage better than 11th place. The team stopped development on this car back in July, to focus on next year’s car and although Raikkonen performed heroics with it with four consecutive podiums from Hungary to Italy, the lack of pace caught them out here despite having KERS, which is worth around 4/10ths of a second per lap here.
Ferrari World is due to open in August 2010 and will be the largest indoor theme park on the planet. The core feature is the world’s fastest rollercoaster, which will hit speeds of 220km/h and the acceleration of 0-100km/h in 2.5 seconds gives passengers an impression of the acceleration of an F1 car. The whole place is the size of 11 football pitches.
There are 20 attractions inside, including a driving simulator like the one Ferrari have in their factory, electric cars for kids and an interactive exhibit where people can walk through a huge V12 engine and look at the inside of the pistons and the cylinders.
A nice little detail is that the restaurant inside is based on the menu at the Montana restarurant in Maranello, run by Michael Schumacher’s second mother, Rosella. His favourite tagliatelle dish is on the menu and Rosella is coming out next year to train the staff. It’s a little bit of Italy in the Middle East.
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6 Responses to “Ferrari dominate the Abu Dhabi skyline, but not the track”
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after German Grand Prix
| 1 | F Alonso | 1h28:38.866 |
| 2 | F Massa | + 4.196 |
| 3 | S Vettel | + 5.121 |
| 4 | L Hamilton | + 26.896 |
| 5 | J Button | + 29.482 |
| 6 | M Webber | + 43.606 |
| 7 | R Kubica | 1 lap |
| 8 | N Rosberg | 1 lap |
| 9 | M Schumacher | 1 lap |
| 10 | V Petrov | 1 lap |
Driver Standings
| 1 | L Hamilton | 157 |
| 2 | J Button | 143 |
| 3 | M Webber | 136 |
| 4 | S Vettel | 136 |
| 5 | F Alonso | 123 |
| 6 | N Rosberg | 94 |
| 7 | R Kubica | 89 |
| 8 | F Massa | 85 |
| 9 | M Schumacher | 38 |
| 10 | A Sutil | 35 |
Team Standings
| 1 | McLaren-Mercedes | 300 |
| 2 | Red Bull Renault | 272 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 208 |
| 4 | Mercedes GP | 132 |
| 5 | Renault | 96 |
| 6 | Force India Mercedes | 47 |
| 7 | Williams Cosworth | 31 |
| 8 | BMW Sauber | 15 |
| 9 | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 10 |
| 10= | Lotus F1 | 0 |
| 10= | Hispania Racing F1 | 0 |
| 10= | Virgin Racing | 0 |
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October 31st, 2009 @ 10:06 pm
That looks awesome. James, do you know how high it is? It’s hard to tell from the photo
[Reply]
James Allen Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:22 am
Standing next to it I would say it’s about 20 storeys high
[Reply]
November 1st, 2009 @ 1:52 am
Even for those of us that prefer our headlines to be generated on track, FerrariWorld appears impressive and will doubtless generate many new fans from the area.
For all the cynical side of me suggesting the money might have garnered more results if it had been invested in the car, there is no doubt fan surveys point towards a sizeable section of the audience looking for greater interaction with the teams. ‘ThemeWorlds’ are probably beyond the pockets of most teams but, perhaps, some kind of expanded brand centre maybe part of everyone’s F1 future.
[Reply]
November 1st, 2009 @ 11:33 am
The question is though, can average joe drive a ferrari car (road car or otherwise) at ferrari world?
[Reply]
James Allen Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Don’t think so.
[Reply]
November 1st, 2009 @ 11:46 am
James, the McLaren has an astounding 7/10s + advantage, how did they manage to achieve that?
Standing around with the local dignitaries, Montezouma’s daughter and the Ferrari brass must have felt like the leftovers from Rosella’s tagliatelle
[Reply]