UAE F1 fans gear up for Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2020

Gulf News

Formula One enthusiasts talk about their excitement ahead of the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2020  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #F1 #AbuDhabiGrandPrix2020 #carrace

Transcript

00:00For 12 years now, Abu Dhabi has had the honor of bringing the curtain down on the Formula

00:08One season.

00:09This event usually sees the world's best 20 drivers travel around the globe to the

00:13most challenging tracks on Earth before landing in the UAE to crown the championship driver

00:19and team.

00:21This year, the races were a little different, no doubt due to COVID-19.

00:26Three days before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 15th, the race in Melbourne

00:31was cancelled as COVID cases spiked across the world and in the paddock.

00:36That set the tone for a chaotic five months as more and more races were called off or

00:41postponed, throwing the whole season into doubt.

00:44Thankfully, we will get to witness a spectacular season finale in Abu Dhabi.

00:49It will be a moment for fans to treasure.

00:52Here's what some F1 fans had to say.

00:55This season has been pretty different than any other season due to several events, including

01:01the COVID that really postponed all these races and they race in new racetracks, such

01:07as in Istanbul that was forgotten for many years, as well as in Imola in Italy.

01:14They did it in Mugello, it was the first time they raced in Mugello in Italy, so Italy this

01:19year had a good turnover of racing, thanks to COVID.

01:26Now that we are at the last race of the season, pretty much the championship has been dominated

01:30by Mercedes, like in the past years, so it's not really exciting to see the race, but as

01:36you know from the most recent race in Bahrain, we saw some good action due to poor Hamilton

01:42that he has COVID, so he couldn't race, and this young Gunn Russell really dominated the

01:49race due to bad luck, he didn't win the race, he couldn't win the race, and as well, a new

01:55name came in, an old name, a very old name like Fittipaldi, so this is the third generation

02:01of the Fittipaldis that they race in Formula 1, so that's something really impressive,

02:05even if he didn't finish in the top ten, he finished the race and that's already an achievement

02:12for a rookie like him.

02:13This has been the best thing to happen to Formula 1 in a long time, I think the one

02:17problem Formula 1 has had for a long time is that they've been boring, not just because

02:21Lewis Hamilton continuously wins, but because nothing unexpected happens, so when the COVID

02:26crisis happened and the races all got mixed up and we didn't know if it was happening

02:30or not happening, it kind of made you focus on Formula 1 again, and when it did happen

02:34and they started to mix things up and change the formula with the tyres, and now with Bahrain

02:38race with the tyre compounds and the new layout, it's been probably the most interesting

02:46season in Formula 1 in a long time, not just because of the Lewis Hamilton thing, but again

02:51it's just the changes, we needed some mixing up and I've never been more excited to watch

02:56the races.

02:57The very fact that we've had what will be 17 I think races by the time we get to, after

03:04Abu Dhabi's concluded, out of I think there was 20 or 21 on the schedule, I think it's

03:10nothing short of incredible that they've been able to actually get this amount of races

03:18in this year.

03:20The driver championship has been won by Hamilton three races ago, and actually he's an amazing

03:24driver and he achieved some new record on winning pole position, so it's really something

03:30else right now.

03:31But there is still all these young guns coming up and the teams in the second half of the

03:36group of the racing, they're very competitive and there is a lot of action behind, and there

03:44will be also during the test after the race, there will be Fernando Alonso, two-time world

03:50champion coming back, it's a little bit odd that he's racing with the younger, the new

03:54generation that come from Formula 2, and so we'll be testing with them, and as well the

04:00testing days will be interesting because there's going to be the newcomer Mick Schumacher,

04:03he just won the Formula 2 championship, so he will be driving and testing, start testing

04:10with us, us racing, the American team, where he signed the contract for next year, so he's

04:16a Ferrari engine car, hopefully he's going to be better than this year, but best of luck

04:20to all the new generation because we need to remodel a little bit this Formula 1, it's

04:27been a little bit boring, especially in the front rows.

04:29In terms of who I'm cheering for, yeah it's going to have to be Lewis Hamilton obviously,

04:32but the Russell thing that just happened now in the Bahrain race is what is the most interesting,

04:39because Lewis Hamilton's basically already got this sewn up, next year he's going to

04:42win anyway, so it's what replaces Lewis Hamilton, and what Russell showed us now is that there's

04:47someone new to cheer for.

04:48It would be a shame for Lewis to, I know he enjoys the Abu Dhabi track, it's one of his

04:53favourites, he's had great success here, it would be a shame that he wouldn't be able

04:59to compete, but for Mercedes, it works out better.

05:02It gives them the opportunity to be able to evaluate Russell, or whoever in that seat,

05:07because who's to say Russell, even if he does well in Bahrain, and Lewis still can't race

05:12in Abu Dhabi, who's to say they don't put in another driver there to evaluate him, and

05:19Mercedes has nothing left to prove for the season, they've won, they've done what they

05:24wanted to do, so it gives the team more opportunities to be able to evaluate and know what they

05:32have going into the future.

05:33It's going to be interesting to see how Mick Schumacher drives for Haas, Haas has had a

05:41bit of an up and down year, I think they were expecting a lot more out of what they had,

05:47and they're going through, they'll be coming into next year with two new drivers, with

05:52Mick Schumacher being one of them.

05:53I met him a few times during the races, and I know he's really focused and very careful

06:00and concentrated when he races, a little bit like his father, his father was known for

06:06that concentration and that focus that he has on the races, so I believe he's going

06:12to be a good driver, maybe he's not going to come up at the beginning, also because

06:17his car is not the most competitive one, but in his team there are going to be two new

06:22drivers, so basically it's going to be a new challenge for both of them, and it's a very

06:28interesting choice for the team, I really like what they've done, instead of getting

06:33people that are already racing for 20 years or 10 years, getting new drivers to launch

06:39in the Formula One, so best of luck to all of them.

06:52For more information visit www.rimbaracer.com

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